Toshiharu Naka: Two Cycles

A book by Toshiharu Naka--whose exhibit, "En: Art of Nexus" at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (2016) is still fresh in our minds. This book establishes specific concepts (such as a Live/Work house, Intermediate Areas, Places in a Flow, and Dynamic Program), based on two systems of "a Social Cycle, or a cycle coexisting with small economies," and "an Ecological Cycle, or a cycle of natural energy and resources," and illustrates his macroscopic idea to integrate them.

Naka states: "People's livelihoods are a critical factor in the design of residences, and indeed of entire cities," and "Fostering a sense of living in and being a part of nature is crucial." Through his architectural works, he speculates on what architects can do to orient people in a region-city, and on earth.

-Toshiharu Naka
Architect. Head of Naka Architects' Studio. Born in Kyoto, 1976. He graduated from the Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo in 2001. After working at Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop , he established the Monobmon architectural design office in 2009, which was later renamed to Naka Architects' Studio in 2012. Then he worked as a design assistant at the Yokohama Graduate School of Architecture (Y-GSA) from 2009 to 2011. He has been a visiting researcher at the Hosei University Research Center for Edo-Tokyo Studies (EToS) since 2018.