Tomokazu Iwabuchi, CEO of Urbanix Co., Ltd., spoke at "TABLE SESSION TENJIN Vol.14," held on Monday, June 22, 2026. The event took place at URBANG TABLE, a community space in Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka, operated by the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR).
About the Event
TABLE SESSION TENJIN is a talk series built on the idea that "city-building is relationship-building." It brings together guests from a range of fields to discuss Fukuoka's past and its future.
This session's theme was "Can Design Become a City's Asset? — The Fukuoka Design Center Concept." What would change about the city's landscape, its industries, and the way people connect, if Fukuoka had a hub for learning about design, talking about it, and carrying it into the next act of creation? Together with the audience, the session explored how the design heritage lying dormant in Fukuoka could be carried into the city-building of the future.
- Date/time: Monday, June 22, 2026, 19:00–20:30
- Venue: URBANG TABLE (1F, Tenjin Building Annex, 4-3-30 Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka)
- Organizer: Urban Renaissance Agency (UR)
What Was Discussed
Speaking both as CEO of Urbanix Co., Ltd. and in his role at the Design Center Preparatory Office of the Product Design Research Institute (a general incorporated association), Iwabuchi introduced case studies of city-building that connects urban life with creativity.
The other guest, Atsuki Yamada of the Product Design Research Institute, introduced the collection and archive project built around designer Keiji Nagai. The discussion went beyond simply preserving design, asking how it could be put back into circulation as a civic asset — and from there, explored the potential for a design center in Fukuoka.
We cover the effort to carry forward the Keiji Nagai Collection in more detail in this article.
URBANIX's Perspective
As an urban design firm, URBANIX works on city-building through research, analysis, and spatial design. In this talk, we shared examples from our own practice on how design — as a local asset — can be connected to creating value in an area and to renovation-led city-building.