Ushida Findlay Architects is an architectural practice originating in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

but now based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. They are known for their unusual, non-rectilinear, neo-expressionist buildings, including their ''Soft and Hairy House'' in

Tsukuba is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 244,528 in 108,669 households and a population density of 862 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 20.3%. The total ar ...

(1994). Their starfish-shaped design for a country house at Grafton Hall Estate in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

(2002) was selected in competition but ultimately went unrealised. The practice were architects for the

ArcelorMittal Orbit The ArcelorMittal ''Orbit'' (often referred to as the Orbit Tower or its original name, ''Orbit'') is a sculpture and observation tower in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London. It is Britain's largest piece of public art, an ...

tower, the UK's tallest sculpture, providing architectural design to transform it into a functional building.Will Hurs
'Orbit becomes UK's highest sculpture: Topping out of ArcelorMittal Orbit attended by Arup and Ushida Findlay Architects...
Building Design, 31 October 2011. Retrieved 2012-06-18.

History

Ushida Findlay was originated in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, set up in 1986 by husband and wife team, Eisaku Ushida and

Kathryn Findlay Kathryn Findlay (26 January 1953 – 10 January 2014) was a Scottish architect. Early life and education Findlay was born in Forfar in Scotland, the daughter of a sheep farmer, and studied fine arts at the Edinburgh College of Art. She moved to ...

. They came to the UK in 1999, setting up the practice in Edinburgh.Steve Ros
''The rural renewal of Kathryn Findlay''
The Guardian, 19 July 2009. Retrieved 2012-06-14. However, the couple split-up and the company experienced financial difficulties, filing bankruptcy in 2004. Findlay launched her own separate practice. The practice is currently working on York Art Gallery.

Notable projects

* Echo Chamber,

* Truss Wall House, Tokyo (1993) * Soft and Hairy House,

(1994) * ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower, Olympic Park, London (2011)

References

External links

* * * {{cite web, url=http://www.arcelormittalorbit.com/orbits-journey/perspectives/kathryn-findlay/, title=Kathryn Findlay: The ArcelorMittal Orbit’s "random and chaotic spaces" set it apart on London’s skyline, publisher=ArcelorMittal Orbit, access-date=16 June 2012 Companies established in 1986 Architecture firms based in London 1986 establishments in Japan 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom