MOTOMI MORII
Motomi has been working with both private clients and developers in New York City and abroad for the past 10+ years. Her portfolio extends from high rise residential buildings to commercial grade furniture. This enables a reciprocal transfer of conception between projects of different scale and their respective function.
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. She developed an outdoor lighting line, Ashbery for Landscape Forms, Inc. and an outdoor seating set, Plateau for Perennials and Sutherland L.L.C.
Motomi was born and raised in Nara, Japan. Later she moved to Europe to study spatial design at ESAG (Ecole Supérieure de design, d'art graphique et d’architecture intérieure) in Paris, France and product design at Aalto Uinversity in Helsinki, Finland. She received her master’s degree from both institutions, and she 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, for a simple but elegant outlook.