After graduation, Nagata started in WATG after responding to an advertisement. He came to know about the firm after applying for a travel grant. “It was about visiting these exclusive resorts designed by WATG. Maybe I just wanted to go on holiday,” Nagata chuckled. He did not get the grant but he certainly gained much more at WATG.
The firm was influential in shaping his philosophy and methodology. In particular, Nagata credits three mentors. “The first, Don Goo, was a really good businessman and presenter. He was very good at the big vision and would come out with these ideas that seemed so out there. My second mentor Kevin Chan, who was also a partner, taught me about design. When I joined the firm, I had just graduated and didn’t understand proportion and space. He would say: ‘Don’t design a column based on it being 600mm in diameter on plan; design it based on the proportions of a space’,” Nagata recalled.
From a third partner Eugene Wanatabe, he learnt the technical aspects of architecture. “I remember a year out of school, I had designed a curved screen for a building. It looked great and was constructed. But the contractors couldn’t get it to site because it was too big,” Nagata mused. “Eugene helped me realise that you can’t just make pretty things; you have to think of how to get them built.”
In 2006, when Nagata left WATG to start Blink Design Group at the age of 35, he was the youngest partner at WATG. He attributes it to the right timing. “When I started at the firm, it was during the economic crisis and many people were laid off. Soon when I looked around, it was just me, the partners and a few people in between. The office was smaller so that gave me the chance to work directly with the partners. It also boosted my career as they gave me many opportunities,” Nagata said.
