Japanese designer Sou Fujimoto on 'blurring the boundaries' between nature and architecture

Japan's fascination with toilet design is legendary, so it is perhaps no surprise that one of Sou Fujimoto's favourite projects is a tiny public toilet within a landscape garden next to Itabu station in Ichihara city, Chiba.

The Tokyo-based architect was in Hong Kong recently for Business of Design Week, where his intriguing design solution addressing the timeless issues of personal privacy, public space and nature drew spontaneous applause.

"That was a funny project," he said with a laugh. "The requirement was for a public toilet on a site that looked like a natural field. A public toilet is interesting because it is both very private and public at the same time.

"It is about the inside and outside, even though it is a very small space. The setting in Ichihara is so beautiful and I thought it would be a shame to close off the user," said Fujimoto. "I wanted to break the usual understanding of a public toilet and to take it back to a more fundamental level."

Fujimoto has received numerous awards, including The Architectural Review AR Award in 2006 for his Children's Centre for Psychiatric Rehabilitation in Hokkaido, Japan; and another AR Award in 2007 for his House O, an ultra-contemporary weekend retreat two hours' drive southeast of Tokyo, where he designed the living and dining areas, a bedroom, study and bathroom in one continuous tree-like space that maximises the site's panoramic sea views.

"Working with diverse scales is very exciting for me," said Fujimoto, who was born in Hokkaido and moved to Tokyo to study.