KUMA & ELSA is an international architecture and urbanism practice established in 2018, led by Shohei Kuma, a Japanese architect, and Elsa Escobedo, a French Spanish urban designer.
They collaborate on international projects from their bases in France and Japan. Kuma graduated in architecture from the Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and Kyushu University (Japan), and has worked for several years as a chief architect in the Tokyo based architecture office Mount Fuji Architects Studio.
Elsa graduated in urbanism and design from Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (France) and École Boulle (France). She has worked as an urban designer at the London based office What if : projects, and as a consultant at La Condition Urbaine and at the Agence Ter in Paris.
KUMA & ELSA was selected to create a pavilion in the Chartreuse Natural Regional Park in 2018, to design an ephemeral courtyard in Montpellier in 2019, and to exhibit a new project in Tokyo and Kyoto in 2019.
Their current projects include an art facility, a research centre and a private residence (Japan), a weekend house (France) and an artist atelier (Spain).
