You cannot simply put something new into a place. You have to absorb what you see around you, what exists on the land, and then use that knowledge along with contemporary thinking to interpret what you see.

No matter how advanced society becomes, institutionally or technologically, a house in which nature can be sensed represents for me the ideal environment in which to live. From a functional viewpoint, the courtyard of the Rowhouse in Sumiyoshi forces the inhabitant to endure the occasional hardships. At the same time, however, the open courtyard is capable of becoming the house's vital organ, introducing the everyday life and assimilating precious stimuli such as changes in nature.

If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be achieved from that nothingness.

My hand is the extension of the thinking process - the creative process.

Working in Tokyo has convinced me that, contrary to what people think, it is actually one of the world's most beautiful cities.

Japanese architecture is traditionally based on wooden structures that need renovating on a regular basis.

I like ruins because what remains is not the total design, but the clarity of thought, the naked structure, the spirit of the thing.