POLA / 小大建築設計事務所

Shinya Kojima
Born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan in 1981. In 2004, he graduated from the Tokyo University of Science with an Architecture and Building Engineering degree. From 2004 to 2007, he worked as a freelance architect in Dalian, China, collaborating with Satoru Kato. Then, from 2008 to 2015, he worked at Kengo Kuma & Associates. In 2015, he established kooo architects.

Ayaka Kojima
Born in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan in 1986. 2009, she graduated from TEXAS A&M University with a Bachelor's degree. Subsequently 2012, she earned a Master's degree from SCI–ARC. From 2013 to 2015, she worked at Kengo Kuma & Associates. In 2015, she established kooo architects.

A Tokyo / Shanghai-based design firm led by architects Shinya Kojima and Ayaka Kojima.
They are committed to designing places where people can gather and create a sustainable, large, and reliable economy, even from small, local objects, in order to revitalize human relationships that have become superficial in today's information society and a faded sense of local community. They also aim to pass on craftsmanship and local beauty by incorporating materials that can inherit the local climate and cultural backgrounds, as opposed to materials that have become homogenized after mass production. The company operates the renovation brand "ichijo-toma" with the theme of "living with the comfortable beauty of Japan".