PROJECTS

Genji Kyoto源氏京都, (2022)

A 19-room luxury boutique hotel opened in April 2022, based upon the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji. The concept of the Hotel could best be described as one striving for a true Japanese experience through the use of all-natural materials and spatial techniques, such as thoroughly integrating interior and exterior spaces. Techniques like these have been expressed in Japanese architecture through the centuries since the Heian period, the era in which the Tale of Genji is set. The hotel's design was to keep the original proportions of the machiya (町家) that previously occupied the site.

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F Project, Kyoto (2020)

A restoration/addition to a nearly 100-year-old house originally designed by the renowned Kansai area architect Fujii Kouji, who is most well-known for his Chochiku-Kyo, in Oyamazaki, Kyoto. Western and Japanese technologies and life-style design tastes were thoroughly integrated by Fujii in the original design and these techniques were built upon and enhanced with today’s modern amenities/techniques.

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Fugu Project, Kyoto (2018)

A renovation of an 80-year-old Machiya that contained a Fugu restaurant in the center of Gion. The Machiya was renovated into a residence that combines the best of both Japanese culture and western amenities, using only all-natural materials. The client was a couple from the US, who enjoys the Japanese lifestyle, but stressed that they spent most of their time in the kitchen, gathering with friends.

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MEDIA

MIT School of Architecture + Planning – Architecture in Japan

Architect Geoffrey Moussas discusses the meaning of design and architecture in Japan.

Engawa no Shisou

An American Architect’s Kyoto Machiya Challenge

Geoffrey Moussas

Publisher/Distributor:Shouten ISBN:4396613059

Nikkei Shimbun Book Review (Japanese)

May 4, 2008 三条大橋にほど近い京町家の自宅兼仕事場。約束の五分前に訪ねたら、長身をかがめ打ち水をしていた。日本の現代建築が世界の最前線に立っていた一九九〇年代に槇文彦、谷口吉生の事務所で活躍した若き米国人建築家が….

Kyoto Shimbun Book Review (Japanese)

May 11, 2008 昔の日本の家に「竣工(しゅんこう)」はなかった。棟上げが済むと、柱に割り竹を編んだ小舞をめぐらして粗壁を塗る。あとは畳とふすま、障子を入れると暮らしが始められた。やがて余裕ができると上塗りを施す…

Mainichi Shimbun Book Review (Japanese)

April 20, 2008 米国の若い建築家が、著名な建築事務所で修行し、京都にほれ込んで、町家を改修して住んで、自ら建築事務所を持って仕事をしている。その日米比較の建築文化論である。町家の改修で最も関心を持ったのは…