(“Text as submitted by architect”)
Shuhei Aoyama
Shuhei Aoyama was born in 1980 in Hiroshima, Japan. He graduated from Osaka University in 2003 and received a master’s degree from the University of Tokyo in 2005. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at SAKO Architects. In 2012, he was invited to be a lecturer at the School of Architecture and Art, North China University of Technology.
In 2014, Shuhei Aoyama founded B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio in Beijing. His main representative works include Zolaism Café, 1402 Coffee, theTang Hotel, % Arabica Coffee in Jianguo West Road, Shanghai and Kuanzhai Alley, Chengdu, BAN Villa in Kunshan. Forest Valley Hot Spring Center in Chengde, Lost & Found OōEli Store in Hangzhou, HOUSE VISION — 400 Boxes, Historic House Renovation in Suzhou and M WOODS Art Community Renovation in Beijing, etc.
Shuhei Aoyama’s representative works have been selected and honored by many of the world’s most authoritative awards, such as winners of Architizer A+Awards, Architecture MasterPrize, Restaurant & Bar Design Awards and FX Awards, Archdaily Best Architectural Projects, and the finalist of Dezeen Awards. He also got Award360° best brand space, IAI best design award, JCD DESIGN AWARD BEST 100 by the Japanese Commercial Environment Designer Association, WA Housing Award in 2016, and the Silver Award by China Architecture Association. He has also been rated as ‘Model Young Designer of the Year’ by Beijing Youth Weekly in 2017. In the same year, he was named ‘40 under 40 — Chinese Outstanding Young Designers’. He was also selected by Yicai as the 2017 Best International Entrepreneur of the Year — Yicai Brilliant 20
Yoko Fujii
Partner, Principal Architect
2014-：Established B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio
2004-2014：Worked at SAKO Architects
2004：Graduated from Japan Women’s University, Course of Design, Department of Housing and Architecture (Prof. Yuzuru Tominaga Studio)
2003：Beijing Language and Culture University
1980：Born in Tokyo, Japan
Practice Ideology
Founded in 2014, B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio was established in Beijing by Japanese architects Shuhei Aoyama and Yoko Fujii. It is an international architecture studio full of youthfulness and vitality oriented towards architecture and architectural interior design. B.L.U.E. is the abbreviation for Beijing Laboratory for Urban Environment, and it is also the core design philosophy of the studio. Focusing on the intense collision of rich history and vanward thought of Beijing, B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio is working on the design practices of architecture, interior design, product design, and art. In other to archive the research on urban physics, society, culture and environment, thus seeks to create a design platform that truly connects the urban environments.
B.L.U.E. Architecture studio practices a wide variety of projects, ranging from architectural projects, urban renewal, cultural spaces, and renovation projects, to experimental studies of new lifestyles, in major cities at home and abroad, including Beijing, Shanghai, Kyoto, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, etc. Among them, Zolaism Café, 1402 Coffee, and theTang Hotel bring new vitality to the cultural community of Aranya. BAN Villa. a miniature water town, which is to create a rural plain life experience. Located on Jianguo West Road in Shanghai, % Arabica Coffee breaks the space boundary to bring urban views indoors. M WOODS Art Community Renovation brings freshness to Longfusi street in Beijing. In the north of Chengde, the firm creates Forest Valley Hot Spring Center with vertical towers and horizontal glass boxes. Located in Hangzhou’s landmark OōEli, Lost & Found Store. ‘400 boxes’ in Quanzhou, which is a concept of a new sharing community for the individual era of young people.
B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio is very concerned about contemporary art and design. Invited by UCCA in 2019 and 2021, the firm participated in the ‘Insight & Vision’ in Beijing and Suzhou, and in 2020, participated in the Beijing Urban Architecture Biennale held in Zhangjiawan Design Town, Beijing sub-center; In September 2018, ‘HOUSE VISION’ came to China and the firm was invited to create a ‘400 boxes’ project during the exhibition. In 2016, the studio was invited to participate in Venice Architecture Biennale ‘China House Vision’. In 2015, we participated in the theme exhibition ‘Humanistic Nature and Society (Shan-Shui) – an Insight Into the Future’ sponsored by the Himalayan Art Museum.
B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio has been rated as “100 TOP ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN TALENTS IN CHINA” by AD. The firm has been selected and honored by many of the world’s most prestigious awards, For example, winners of Architizer A+Awards, Architecture MasterPrize and Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, FX Awards, Archdaily Best Architectural Projects, and the finalist of Dezeen Awards. The firm also got Award360° best brand space, IAI best design award, JCD DESIGN AWARD BEST 100 by the Japanese Commercial Environment Designer Association, and was selected for the WA Housing Award in 2016. In the same year, the firm was honored with the Silver Award by China Architecture Association. Shuhei Aoyama, the founder of B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio, was rated as “Model Young Designer of the Year” by Beijing Youth Weekly in 2017. In the same year, he was named “40 under 40 – Chinese Outstanding Young Designers”. He was also selected by Yicai as the 2017 Best International Entrepreneur of the Year – Yicai Brilliant 20.
