Kii inc.
architectural design office

キイは、新井里志、中富慶からなる建築デザインユニットです。 建築的な視点を軸に、建築・インテリアのデザインと設計、家具やプロダクトのデザイン、ショーウインドウディスプレイなど 自分たちがイメージする場所をつくるために必要なことのすべてをデザインします。

新井里志 Satoshi Arai
architect / designer
1984年群馬県生まれ。2014年Kii inc.設立

中富慶 Kei Nakatomi
architect / designer
1980年福岡県生まれ。2014年Kii inc.設立
2020-2022年 東北大学大学院工学研究科都市・建築学専攻 特任講師

Awards
German Design Awards 2020 Winner
ICONIC AWARD2019 Innovative Architecture Winner
iF design award 2018
IDA International Design Award 2018 GOLD PRIZE
IDA International Design Award 2018 GOLD PRIZE
IDA International Design Award 2018 Honorable Mention
ARCHITECTURE MASTERPRIZE 2018 WINNER
ARCHITECTURE MASTERPRIZE 2018 HONORABLE MENTION
ASIA PACIFIC INTERIOR DESIGN AWARDS 2017 BRONZE PRIZE
DSA空間デザイン賞2017 銀賞


Kii inc., is an architectural design office founded by Satoshi Arai and Kei Nakatomi.
Kii is an old Japanese word meaning pleasure, relaxation and enjoyment.
The word is cited in The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury, an ancient work by the monk Kukai.
The choice of this name reflects our desire to produce spaces with pleasure, relaxation and fun as per the word's definition. Rather than cookie-cutter ideas of what a building or residence should look like,
our aim is to vigorously pursue our own idea of quality design.
This approach creates greater fun both for the builder and the user or resident.
While the high level of technology required to produce standardized products is laudable,
we would feel sad if such products were the only option.
We strive for greater fun and more freedom in architectural design.
Pleasure, relaxation and enjoyment reside at the core of our design philosophy.

Satoshi Arai  architect / designer
1984 Born in Gunma.
2014 Established Kii inc.

Kei Nakatomi  architect / designer
1980 Born in Fukuoka.
2014 Established Kii inc.
2020 Associate Professor at Tohoku University.

Venice Biennial Art exhibition 2024 PERSONAL STRUCTURES "Garden"

location : Venice,Italy
exhibition : Venice Biennale Art exhibition 2024 PERSONAL STRUCTURES
exhibition period : 2024.4.20-2024.11.24
Production Cooperation: HARADA SAKAN

This work is Kii's first art project, created specifically for the Venice Biennale Art exhibition.
Filtered through their senses, materials and colors come together in a collage, allowing the space to acquire a completely new quality. They have collected offcuts and scraps left at a construction site of an ongoing project, hardened and polished them, in a way similar to creating terrazzo. As a result, they've turned leftover pieces into completely new materials capable of new expression. Thus, the space is modified just by simply placing the beautiful small pieces made from the material that has been given a second life on the ground. The final piece has been decorated with a plant collected in Venice. It will be growing in the exhibition space for 7 months, interacting with the objects in the space and, hopefully, giving birth to a new story. This is an attempt to bring, through arranging colors and materials as if on painting, a new value into the space where the history of Venice has been accumulated.