Emerging Architectural Practice Award - 2019 Recipient

Partners: Eiri Ota and Irene Gardpoit

UUfie is an interdisciplinary, research-based architecture studio, founded in 2009 in Tokyo, Japan by partners Irene Gardpoit, MRAIC, and Eiri Ota. In 2013, they moved to Toronto, ON. UUfie’s work spans art, architecture, landscape, furniture, and product design. A recurring theme is the natural world.

For the Printemps Haussmann department store in Paris, France (2017), the studio designed a vertical circulation space featuring a three-dimensional form they call a veil. It is punctured with 17,200 petal-like openings, giving an effect of falling blossoms.

The shape of an iceberg inspired a new flagship store in Shanghai, China (2015) for the Canadian fashion house Ports 1961. It has a distinctive glass façade that seems to undulate and expand and contract.

Lake Cottage (2013) in Kawartha Lakes, ON uses a conventional Japanese wood preservation technique – charred cedar – and gives the sensation of being in a tree house.

The firm's projects have involved collaborators from Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan. For example, in 2016, they stayed in Italy for over a month to produce their Echo table with a local fabricator who had made metalwork for the Italian architect Carlo Scarpa.

A graduate of the University of Toronto, Gardpoit trained at Arata Isozaki Atelier in Tokyo. She is an Ontario-licensed architect. Ota graduated from Musashino Art University in Tokyo and trained under Jun Aoki & Associates in Tokyo. His architecture licence is from Japan.

The studio has received numerous awards, including the Architectural Record Design Vanguard Award, an Ontario Association of Architects Design Excellence Award, and Project of the Year from Interior Design magazine. UUfie’s work has also appeared in over 100 major publications as well as galleries, museums, and exhibitions. 

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