MOTOMI MORII - Principal
Motomi has worked with both private clients and developers in New York City and abroad for over ten years. Her varied portfolio extends from high-rise residential buildings to commercial grade furniture. This enables a reciprocal transfer of concepts between projects of different scales and varied functions.
In the beginning of her career, Motomi gained her experience in building alteration projects at European architectural practices. In 2008, she designed Dermalogica spa salons in Paris and Antwerp for Co. Studio in Antwerp, Belgium. In New York, she designed Avenues: The World School and several high-end residential projects for Bonetti Kozerski Architecture.
From 2013 to 2017, she worked at Robert A.M. Stern Architects as a senior architectural designer for multi-family residential buildings. In 2014 and 2015, she worked as a core team member for Audley Square House, an ultra-prime ground-up residential development located within the Mayfair Conservation Area in London. From 2015 to 2017 she worked on new mixed-use development projects such as 250 West 81st Street in New York, and 370-380 Harrison Avenue in Boston.
Motomi is also skilled in product design, and developed an outdoor lighting line, Ashbery, for Landscape Forms Inc. as well as an outdoor seating set, Plateau, for Perennials and Sutherland L.L.C.
Motomi was born and raised in Nara, Japan. She later moved to Europe to study architectural design at ESAG (Ecole Supérieure de design, d'art graphique et d’architecture intérieure) in Paris, France and product design at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland. She received her master’s degree from both institutions, and is a licensed interior architect in France. Her cabinetmaking experience in Finland, apprenticing directly under Kari Virtanen, one of Alvar Aalto’s close collaborators, greatly influenced her work ethic and sensibility. Thus, her background combines Japanese and Nordic aesthetics, looking to create utilitarian design with a simple but elegant outlook.