
SEIYA FURUKAWA
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SAY IT LOUD - North Carolina Exhibitor
North Carolina Based Designer
Who or what inspires you professionally?
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Local architecture firms and their works inspires me in terms of the impact that they have on the community and what I want to do in the future as an architect.
SEIYA FURUKAWA
Bio:
The great designer, Seiya Furukawa, a third-year architecture student studying at the School of Architecture at North Carolina State University. Both of my parents are Japanese Immigrants, and I grew up having a lot of exposure to the Japanese language and culture. My favorite architects are Peter Zumthor, Olson Kundig Architects, and Kengo Kuma just to list a few. By my personal favorite work of architecture that I have visited would be the High Line in New York City by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
Architecture has been a relatively close part of my life as I grew up since my father is an architect. I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in architecture later in high school since I felt more passionate about the act of building and making.
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What do you do?
I study architecture. Most of the time I'm either on SketchUp or AutoCAD working on my studio projects.
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What excites you in the work you do?
What excites me the most in studying architecture is being able to see progress over time through studio projects. It’s almost like a puzzle, as we obtain new pieces of knowledge that I can apply to my work.
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Who or what inspires you professionally?
Local architecture firms and their works inspires me in terms of the impact that they have on the community and what I want to do in the future as an architect.
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What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
My proudest moment was during a job interview. The interviewer asked me if one of my studio projects in my portfolio was really going to be built, and told me he would love to visit it. I wasn't able to get the position, but I was proud nonetheless.
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Featured Project Name:
House-Warming
Featured Project Location:
NC
Featured Project Completion Date:
02/19/2021
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Role in Featured Project:
Designer
Featured Project Description:
The House-Warming project is based on a passage from Henry Thoreau's "Walden" where he describes his ideals for a house. A humble house with a hearth where guests are able to feel welcome, provided with the freedom of the house. I made connections between his descriptions and a traditional Japanese house. I organized the spaces of the house in a grid, each square having an area of 4 1/2 tatami mats and the center square consisting of an Irori ( sunken hearth).
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