FRAME Lifetime Achievement Award: Masamichi Katayama

Since 2018, the prize is annually awarded to the designer who has made a significant contribution to the spectrum of spatial design. The oeuvre prize was previously received by the British interior architect Sevil Peach and French architect and designer Philippe Starck. This year, the honour goes to the Japanese interior architect Masamichi Katayama.

In the early 1990s, Masamichi Katayama, together with business partner Tsutomu Kurokawa, founded a successful agency for retail design. Under the name H Design Associates, the duo combined youth culture with slightly extraterrestrial, mostly spaceship-inspired interiors. For example, the interior of clothing store Nowhere, owned by Japanese clothing designer, DJ, music producer and entrepreneur Nigo. In 2000, the duo ended their collaboration after it became clear that they were no longer on the same page. Subsequently, Masamichi founded his own interior design agency called Wonderwall inc..

A common client of Wonderwall was the well-known fashion brand A Bathing Ape, which was - like Nowhere - founded by Nigo. Masamichi quickly established a name for himself, which lead to collaborations with fashion brands like Fred Perry, APC, Uniqlo and Nike. Masamichi is praised for his progressive vision in the field of spatial design and almost all of his projects have effortlessly endured the test of time. 

The Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded on 20 February at B.Building Amsterdam. Want to be there? You can! You can buy your tickets here.