Designer Insights: The Future of Offices
Vol.11 Transforming Nature into Offices: Norihisa Kawashima’s Design Philosophy
A new design philosophy in which buildings and materials circulate
When discussing sustainability, Kawashima shares an interesting metaphor.
“When you camp outdoors, there are two ways to use wood. One is to use it structurally, as poles for a tent to keep out the wind and rain – for the environment, this is a passive method. The other is to use it for a campfire, consuming it as energy – this is an active approach. From the perspective of saving energy, it is often said that passive methods should be pursued before relying on active ones.”
Until recently Kawashima had been working on the renovation of Unit 504 in NEXT21, an experimental apartment complex by Osaka Gas. Completed in 1993, NEXT21 adopted ambitious ideas for its time, including a skeleton-infill structure and greening. Here Kawashima took on a challenge that had not been possible in the Asanuma Corporation Nagoya office project.
“We attached labels to every existing building material and compiled them into a database, then created a plan to reuse them. It was extremely demanding, but we believed it was necessary in order to pursue reuse rather than recycling. The layout was also organised around a large central space. Perhaps that too could be described as a temple hall space.”
Natural materials, natural ventilation, buildings as material banks, flexibility, the fusion of passive and active approaches, and the reuse of materials made possible by databases. Kawashima’s idea of “architecture connected with nature” is sure to attract increasing attention in the context of other social trends such as human capital management and the growing focus on sustainability and wellbeing.
Photos (Asanuma Corporation Nagoya branch office project): Junpei Suzuki
Norihisa Kawashima
Architect office managing director | Associate professor at the Department of Architecture, School of Science and Technology, Meiji University | Adjunct professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Born in 1982. PhD in engineering. Graduated Tokyo University in 2005 and attained a master’s degree in 2007. Worked at Nikken Sekkei from 2007 to 2014. Visiting researcher at UC Berkeley in 2012. Attained his PhD at the University of Tokyo Graduate School in 2016. After working as an assistant professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, started at his current role. Multiple awards, including the Prize of AIJ for the NBF Osaki Building (formerly Sony City Osaki) in 2014 and the Annual Architectural Design Commendation for the GOOD CYCLE BUILDING 001 in 2024, both from the Architectural Institute of Japan. Principal publications include "A Guide to Environmental Simulation in Architectural Design: Towards an Architecture with Nature" (SHOKOKUSHA).
Report by: Yasushi Yamazaki／Journalist
With a strong interest in design, Yamazaki joined Tanseisha. In 1997, he participated in the launch of the company’s new business venture "Japan Design Net (JDN)". After serving as the editor-in-chief of associated media such as "JDN" and "Toryumon" and as the director of contest planning and production, he became the director of JDN in 2011. In 2025, he transferred to Tanseisha. He engages in interview writing as well as coordinating talks and judging panels.