There’s a quiet poetry to the way Kohei Takegawa designs. Whether shaping a neighborhood station in Kobe, crafting forest sites in Chiba, or rethinking everyday spaces in Kawasaki, his work slips between architecture, product, and spatial design with a rare sense of grace. But more than aesthetics, what threads his projects together is the intention—an unwavering belief that good design should stir something in us. It should uplift, connect, and quietly improve the rhythm of our lives.
From Objects to Cities: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Takegawa’s design language lives somewhere between poetic subtlety and civic intention. Whether he’s shaping a city plaza or reimagining discarded materials, his work carries a quiet conviction: that the places and objects we interact with daily should do more than serve—they should speak. That ethos guides his multi-disciplinary practice, which spans architectural planning, public design, product and furniture design, and hands-on fabrication.
Rethinking Public Space: Street Table Sannomiya
Take Street Table Sannomiya, for instance. Positioned beside one of Kobe’s busiest train stations, the project challenges conventional ideas of public space. It’s not just a plaza—it’s an experiment. Designed as an adaptable and sustainable community space, Street Table serves as a testbed for how public land can be reactivated. With minimal, modular elements, the space invites people to gather informally, share ideas, or simply sit and take in the city. It’s temporary, evolving, and participatory—everything a good public space should be but rarely is.
Circular Thinking in Action: THROWBACK
In Tokyo’s creative district, Takegawa’s THROWBACK initiative breathes new life into materials often destined for landfill. Part of the SAAI Wonder Working Community—a workplace designed to inspire innovation—THROWBACK transforms industrial leftovers into refined, contemporary furnishings. Chairs once used in Tokyo’s Imperial Theater, vintage ashtrays, and excess construction wood are all repurposed into one-of-a-kind pieces. The space itself also features reused lighting and salvaged furniture, reinforcing a cyclical approach to material life. It’s a project that reflects Takegawa’s sensitivity to history, sustainability, and the emotional resonance of objects.
Nature and Craft: Forest Living ISUMI
Then there’s Forest Living ISUMI, a quiet gem nestled in the woods of Chiba. Tasked with transforming a neglected municipal site into a nature-immersed retreat, Takegawa leaned into the natural abundance around him. Everything from the walkways to the firewood to the chips beneath visitors’ feet was sourced from trees harvested on-site. The resulting space—part campsite, part slow-living hotel—blurs the line between built and natural environments. It’s deeply local, thoughtfully executed, and emblematic of his belief that meaningful design must respond to its surroundings, not impose on them.
Urban Softness: KOSUGI Core Park
His architectural work is equally grounded in context and care. In KOSUGI Core Park, a public-private partnership between Kawasaki City and Tokyu Corporation, Takegawa helped reimagine the pedestrian experience around a major transit hub. The goal was to transform a utilitarian corridor into a place worth staying. He was responsible for the master plan and the design of wooden storefronts that opened into a carefully designed plaza. These human-scaled interventions soften the area’s heavy urban infrastructure, allowing passersby to slow down, linger, and interact. By blending public programming with architectural rhythm, the space strikes a balance between flow and pause, motion and rest.
The Process: Observation and Storytelling
From the urban core to the forest edge, Takegawa’s design philosophy remains consistent: observe, respond, reimagine. Whether shaping large-scale infrastructure or intimate handmade objects, he works with narrative, site, and community at the center of every concept. Across all his work, a recurring goal is to add new value to underused spaces, overlooked materials, and forgotten corners of the city.
Takegawa draws inspiration from the ordinary: city streets, daily interactions, and books on culture, sociology, and design. His approach is intuitive yet methodical. He begins with a vision, refines it through models and sketches, and weaves in historical and social context to ensure the final result resonates deeply with its environment.
A Vision Beyond Aesthetics
His work doesn’t shout—but it lingers. It invites interaction, offers discovery, and reminds us that design isn’t just what we see. It’s what we live in, move through, and remember.
Takegawa’s versatility is also notable. He has been deeply involved in projects that cross disciplines and push boundaries, from furniture design and urban experiments to disaster recovery and traditional house renovations. This openness to different scales and approaches allows him to continuously expand the possibilities of his own practice. By staying flexible yet intentional, he remains deeply rooted in his values while embracing innovation.
Looking Ahead: A Global Conversation
As he looks to bring his work to an international stage, his aim is not to scale up for the sake of visibility—but to explore how his design approach can resonate across cultures. He sees opportunities to collaborate globally with like-minded designers, city governments, and creative communities who share his belief in thoughtful, socially engaged design.
Kohei Takegawa continues to create spaces, environments, and objects that give new function and dignity to what others overlook. As cities worldwide confront questions of climate, livability, and inclusivity, voices like his feel more essential than ever. His vision is clear: to craft work that is both deeply personal and publicly generous.
The Power of Presence
In a world saturated with noise and novelty, Takegawa’s work offers something else entirely—clarity, stillness, and care. His projects are not just spaces we pass through—they’re invitations to feel, to think, and to belong.
