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Studio visit

Company name: Schemata

Architects

Address: 3-12-7 3F

Kita-Aoyama Minato-ku,

Tokyo 107-0061, Japan

Since: 1998

Floor area: 231 m^2

Core business: architectural

design,

interior design, furniture design

Public or private: private

Personnel

Administration staff: 2

Designers: 2

Junior Architects: 16

Interns: 3

Hardware & Software

Laptops: Mac and Windows

Desk workstations: 22

PC or MAC: PC

Monitor display: 22

Office chairs: Aeron chair,

shoemaker chair

Meeting room chairs:

Jo Nagaska’s collection

At first, Schemata Architects focused

on small-scale projects and

commissions where design and

architecture students were involved.

The division of the studio into two

groups — architects and designers —

crossed critical moments

stemming from exponential work

growth and the country’s education

model. In Japan, architecture

schools prepare students for the

work environment by getting

them used to hectic schedules,

which isn’t the case for design

students, who are accustomed to a

more relaxed pace.

This dual pace is one of the

studio’s main management

complexities: in order to control all

work phases Jo Nagasaka, the

founder, creates maquettes for any

space/furnishing, and each week

has a reunion with his collaborators

for two days, from dawn to dusk,

while revising together the projects

underway. Team leaders present

models and samples and actively

take part in the process. During

his trips abroad, at least twice a

month, the process continues

with daily emails via his iPad.

Andrea Caputo

http://www.schemata.jp

Jo Nagasaka, Schemata Architects, Tokyo

Inventory

All photos Andrea Caputo

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