- Speakers:
Riken Yamamoto (Architect; Founder, Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop)
Noyuri Mima (Professor, Future University Hakodate; Chair, Certified NPO Upskilling Design Studio) - Date: Friday, September 20, 2024, 6:30-8:30 pm (including reception)
- Venue: Iwasaki Koyata Memorial Hall
- Language: Japanese (without interpretation)
- Admission: 5,000 yen/person (registration required, drinks and light meal will be provided.)
*This event is exclusively for I-House members.
*On the day of the event, please present your membership card at the reception desk in front of the venue.
*Members may be accompanied by a spouse or partner.
I-House regularly holds members-only events to which a distinguished member is invited as a guest. Our featured guests in September will be architect Riken Yamamoto and learning scientist Noyuri Mima, who collaborated in designing the school building for a unique public institution of higher learning and research called Future University Hakodate.
There will be a reception with drinks and refreshments, where participants will have an opportunity to meet with the speakers and fellow members.
Involved in this collaborative project some 30 years ago were architects, information researchers, and learning scientists. The building won the 2002 prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan in the Architectural Design Division and continues to win accolades today.
Architect Riken Yamamoto was awarded the Pritzker Prize—architecture’s highest honor—this year for works that emphasize community and connectivity. After working on the Future University Hakodate project, Yamamoto noted, “This experience has taught me that there is still great potential for architecture and that there are also great expectations. The expectations are for being able to create ‘sympathetic spaces,’ that is, space that can be shared. What this implies is that the process of its realization must itself also be shared, and it is through this sharing that expectations arise.”
Noyuri Mima, meanwhile, is a learning scientist who participated in the architectural design process. In 2005, she published Designing the Future of Learning: Space, Activity, and Community, which describes the evolution of learning theory and the underlying concepts that were applied in designing the school building. The book also presents a lifelong approach to learning, introducing the concept of “workshop,” which was not yet familiar in Japan at the time, and the notion of “design” in the broadest sense. The book has continued to attract readers since its publication two decades ago and will be reissued as a newly revised edition this autumn.
The September conversation with Yamamoto and Mima will delve into the meaning of mission-bound space, its uses, and the process of passing on its legacy, and it should also shed new light on creating a prosperous future for I-House.
Riken Yamamoto (Architect; Founder, Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop)
Riken Yamamoto was born in Beijing, China in 1945. He graduated from Nihon University, Department of Architecture, College of Science and Technology in 1968 and received a Master of Arts in Architecture from Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Architecture in 1971. He was a research student at Hiroshi Hara Laboratory at Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo.
Yamamoto was appointed as a visiting professor at Kanagawa University in 2024. He holds the titles of Professor Emeritus and Honorary Doctor from Yokohama National University, and Honorary Professor and Honorary Doctor of Engineering from Nihon University. He was a visiting professor at Tokyo University of the Arts (2022-2024) and has previously taught at Yokohama National University, Graduate School of Architecture (2007-2011) and served as the President of Nagoya Zokei University of Art and Design (2018-2022).
Some of his notable works include Nagoya Zokei University of Art and Design, THE CIRCLE at Zürich Airport, Yokosuka Museum of Art, Future University Hakodate, Saitama Prefectural University and GAZEBO. He has also undertaken projects for mixed-use facilities, public buildings, and residential complexes in China, South Korea, and Taiwan.
His major publications include: THE SPACE OF POWER, THE POWER OF SPACE: TWO VIRGINS, Toshibi (CITY BEAUTIFUL): KAWADE SHOBO SHINSHA, Chiikishakaikenshugi (Local Community Area Principles): TWO VIRGINS, Shinpen Jukyoron: HEIBONSHA LIMITED PUBLISHERS.
Yamamoto has received several prestigious awards, including Pritzker Architecture Prize (2024), Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Award (2024), Japan Art Academy Prize (2001).
Photograph：Tom Welsh for The Hyatt Foundation/Pritzker Architecture Prize
Noyuri Mima (Professor, Future University Hakodate; Chair, Certified NPO Upskilling Design Studio)
Born in Tokyo and has lived in Hakodate for 24 years, being an avid fan of Hakodate’s rich climate, food, and culture. Studied Computer Science at University of Electro-Communications, Education at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and Cognitive Psychology at the University of Tokyo Graduate School. Holds a Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences.