Atsushi Kitagawara was born in
Nagano Prefecture, Japan. While studying for a BA in architecture at
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music he won first prize in the
Japan Architect International Design Competition. He graduated in 1974 and proceeded to a master's degree at the same institution, participating in an urban design project while attending graduate school. He began working as an architect in 1975, and in 1982 founded his own firm Atsushi Kitagawara Architects, Inc. He was in 2005 appointed Professor at the
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Since beginning work in his twenties Kitagawara has undertaken architectural projects, urban planning, landscape design, furniture and stage design (including "One of a Kind" for
Jiri Kylian, choreographer and artistic director of the
Netherlands Dance Theatre). His concepts and methods draw on fields including poetry, music and contemporary arts. He has won a number of awards, including the Architectural Institute of Japan Award in 2002, the first prize in the Innovative Architecture International Award (Italy) in 2006, the Grand-Prix in the Kenneth Brown Architecture Design Award in 2007, the Murano Togo Prize, the
AIA Japan Professional Honor Award in 2008, Top Prize of JIA Grand Prix in 2009, and the
Japan Art Academy Prize in 2010. As of 2008 he works extensively outside Japan, including from his
atelier in Europe. He also teaches at the
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and practices along with associates at Atsushi Kitagawara Architects. In 2019, Kitagawara becomes a professor emeritus of Tokyo University of the Arts. Atsushi style is artistically shaped and expressionistic, which celebrates the experience of space, without losing sight of the functional requirements. Through numerous award-winning projects, such as the Nakamura Keith Haring Museum, he is constantly exploring new means of construction, composition and usage of materials. He thereby creates complex spatial structures and façades, which challenge the conventional viewing patterns of the user, whilst never diminishing the human criteria. In 2025, Kitagawara’s major solo exhibition titled "Atsushi Kitagawara: Constellations of Time and Space" is open at the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection Art Museum, a museum he designed, in Yamanashi, Japan. In the same year, Atsushi Kitagawara Architects has been reorganized to MET Team Architects with Kitagawara serving as a fellow. ==Awards==