AK Alvisi Kirimoto

Alvisi Kirimoto is an international practice that works in the field of architecture, urban planning and design.

Founded by Massimo Alvisi and Junko Kirimoto in 2002, the firm stands out for its sartorial approach to design, “sensitive” use of technology and control of space, starting from The Hands Work – the manipulation of “sheets of paper”. Dialogue with nature, urban regeneration and attention to social issues make its projects unique in the international architectural scene.

By merging Italian and Japanese sensibilities, the office has carried out numerous projects in and beyond Italy. These include the Medlac Pharma industrial plant in Hanoi, Vietnam (2011); the Incà complex of small and medium industries in Barletta (2010), the new Molino Casillo headquarters (2012) and the restoration of the Teatro Comunale di Corato (2012) in Puglia; the refurbishment of the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg (2013); the Podernuovo Winery in Palazzone, Tuscany (2013); the executive offices for a private client on the 32nd floor of a skyscraper in the heart of Chicago (2018) and the reconstruction of a new Pavilion (2022) within the LUISS Guido Carli Campus in Rome; the training centers within Whittle School and Studios shopping centers in Nanjing and Shanghai in China (2019); the restoration and expansion of Villa K, a historic farmhouse in the Langhe, Piedmont (2018); and the Great Hall of the LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome (2018); the social housing complex Viale Giulini Affordable Housing in Barletta, Puglia (2020); and the renovation of Casa C, an apartment in Rome (2020). In addition to this, the firm collaborated with OMA as Executive and Local Architect at the Prada Foundation project in Milan (2015).

Alvisi Kirimoto has won international competitions and prizes, such as the 2012 AIT Award for the Teatro dell’Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples and the International Architecture Award 2021 of The Chicago Athenaeum for the Camerino Academy of Music for the Andrea Bocelli Foundation for the Museums and cultural buildings section. The Viale Giulini Affordable Housing project in Barletta, Puglia, won the Best Residential Architecture award at the BigSEE Architecture Award 2021, the In / Arch Puglia and Basilicata 2020 Award for new construction projects and a nomination for the EU Mies van der Rohe Award in 2021. The Chicago Executive Offices won Interior Design Magazine’s Best of Year Awards in 2019, the Recognizing Exemplary Design (RED) Award from the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), and the Global Design & Architecture Design Awards for the Interior Corporate Building category. Casa B + B and Casa C recently won the Best Project 2021 award. The office participated in the International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2012, in 2016 and in the latest edition (2018), and was called upon by Italian Pavilion curator Mario Cucinella join the scientific committee to support the research and contribute to the exhibition with the Podernuovo Winery in Palazzone, Tuscany. Created for Giovanni and Paolo Bulgari, the project was a finalist for the Gold Medal for Italian Architecture (2015) and won the Plan International award (2015), the first edition of the Tuscany Architecture Award (2017) and Special Prize at the XII edition of the Fassa Bortolo International Sustainable Architecture Award (2017). In 2019, the firm participated in the Biennale di Architettura di Pisa — Time of Water.

The office’s work has been widely published in national and international magazines. These include the Architectural Record and The Plan, which respectively feature its project for the headquarters of a private client in Chicago on the cover of the September and December 2018 issues, Abitare, AD, Casabella, Domus, ELLE Decor, INTERNI, Living, Surface, The Plan, YAPI, Il Corriere della Sera, Il Messaggero, L’Espresso, and La Repubblica.

The office is involved in various urban regeneration and restoration projects in and beyond Italy, including the redevelopment of the historic centre of Hanoi and the strategic guidelines for the Battipaglia urban plan, the feasibility study and urban regeneration of Chianciano Terme in Tuscany. Among the various works in progress we mention: a project, won following an international competition, of a kindergarten, civic center, library and park in Grottaperfetta, in the southern outskirts of Rome; the construction of a management complex in Via Laurentina in Rome; the construction of the Colosseum Service Center, the design of a stage for concerts and events in the Basilica of Maxentius and the construction of the information center of the Centocelle Park Enhancement of Roman Villas, also in the capital; the redevelopment of the entrance to the Archaeological Area of the Port of Trajan in the Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica - Fiumicino; the consolidation, recovery and extraordinary maintenance works of the Cinema Massimo, L’Aquila; the construction of the IPSIA Renzo Frau professional institute with the Andrea Bocelli Foundation in San Ginesio, Marche; a research and development center in Oderzo in the province of Treviso; the refurbishment and expansion of the Vecchia Romagna cellars in San Lazzaro di Savena, in the province of Bologna; Villa S, a villa with park in Porto Rotondo, Sardinia.