Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners

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); 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).
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. 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).

The firm’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. Works under construction: a project for a nursery school, civic centre, library and park in Grottaperfetta, on the southern outskirts of Rome, which was won in an international competition; the redevelopment of the entrance to the archaeological area of ​​the Porto di Traiano in the Ostia Antica – Fiumicino archaeological park; a social housing complex in Barletta and a luxury hotel spa overlooking the ancient port of Trani, both in Puglia; Villa K – a villa with a park in Porto Rotondo, in Sardinia; and the Whittle School and Studios in Nanjing and Shanghai.

Massimo Alvisi
Massimo Alvisi was born in Barletta in 1967 and graduated in Architecture from Florence university with honours in 1994, having undertaken an international thesis in collaboration with the École d'Architecture de La Villette. During his time at university he received a one-year scholarship to Darmstadt, Germany where he studied environmental sustainability with Thomas Herzog.
Massimo Alvisi was Design Architect for the Renzo Piano Building Workshop from 1995 to 2002, through to the completion of the Parco della Musica Auditorium in Rome.

In 2002, he founded Rome-based Alvisi Kirimoto together with Junko Kirimoto.

Massimo Alvisi deals with architectural planning, paying particular attention to the urban and social spheres. He has been a technical consultant for Casa Italia and a tutor for the G124 Project dedicated to "the mending of the peripheries”.
He taught in the Urban History course at the Faculty of Building Engineering and Architecture of the Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata (2014-2016), and in the "Architecture of Regeneration" course at the YACademy of Bologna (2018). He has held seminars, workshops and lectures all over the world, including "Working in the Urban Periphery" at the Royal Academy of Arts in London (2018).

Junko Kirimoto
Junko Kirimoto was born in Japan in 1970 and graduated in Architecture from Kyoto Seika university in 1992. Her thesis earned her the Golden Thesis Award from the JIA – the Japan Institute of Architects.
She has collaborated with several architects, including Shin Takamatsu, Kazuyo Sejima and Massimiliano Fuksas.

In 2002, she founded Rome-based Alvisi Kirimoto together with Massimo Alvisi.

Her cultural identity manifests in her attention to detail, design rigour and minimalist approach. She leads numerous projects, mainly related to the spheres of interior and industrial design. These include Whittle School & Studios in Nanjing and Shanghai, in collaboration with the Renzo Pianos Building Workshop, and the Foldable Layers furniture design project.