we+ is a contemporary design studio founded in 2013 by Toshiya Hayashi and Hokuto Ando, that gives form to new perspectives and values using methods based on research and experimentation.

The studio explores the possibilities of alternative design that establishes a close coexistence with the natural and social environment around us, and incorporates a diversity of values that are often forgotten in today’s society, where convenience and rationality are sought. Members with diverse backgrounds and skills: designers, engineers, researchers and writers, come together to present self-initiated projects that have emerged from their daily research, both in Japan and abroad. With the knowledge gained from these projects, we participate in a wide range of corporate and organizational projects, including R&D, installations as commissioned works, branding, product development, spatial design and graphic design.

In recent years, we have been working on projects including “Nature Study”, which investigates how human beings have coexisted with nature until now and imagines a new way of living whereby nature and artificial merge, and “Urban Origin”, which examines the origins of today’s overly complicated manufacturing process and reevaluates the waste produced by cities as indigenous materials.