Miwa Mori, president of Key Architects, thinks a lot about nails, both as part of her profession and as her philosophy about life.
"It is really tough to be a woman company president in Japan, but that is why I considered carefully the timing of my return to Japan. If it had been even two years earlier, it would have been more difficult," she said. "We have that saying about the nail that gets hammered down — but if it is sticking out enough, if you are different enough or established enough, nobody can hammer it anymore."
Mori's life supports her views. She left Japan when she was 22 to study architecture in Germany, her talent sticking out only slightly. Ten years later, as an expert in eco-efficiency architecture, author of a popular book on eco-construction and designer of the first certified Passive House in the country, Mori sticks out enough to create new forms and lead Japan's move into eco-architecture.