Learning from Japan: Spaces for Encounter
Instructor(s):
Hera Van Sande
Engagement:
Craftsmanship
Location:
Gent
Language:
English
Semester:
Semester 1, Fall 2025
Description:
This studio explores the poetic and resilient qualities of Japanese architecture through immersion, reinterpretation, and design. Inspired by post-Fukushima architectural practices, students engage with concepts of sustainability, reuse, and affective spatial strategies. The studio begins with an investigation into Japanese spatial philosophy—particularly the concept of MA—and evolves into a reinterpretation of contemporary Japanese works. Ultimately, students will design spaces for encounter within an existing building in Ghent, translating insights from Japanese architecture into a local context.
Line of Inquiry:
Practice as Study
Topic, Thematic Focus:
Japanese spatial concepts, affective architecture, reuse, resilience, spaces for encounter
Key Questions or Provocations:
What can we learn from Japanese architectural language and its relationship to nature, people, and space?
How can spatial concepts like MA inspire new forms of encounter?
How can reuse and responsibility shape resilient design?
Methodologies or Formats:
Cultural analysis, conceptual drawing, interpretative modeling, site analysis, design translation, iterative prototyping
Design / Expected Outcome(s):
Students will develop spatial strategies and architectural interventions rooted in Japanese concepts and adapted to a local European context. Outcomes include conceptual drawings, models, and a design proposal for a space of encounter in Ghent.
Deliverables:
Sketches, conceptual drawings, models, analytical research, interpretative documentation, final design proposal
- Find the full studio brief as pdf here.
Image: Sketch by Toyo Ito (courtesy of Toyo Ito)