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Takao Habuka
Architect, president of Takao & S.E.N. Architect Associates.
Born in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, 1945. Establishes Sen Kobo Architect Office in 1975, subsequently renamed as Takao Habuka & S.E.N. Architect Associates on Oct. 1989.
Major works include Shikisai Ichiriki Hotel, Senjuan Hotel, Ginza Kyubey Annex, and Aidu Chuo Hospital. Recipient of numerous awards, including the Society Award by the Japan Society for Finishings Technology.
Early Life:
Takao was the first son born to Noboru Habuka, a forester, lumber merchant, and mill owner in Joetsu City. From his boyhood, he accompanied his father on trips to the mountains and watched him fell trees.
Noboru Habuka - Tree hunter:
Born in 1917, Noboru Habuka earned his living felling trees and trading in lumber in Higashi-Kubiki County, selling milled lumber to carpenters and builders. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 87.
Over the years, the term "forester" has taken on different meanings. In addition to the standard meaning of a man who fells trees and turns them into lumber, it has also been used to mean, a gambler and swindler. From the perspective of the tree, a forester is also a tree hunter; and when he eyes a tree, they say, the tree becomes petrified with fear.
After negotiating the right to log with the owner of the land, the forester proceeds to look for the right trees to cut down; and a really big one will stop dead in his tracks.
Spirit of the tree:
When he stand
Takao Habuka
Lineage of a Tree Hunter
An architect, Takao Habuka was born in Niigata, Japan in 1945.
He was the first son born to Noboru Habuka, a forester, lumber, merchant, and mill owner
in Joetsu City, Niigata prefecture. From his boyhood, he accompanied his father on trips to the mountains
and watched him fell trees.
Takao Habuka has become who he is by developing an understanding of the spirit and emotion of trees through his experience with his father, Noboru Habuka. Takao used wood combined with soil, paper and iron materials used by architects to achieve a Japanese style. What he has developed is a new style of Japanese architecture using wood as a base. His creation call to us, speak to us, and remain in our memory.