TAKAAKI KAWABATA
Takaaki comes from a family of architects and builders in his native country of Japan and has more than 25 years of experience in architecture and design. As a senior associate at the award-winning architecture firm Janson Goldstein LLP, he has designed and executed projects for Emporio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Donna Karan, CK Jeans, Holt Renfrew, Kohler, Ann Sacks, and a number of private residential projects. He also worked for Jack Travis Architect, Vignelli Associates, and Boyega Design, where his experience covered a wide range of projects, including work at the Miami Airport, NYC street scape, and exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum. Takaaki co-founded TAKATINA with Christina Kawabata in 2003.
Takaaki graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York in 1995. He has also been an adjunct professor of interior design at FIT since Fall 2000.
CHRISTINA KAWABATA
Christina grew up in Tokyo and Seoul, where she attended international schools, and later moved to the United States to attend New York University. Her experience through extensive travels has greatly shaped her creative life. As an interior designer at Richard Bloch Architect, she completed a number of restaurants, including one for celebrated chef Masa Takayama at his namesake restaurant Masa, inside the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, NYC. Christina co-founded TAKATINA with Takaaki Kawabata in 2003.
Christina graduated with an associate’s degree in fine arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, in 2001.
