In Memoriam Ryuichi Watanabe, Tokyo, Brussels

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to our dear colleague Ryuichi Watanabe. With his passing, we lose a loyal friend, a valued colleague, an inspiring leader, and a reliable partner. His absence leaves an immeasurable void.

Ryuichi Watanabe was an architect graduated from Tohoku University and joined our Brussels office in 2009. What began as a quiet presence grew into an indispensable force and ultimately into the determined founder and partner of Ney & Partners Japan. He introduced Laurent Ney and the work of Ney & Partners to the Japanese architectural community and played a key role in establishing the international presence of our practice.

Ryuichi recognized Japan as a promising field of work and saw opportunities to contribute, through our design philosophy, to a different kind of public infrastructure – one in which users, craftsmanship, and long-term vision are central.

In 2012, Ney & Partners JPN became a reality. Ryuichi sought out and secured commissions, initially in the more remote regions of Japan, from Sapporo to Misumi. A year later, in 2013, Ney & Partners won the competition for the new pedestrian bridge in Dejima, Nagasaki. The realization of this bridge was accompanied by an impressive participatory process initiated by Ryuichi, aimed at ensuring broad support during construction as well as long-term ownership and maintenance.

Over the course of fifteen years, Ryuichi built a company with a dedicated team of colleagues and a respected portfolio of commissions, including realized projects in Nagasaki, Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo and Itabashi.

His vision, commitment, and dedication to Ney & Partners will remain deeply embedded in our collective memory.

Our thoughts are with his wife and young son, his family, friends, and all those who were dear to him.