Born in 1982 in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, Yuya Saito is currently based in Brooklyn, New York, where he operates Saito Studio. After graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma, he began exploring the intersections of sculpture, architecture, and urban culture, informed by the influence of street culture.
Employing advanced wood-bending techniques, Saito has developed a distinctive visual language known as “flow-chitecture,” a term combining “flow” and “architecture.” By introducing curved forms into the linear, rigid environments of the city, he seeks to dismantle the established rules that govern urban space.
Saito also collects scars, stains, and cracks found in cities, bringing together these “urban traces” from different times, places, and causes within a single composition. By allowing these disparate marks to coexist, he explores the possibilities of coexistence within today’s highly regulated urban environments.
In recent years, Saito has undertaken public art projects at the historic Brooklyn Army Terminal commissioned by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), as well as commissions for Mitsui Fudosan in Tokyo. Extending his concepts beyond the confines of his studio, he continues to create his work within actual urban environments, actively exhibiting across Japan, the United States, and other countries throughout Asia.