Iuav meets Japan thanks to the TNE LEGO project

Ciclo di conferenze

31 ottobre 2025
Cotonificio, aula M2 
ore 15

Coexist
Fostering relations through landscape

lecture Eiko Tomura, docente e paesaggista dell'università Kogakuin di Tokio, ospite del corso “come d’autunno sugli alberi le foglie” del Laboratorio di Restauro e Rilievo 
introduzione Malvina Borgherini
guest critic Esther Giani

In our present world, many diverse lives are interwoven across a multiplicity of environments, from cities to more or less natural realms. Yet these relations are often unstable, producing frictions and imbalances across living systems. By reconsidering the place of humans in the world, and reshaping the existing conditions of all our environments, landscape architecture can generate new forms of relation and mutual understanding, and encourage coexistence among human and nature. 

Eiko Tomura is a landscape architect with international experience across the US, France, and Japan. After completing a Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, she worked at leading firms including WRT, Mosbach Paysagistes, and junya.ishigami+associates. In 2017, she established eiko tomura landscape architects in Tokyo. Her notable works include the Louvre Lens landscape project in France and the award-winning Art Biotop Water Garden in Japan. She is currently active in both practice and education, serving as Associate Professor at Kogakuin University and lecturing at multiple universities in Tokyo.

17 novembre 2025
Cotonificio, aula E
ore 14.30

The Traditional Japanese House: Development, Space, and Aesthetics
A historical overview 

lecture Alejandro Martinez, docente e storico dell'architettura del Kyoto Institute of Technology ospite del corso di Teorie dell'architettura del Laboratorio d'anno 1G
introduzione Esther Giani 
guest critic Malvina Borgherini

Japanese residential architecture developed a unique aesthetic and spatial quality that sets it apart from the rest of the world. Fluid and flexible spaces, divided by mobile partitions, became the base of the living space from the earliest stages. The addition of a display area, designed specifically to exhibit art objects, created a visual highlight and endowed reception rooms with a sense of uniqueness. Starting in the 16th century, the development of tea ceremony would become a turning point in the history of Japanese architecture, permeating its philosophy and aesthetics from the overall conception of the space to the smallest details. The result was an architectural language that drew inspiration from primitive and rough buildings, but that, despite appearances, was in fact highly sophisticated. Through the analysis of key buildings from each period, this lecture will explore the historical development of Japanese residential architecture, focusing on the underlying technical innovations and aesthetic principles.

Alejandro Martinez De Arbulo (Associate Professor, Kyoto Institute of Technology). Born in Japan, he graduated from the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra (Spain) in 2008 and obtained a PhD from The University of Tokyo in 2017. As a Research Fellow at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, he worked in cooperation projects for the conservation of built heritage in Bhutan, Myanmar, and Cambodia from 2016 to 2019. Since 2019, he teaches heritage conservation and history of Japanese architecture at the Kyoto Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Japanese National Committee of ICOMOS and the ICOMOS International Wood Committee. 

8 gennaio 2026
Cotonificio, aula 02
ore 14.30

Temporal Dimensions in Architecture

lecture Katsuhiro Miyamoto, progettista e docente della Waseda University di Tokyo ospite del corso di Teorie dell'architettura del Laboratorio d'anno 1G
introduzione Esther Giani 
guest critic Malvina Borgherini

This lecture explores the theme of “temporal dimensions” in architecture — how buildings can carry memories and embody the passage of time. Through projects after the Great Hanshin-Awaji and the Great East Japan Earthquakes, such as Topographical Healing, House Surgery, and Sowing Seeds of Hope, I will discuss how architecture can transform destruction into memory and hope. The lecture also refers to Cretto di Gibellina by Alberto Burri, a powerful example from Italy that redefines ruins as a landscape of remembrance. These works, along with projects such as Hankai House and Chushin-ji Temple Priest’s Quarters, reflect my constant exploration of architecture as a vessel of memory that links the past, present, and future.

Katsuhiro Miyamoto (1961), graduated in Architecture from the University of Tokyo in 1984. Where he completed the master program in Architecture in 1987. Ph.D. in Engineering. Established Atelier Cinquiéme Architects in 1988, which was reorganized into Katsuhiro Miyamoto & Associates in 2002. Previously served as professor at Osaka University of Arts, currently is professor at Waseda University of Tokyo.
He received the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 6th Venice Biennale Architecture Exhibition (1996); Jean Nouvel Award at Japan Commercial Environment Designers Association Design Awards and Young Architect of the Year at Japan Institute of Architects for House Surgery (1998); Japan Institute of Architects Award for Clover House (2007); Annual Architectural Design Commendation 2012 of the Architectural Institute of Japan for Chushin-ji Temple Priest’s Quarters; 74th Minister of Education’s Art Encouragement Prize for Full Size is oversized: Katsuhiro Miyamoto Architecture Park (2024, solo exhibition in 2023) and more. Among his main architectural publications are Katsuhiro Miyamoto (Libria, Melfini 2012 Katsuhiro MIYAMOTO & Associates (Nemofactory, 2016), and KATSUHIRO MIYAMOTO Architecture Park (flick studio, 2023).

Le lezioni sono parte del progetto TNE LEGO - Giappone. 
Le referenti Iuav di questo progetto sono Esther Giani, Malvina Borgherini.