Don O'Keefe
Assistant Professor Adjunct
Don O’Keefe is the principal architect of O'Keefe & Associates, a design practice in New York City, Tokyo, and Richmond. Current projects include a hotel in northern Japan, a home renovation in Tokyo, and an urban redevelopment in Virginia. Projects completed by the office include an art gallery in Brooklyn, a renovation of a unit in the Nakagin Capsule Tower, a cabin in Virginia, a flat-pack plywood furniture set, and various interior projects in Japan and the US. As a consultant, O’Keefe has advised corporations and government agencies including CoStar Group, Mitsubishi Estate, and the City of Yokohama.
O’Keefe is currently assistant professor adjunct at the Cooper Union, and previously held appointments at Harvard University and Keio University in Tokyo, where he helped to launch the Fumihiko Maki Archive. His writing has been published in venues including The Architectural Review, The Japan Times, and the recent book Sharing Tokyo (Actar Press, 2023).
O’Keefe is a registered architect in New York and Virginia, and a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Architectural Institute of Japan, the City Planning Institute of Japan, and the U.S. National Book Critics Circle. O'Keefe holds a Master in Architecture with distinction from Harvard University and a bachelor’s in urban studies and planning from the Virginia Commonwealth University.
O'Keefe's CV is available here.
Projects
Aomori Inn
In the northern Japanese prefecture of Aomori, an eighth-generation sake merchant envisioned transforming this historic shophouse into an inn. The renovated inn will contain guest rooms on the upper level and a sake bar on the ground floor. The bar connects to a garden shared with an existing coffee shop, creating a lively community space in an aging commercial district.
Nakagin Project
The project began as a renovation of a unit in Kisho Kurokawa’s Metabolist opus, the Nakagin Capsule Tower, which was then listed on Airbnb. The scope of work extended beyond the capsule to a visual identity for the "Save Nakagin Capsule Tower Project," the client’s personal effort to help preserve the building. A set of graphic standards were developed and applied to a range of products. These items were sold to Airbnb guests to help fund the preservation effort.
Hyland Furniture Set
This furniture set includes a chair, couch, desk, and coffee table. Each piece of furniture is made from CNC routed plywood components that can be shipped flat. The furniture can be assembled by amateurs without the use of nails or glue. Instead, pieces are joined using jigoku-hozo, or “hell joints”, a type of wedge-locked Japanese joinery. The wedges are made from cherry, a hardwood which contrasts with the plywood veneer.
Park Slope Art Space
This artist-run space in Park Slope, Brooklyn, hosts shows of local, national, and international artists, providing a platform for young people and giving more established artists a place to present experimental or in-process work.
Shinsen Apartment
Located in the hills above the bustling Shibuya station district, Shinsen is a neighborhood of narrow, winding streets and staircases. This apartment surveys a curving valley road that’s shape has stayed the same for three centuries as the city transformed around it. Though the interior is small, this top-floor apartment has access to two large terraces: one with an outdoor living area, the other an shaded, open-air home office. Modular furniture and a convertible office/bedroom make the most of the limited interior space.
