Background

Emi Hirasawa-Chateau is a Franco-Japanese architect, designer, and art director who has been living between Paris and Kyoto since 2019. After graduating in Interior Architecture from ESAG Penninghen and qualifying as a DPLG architect from the Paris–La Villette School of Architecture, she began her career with leading architecture firms in Paris before expanding her practice to encompass design, craftsmanship, and creative direction. Through Precious Kyoto (2019–2024), developed in collaboration with the Kyoto Prefectural Government, and Precious Kyoto α (since 2025), for which she serves as Artistic Director, she develops projects that highlight the excellence of Japanese craftsmanship and its relevance within contemporary creation.

Signature Style

Working closely with master artisans, she conceives projects, collections, and artistic directions that reveal the richness of ancestral techniques through a distinctly contemporary lens. At the intersection of Japanese and French cultures, her work seeks to build lasting bridges between heritage, innovation, and transmission.

Showstoppers

Emi Hirasawa-Château is the designer and artistic director of LA PUDEUR, a unique exhibition presented in Paris at the initiative of Raphaëlle Le Beaud. The works on display, originally commissioned as part of the PRECIOUS KYOTO α project, showcase the traditional craftsmanship of 13 Japanese ateliers, guardians of ancestral savoir-faire. Highlights include a series of exceptional folding screens designed by Emi Hirasawa-Château and crafted by the ateliers KYO KARAKAMI MARUNI, KOSEIDO, TAKEMATA NAKAGAWA TAKEZAITEN and WATABUN. Each creation embodies techniques mastered by only a handful of exceptional artisans.