In September, #GROHE had the privilege of supporting an inspiring evening at #TheGlassHouse, celebrating the visionary work of #KulapatYantrasast — whose latest achievement, the completion of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New York, marks another milestone in his extraordinary career.
Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Kulapat in his New York studio to explore his lifelong engagement with cultural institutions around the world — from the Grand Rapids Art Museum to the upcoming Department Of Byzantine And Eastern Christian Art at Le Louvre in Paris.
Our conversation turned to the notion of #EmpathyInDesign — how architecture can create experiences rather than statements. What struck me most was Kulapat’s genuine generosity and deep curiosity about people. He drew a beautiful analogy between architecture and cooking: a building, like a dish, is a composition of ingredients — each one essential to the depth and richness of the final creation. Perhaps this is why his remarkable body of work does not adhere to a singular formal vocabulary, as his mentor Tadao Ando does, but instead reflects the cultures and communities it serves.
We concluded by discussing the rise of #WellnessDestinations and the essential role that Water plays in his philosophy. For Kulapat, water embodies both our inner nature and our connection to the environment — it calms, heals, and restores. At the Grand Rapids Art Museum, he even designed a reflective pond fed by collected rainwater, uniting function and poetry in one gesture.
I left our exchange deeply inspired and optimistic about the future of architecture — one shaped by empathy, purpose, and respect for nature.
#Architecture #Design #CulturalInstitutions #Sustainability #Innovation #ArtAndArchitecture #DesignLeadership #Inspiration #DesignThinking #ArchitecturalDesign