Interview with Katsunori Nagai

Based in Osaka, Japan, we are an office that designs commercial facilities and residential spaces. Our philosophy is to "give shape to our customers' ideas." The "Re+" in Re+ Design Lab has four important meanings. The first is Reconstruction. We break down our customers' ideas into their constituent parts and reconstruct them into new appeal. The second is Renovation. We provide new added value with unexpected ideas. The third is Reconsider. We continue to rethink new possibilities until we can give shape to our customers' ideas. The fourth is Recycle. We proactively utilize what is available and regenerate it into a new form. Our office is like a workshop (lab) where we carefully create each and every item using the four Re's.

I believe that design is about grasping things objectively and discerning their essence.

What I enjoy most is designing spaces for commercial facilities in general, such as restaurants, hotels, and retail stores.

This is a traditional Japanese teahouse. Teahouses are small spaces that have been stripped of all unnecessary elements, but when you enter them you feel as if you are in another world, isolated from the real world.

It is a small Italian restaurant with only seven seats at the counter. The restaurant's name comes from the work "ABITACOLO" by artist Bruno Munari.

My favorite materials are steel and wood, and I reconstruct existing building materials into something different.

A beautiful space that makes full use of the golden ratio

When designing a space, we place importance on where the customer is looking. We think about the installations that will create an impact on the first impression, and select materials in the space that will draw the customer's attention to the products.

It's a lot of fun and I can lose myself in thinking for hours.

The customer's thoughts are embodied, and it feels like meeting a part of the customer.

Don't give up thinking until the end.

It's important to make sure that what you want to communicate most clearly is immediately obvious.

It's about being environmentally conscious and reusing whatever is available whenever possible.
And it's about proactively communicating environmentally conscious design to society and spreading the idea.

I feel that the position and role of designers is not considered important in Japan. However, as business grows and develops, design will become one of the more important elements. In the future, as society develops and people's hearts become richer, I think design will become something that more people want.

I haven't had an exhibition yet.

When I think of designs, I walk along the river or in the city, combining what I see with what I think about, to come up with something new and original. My source of inspiration is the traditional Japanese landscape that permeates our daily lives.

At Re+ Design Lab, we combine four techniques to create spaces. The first is concept planning. Together with our customers, we plan the concept that will be the framework for the direction of the space and the main products, and at the same time, we decide on the store name and service name that fit the concept. The second is spatial composition based on the golden ratio and the shakkanho system. Beautiful things and comfortable spaces are composed of beautiful ratios. At Re+, we combine the golden ratio, which has been used since ancient Greece, and the shakkanho system, a unit unique to Japan, to create spaces. The third is visual presentation. For the main products and locations, we combine visual presentation (VMD) with the space to provide new added value by integrating the products and space into a highly branded way of showing them. The fourth is reconstruction and renewal. We break down the customer's thoughts into components, reconstruct them into new appeal, and reflect the added value in the space.
This style was arrived at after thinking about how to create something beautiful even with a limited construction budget if you have an idea.

I live in Osaka, Japan. The dimensional units of temples, teahouses, and traditional Japanese architecture are used in my designs. Traditional Japanese buildings are simple, but have a quiet design that gives the impression of time standing still. Living in Japan is an advantage in that you can feel that atmosphere, but if it is too simple, it can also be a disadvantage in that it is difficult to express originality.

As an external designer, I also supervise and advise on designs.

I think the company needs to clarify what they want to do and communicate that to the designer. After that, it's important to work together with the designer as a team, trusting each other. It's important to choose a designer who can clearly articulate the design from an objective point of view.

First, we start by coming up with a concept and creating a brand. After that, we plan the layout of the space using the golden ratio and the shakkanho system, and place an eye-catching idea in the area that the customer sees first. We also use materials that are in line with the concept and are original.

Ceiling lighting：Bullet（NEW LIGHT POTTERY）
Table lamp：TURN＋（Ambientec）
Tea bowl：Tabi-chawan（Isigaki-yaki Pottery Studio）
Bicycle：BALLAD OMEGA（FUJI）
Chair：A 100-year-old leather chair given to me by my grandfather

During the day I create drawings and come up with designs, and after work I go to my favorite restaurant or have dinner with friends on my balcony.

Never give up on your designs. And never compromise.

The good thing is that you can see the essence of things from an objective point of view. The bad thing is that if you are too particular, you may become detached from the rest of the world.

givers gain！！

To see the true nature of things from an objective point of view

MacbookPRO、VectorWarks、Adobe Illustrator、Adobe Photoshop、Gemini、Pinterest

Drawing is the most time-consuming part of the spatial design process. We collect the results of past measurements of the time required for drawing, and understand and manage how much time it will take. If we can understand this, we can manage the entire schedule.

It depends on the project, but for a commercial facility spatial design of around 100m2, it takes about 90 days.

How do you think about things to generate ideas?

Being exposed to a variety of works and knowledge

Presidents of restaurants, retail stores, beauty salons, hospitals, and real estate companies

The fun part of design work is coming up with concepts and developing building materials. If there are 100 clients, I think it is necessary to provide 100 different ideas. Each one is unique, and 100 different pieces will be created.

My future plans include building a studio for developing new materials.
My vision for the future is to design spaces related to all the services that I use in my daily life.

I develop the designs myself, but as the scale of the projects grows, we share the design work.

We are currently designing a private lodging facility in Kyoto. Although it is a new building, we are incorporating the essence of Kyoto into the design, and we are exploring how to create a new place that can only be experienced there.

Please contact us via our homepage.
https://www.replus-dl.com/

If you are planning to do business in a restaurant or hotel in Japan, please contact us.
We will provide you with a unique space design just for you.