Tomoyuki Iekami
Tomoyuki Iekami | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | 21 December 1956 |
| Alma mater | University of Daishi |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Practice | Iekami Daihon Architecture and Design |
| Buildings | Dayacom One Shizuna World Financial Center Imanaga Takena Takagi Spire Imanaga Kitaizumi New Era Trade Center Myoga Holdings Complex Coatl Tower One Nakaya Myoga Holdings Complex |
| Projects | Various ongoing |
Tomoyuki Iekami is a Dayashinese architect and interior design visionary. He is known for desigining many of the world's tallest skyscrapers, mostly in Dayashina and Shijuku, specialising in supertall buildings between the height of 500 and 700 meters. He has served as the senior architect and design lead in projects across the world outside of Dayashina, including the New Era Trade Center in Hanhae, the Coatl Tower in Maq'ia, and a variety of projects in Shijuku. Iekami is famed for his implementation of grand-scale neofuturism into his architecture and interior design, alongside "post-modern" interpretations of traditional Dayashinese architectural elements and interior design styles.
Early life and education
Tomoyuki Iekami was born in Nakazara, Dayashina in 1956 to an upper middle-class family. Iekami would grow up between Kitaizumi in Shijuku and Nakazara due to his father's position in a then-prominent petrol company. He would eventually attend the University of Daishi, passing through what is considered one of the top architecture programmes in Dayashina. After his tenure at the University of Daishi finished in 1978, Iekami would take a 2 year hiatus from education and employment in order to explore global landmarks and gain sources of inspiration for his architectural ambition.
Career
In 1980, Iekami found employment at a prominent Themiclesian architectural company, Creative Union & Sons Co. The company, along with Pastuk & Sons Co, was one of two Themiclesian architectural companies that were working on constructing and completing the 508 meter tall Kien-k'ang Financial Centre, which was, up to that point, the tallest and most expensive architectural project undergone in human history. There, Iekami would start employment as an understudy to highly experienced architects in the field, eventually moving up to establish himself as a structure and design consultant working on the Kien-k'ang megaproject by 1984. The next 8 years of his working life would be entirely focused on the completion of the financial center, being one of only two Dayashinese architects authorised to work on the project. In this time period, Iekami would gain valauble technical experience and aesthetic inspiration for his own ambitions for skyscraper megaprojects. In 1994, upon celebrating the completion of the financial center, Iekami would announce his departure from Creative Union & Sons Co, with intentions to start his own architectural firm.
Iekami founded his practice, Iekami Daihon Architecture and Design later that year, quickly gaining the attention of prominent Dayashinese investors thanks to his association with Creative Union & Sons Co and their involvement in the construction of the Kien-k'ang Financial Center. The skyscraper had been erected during a time of relative economic prosperity for Dayashina, with emerging attitudes of high positivity and national pride following victory in Kouraki and steady detente with Menghe. The Prime Minister of the time, Otoya Endo, had congratulated Themiclesia on their unprecedented architectural achievement, and had expressed interest in undertaking similar projects within Dayashina. Some of Dayashina's largest companies would be in contact with Iekami Daihon, competing for a bid to build Dayashina's first megaproject. Dayacom would win the first bid with a multi-billion Septentrion Standard Dollar investment, quickly followed by Maya Financial Servies.
Projects and recognition
| Name | Image | Role | City | Country | Height | Timeline | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m | ft | |||||||
| Dayacom One | 
|
Leading architect and interior designer | Nakazara | Dayashina | 580 | 1902 | 1994-2000 | Dayacom One serves as the headquarters for Dayacom and as a popular community hub in Nakazara, hosting residential floors, hotels, restaurants, pools, observation decks, clubs, and other amenities. Its bottom floors connect to a mall and a world convention center. |
| Shizuna World Financial Center | 
|
Leading architect and interior designer | Shizuna | Dayashina | 560 | 1837 | 2000-2004 | Shizuna World Financial Center serves as the headquarters for Maya Financial Services, the largest financial company in Dayashina. |
| Imanaga Takena | 
|
Senior consultant | Takena | Dayashina | 512 | 1679 | 2004-2010 | Imanaga Takena is a resort complex built on the coastal outskirts of Takena, Dayashina. It was the first Iekami Daihon project handled by an understudy architect of Tomoyuki Iekami - Kim Hae-il, his first student. |
| Takagi Spire | 
|
Leading architect and interior designer | Takena | Dayashina | 665 | 2182 | 2004-2010 | The Takagi Spire serves as the headquarters for Takagi, the conglomerate owned by Kaito Takagi including the space company Meira and the electronic vehicle company Taiyo. |
| Imanaga Kitaizumi | 
|
Leading architect and interior designer | Takena | Dayashina | 515 | 1700 | 2008-2014 | Imanaga Kitaizumi is an all-residential building built in Kitaizumi, Shijuku, hosting an Imanaga resort alongside a variety of apartments and suites under affiliated companies. Tomoyuki Iekami and Iekami Daihon were brought on board to the project in 2010. |
| New Era Trade Center | 
|
Senior consultant | Cheonjin | Hanhae | 555 | 1820 | 2012-2018 | The New Era Trade Center is a community hub built in Hanhae, hosting hotels, restaurants, clubs, offices, and observation decks. It is the largest building in Hanhae. The project was led by Jiro Abe, an Iekami Daihon architect and student of Tomoyuki Iekami. |
| Coatl Tower | 
|
Senior consultant | Huecapatl | Maq'ia | 601 | 1972 | 2016-2022 | Coatl Tower is a supertall skyscraper built in the capital of Maq'ia, serving as a community hub and hosting a famous five star restaurant and observation deck near the top. The project was led by Daiki Watanabe, an Iekami Daihon architect and student of Tomoyuki Iekami. |
| One Nakaya | 
|
Leading architect and interior designer | Nakazara | Dayashina | 660 | 2165 | 2014-2022 | One Nakaya is a multipurpose skyscraper built in Nakazara. It is considered the "love child" of Iekami Daihon's early arcology concepts and neofuturistic skyscraper design, intended to be built as an near self-sufficient "vertical city." |
| Myoga Holdings Complex | 
|
Various | Kitaizumi | Shijuku | 300 | 984 | 2010-2022 | The Myoga Holdings Complex project encompasses multiple city blocks, nearly a district, built specifically for Myoga Holdings, the largest financial company in Shijuku and Meridia. It features a 300m skyscraper alongside a large ground-level and underground complex. The project involved Tomoyuki Iekami in various roles, mostly hands-off and supervisory, while the majority of the project was directed by Kim Hae-il. |
Interior design and influence
Tomoyuki Iekami complements his neo-futuristic approach to exterior design with an equally neo-futuristic approach to interior design and aesthetics. Iekami cites his friend, the artist Takefusa Miyamoto as his primary influence on interior design, drawing from his walk-through exhibitions and photorealistic digital renders of living spaces. Iekami's brand of interior design focuses heavily on the importance of lighting in the presentation of a space, with a particular emphasis on soft ambient overhead lighting, contrasted by hard complements in eye-level spaces using modern LED strips. He favours externally compact, yet internally spacious layouts, achieving this through general adherence to minimalistic design and concentrating functional elements on or near walls. Iekami will often combine these aspects with traditional elements of Dayashinese interior design tenets, blending the new and old together seamlessly with the integration of electronics.
He is noted as one of the most influential people on interior design principles in Dayashina, with tens of millions of individuals and many companies finding his "applied Miyamoto-style aesthetic" to be desirable and favourable to the eye. The company Iekami Daihon has worked with some of Dayashina's most prevalent tech companies, such as Dayacom, Ibaraki, and Hoko, to create integrated smart-home and smart-living technologies that adhere to his design influences.
Iekami Daihon not only completes interior design contracts with large companies, but also in public locations, smaller vanity projects, superyachts, and individuals.
A lobby in Imanaga Kitaizumi designed by Iekami Daihon
A residential suite designed by Iekami Daihon
A public swimming pool designed by Iekami Daihon
Himeji, a restaurant in Myoga Holdings Complex, Shijuku
