TOTO

Exhibition Concept
Is It Truly Necessary?

Our first design project was a fence for a house. That single wall forming the boundary of the house completely changed our perception of what architecture ought to be. Though the fence measuring no more than 10 meters in length was born out of earnest need, we witnessed it become intertwined with people's everyday lives, the garden plants, and the streetscape. It occurred to us that those were the very things that needed designing the most for that home and the surrounding neighborhood. Since then, we have not been interested in design as a means for giving shape to our personal visions. So, what is it that we design? In this exhibition, we are laying out what we found to be the things that we needed to design in each of our projects and showing how we worked these things into their respective circumstances. We only see value in designing structures that can have a fundamental impact on a place. The keys to accessing that value can be found hiding along the boundaries where different territories collide, in elements such as windows, foundations, and eaves, and within the subtle phenomena that tend to be overlooked. By turning our sights outward and simultaneously focusing our attention on details, we challenge ourselves to reconsider what is truly necessary.
Shingo Masuda + Katsuhisa Otsubo
Architect Profile
Shingo Masuda + Katsuhisa Otsubo
Shingo Masuda (b. 1982) and Katsuhisa Otsubo (b. 1983) founded their joint practice Shingo Masuda + Katsuhisa Otsubo in 2007 after graduating from the Musashino Art University and Tokyo University of the Arts, respectively. Masuda has been a specially appointed associate professor at Meiji University since 2019. Major works include Boundary Window (2014), Living Pool (2014), Initiative Roof (2016), House with City (2018), Bind Barn (2018), and Mark the Land (2019). Winners of the AR Emerging Architecture Award (2014) and 32nd Yoshioka Prize (2016).
©Anna Nagai
Shingo Masuda (left) and Katsuhisa Otsubo (right)