Tadahiro Butsugan is the founder of Japanese interior design studio About, he was born in Osaka in 1982 and worked in Sato Sigenori Architects. He founded About Studio in 2015. In this issue, we invited Mr. Butsugan to have a talk with us including his design background, culture , design thinking and other in-depth dialogues.

Yinji：What kind of opportunity did you start About Studio?
Tadahiro Butsugan：In my elementary school graduation book, I wrote "I must become an architect or a designer". Although vague at times, I have been moving along this road. After graduating from university, I wrote a letter to Peter Zumthor, hoping to go to Switzerland to work with his firm, but I was rejected. Subsequently, I worked at Sato Shigetoku Design Office for 4 years, then at graf for 4 years, before starting my own business. Now as before, neither life nor enthusiasm has changed, and I am still chasing the dream of becoming an architect. Although the dream has come true, the dream is still ahead. I continue to look forward.

ABOUT was established in 2015. ABOUT is created for the purpose of creating environments and situations by using design. It is my mission to connect designers and manufacturers, manufacturers and users, and discover new values.

Yinji：What is the reason why the studio's name is "About"? What design concepts are included?
Tadahiro Butsugan：ABOUT is a preposition, which means the relationship, surroundings, or around some certain thing, while as an adverb, it can refer to concepts that are roughly, almost and often left blank. I attach great importance to relationships and white space (the blank). I take creating objects as my career and live ABOUT every day.
ABOUT wants to create a design situation from the blank part of this relationship and the white space which we all perceive and react to  unconsciously. 

Our approach to the challenge is to conceptualize and re-evaluate our own design with new interpretations. Based on the concept of simplicity and minimalism, materials, locations, history, and so on. We get inspiration from the existing side of the scene to express it. First of all, we must find the principle, functionalize the principle, bring it into reality, and carry out linguistic design. Then, using the essential design techniques passed down from the past to the future, I want to become a design team that creates the environment and the situation.

Yinji：How to combine traditional architecture with modern design?
Tadahiro Butsugan：For a long time, I have been strongly attracted to things made with wisdom and long-standing skills.Tradition is shaped by the influence of someone in the past to shape who I am today. In what I say every day, in the food I eat every day, and in the utensils I use every day, I have been influenced by people in the past. It is the joy of knowing this and my thirst for knowledge that drove me to create.

To cherish tradition is to create a new era. I want to design something that can only be done now, while taking into account people living in the distant future. We also believe that it is important to find a way to combine tradition with today's materials.

Yinji：How do you understand the aesthetics of “Wabi-Sabi”?
Tadahiro Butsugan：I understand "Wabi-Sabi" as "change". Break or remove a noble form to change it.I think it means changing what others have done in a certain period of time and doing it from a different perspective.Furuta Oribe, known as the fourth ancestor of the tea ceremony, was asked what he learned from teacher Sen Rikyu.His answer was that the four ancestors of the tea ceremony wrote "different from others".I think this is based on the understanding of sentence patterns and forms, not relying on formulas, but a spirit that is not afraid of constant change.

Yinji：You have designed a lot of exquisite shops. What elements do you think an excellent shop design needs?
Tadahiro Butsugan：It's about finding the identity and principles that already exist in the client and the background.We believe in functionalizing principles, bringing them into reality, expressing them in language, and designing with them.Of course, in the design stage, materials and technology are necessary, but the most important thing is how to adapt the essence of design to the modern world.

Yinji：How to solve the relationship between product sales and display space?
Tadahiro Butsugan：The first consideration in the relationship with objects in space is the size system. The height of the counter is 1069, the height of the VMD appliance is 815,To some extent, consider the composition of the space based on the size. In addition, it is necessary to grasp the material of the product in advance, by absorbing the material that is different from the commercial quality, by setting off the product, thoroughly savoring the material, and constantly thinking about the affinity with the product.

Yinji：How do you see the influence of different cultures in the East and the West on design?
Tadahiro Butsugan：Nowadays, we can get information from anywhere. I think the uniformity and commercialization of design all over the world is becoming more and more obvious. Moreover, the distance between Eastern and Western cultures has also shortened, and the requirements for uniqueness are even higher. However, as tools for understanding the climate, climate, history and culture of various countries have increased, digital transformation has taken place at all levels, and there are more opportunities to acquire new values in the field of design.

Just as the Easterners yearn for Western culture, in this era when Westerners also yearn for Eastern culture, I have often pondered the thought that isn’t this what we need to rebuild a unique culture?