Jerde, an award-winning architecture and urban design firm based in Los Angeles, was founded in 1977 to pioneer a singular philosophy that rethinks traditional retail centers as experiential places that host people. The opening of Konoha Mall extends Jerde’s desire to deliver community places in Japan, and the firm’s legacy of creating new models of retail that provide social, cultural and economic value to their cities. Since its first project in Japan, Canal City Hakata which at the time it opened in 1996 was the largest private development in the country, Jerde has continued to revolutionize retail by integrating a full mix of uses, connecting to mass transit hubs, and establishing parks and other open spaces. The firm’s other award-winning projects in Japan include: Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, Namba Parks in Osaka, RiverWalk Kitakyushu, Caretta Shiodome at Dentsu HQ in Tokyo, and La Cittadella in Kawasaki.