2026 Graduation Project ‘Drift, Tectonic, Sustain _ from Tanabe,Wakayama' by Hiroki Ozawa — IDREIT®

This project is based on approximately two years of field research conducted in Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture, and seeks to reinterpret and reconstruct regional space through the concept of “ownerless materials.”

Since the modern era, objects and spaces have been defined through systems of ownership, with value increasingly oriented toward economic efficiency and productivity. In this process, materials and relationships deemed unnecessary have been left behind. Vacant storefronts in shopping streets are one such example: spaces once active as “mise-no-ma,” where commerce and everyday life converged, now remain as residual “gaps” within the urban fabric.

In this project, drift materials, natural matter, and discarded objects encountered in the landscapes and daily life of Tanabe are treated as “ownerless materials” and used in the renovation of a vacant storefront, as well as in the production of interior furniture. By reconfiguring materials that have drifted beyond ownership as spatial elements, the project explores alternative relationships that diverge from conventional value systems.

Furthermore, the accumulation of relationships built through bi-monthly stays, along with the temporal layers embedded in the region, extend beyond physical renovation and contribute to a distinct sense of publicness within the space. The final exhibition presents a partial reconstruction of the renovated interior, furniture pieces, and a record of two years of activity, proposing new relationships between people, materials, and place mediated by “ownerless materials.”

words: Hiroki Ozawa

CREDIT

title: Drift, Tectonic, Sustain _ from Tanabe,Wakayama

student name: Hiroki Ozawa

school: Musashino Art University, Graduate School of Design, Department of Design, Scenography, Space Fashion, Interior, and Environment Design Course

year: 2026

category: Interior Design　