THE ARCHITECTURE EXPERIENCE

Japan

The Architecture Experience – Japan takes participants on a 15-day journey across the 3 cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo, where they get to witness the country’s architectural diversity and experience the blend of tradition and modernity in its buildings and public spaces. Participants will explore projects which showcase sustainable practices through different perspectives and interpretations. Participants will also get to study agencies and their holistic approach toward the Integration of Traditional Methodology in Contemporary Architecture and planning models used to create a sustainable environment with a high quality of life.

Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower

Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower. Photo by Koji Horiuchi

Image on top – Chureito Pagoda (忠霊塔, Chūreitō) in Yamanashi

15

days

20

participants

3

Cities

What is The Architecture Experience - Japan?

The best approach to growing as an architect is to learn from experiencing and observing. The Architecture Experience aims to do just that – to take an existing project proposal and enhance its core architectural values by incorporating the ideals of traditional and modern architecture and building technologies. The Experience will be a fifteen-day long curated educational tour for up to twenty participants, across Japan.

These visits will focus on observing and learning about the importance of site sensitivity, different architectural techniques – active and passive, the importance of material selection and other aspects vital to sustainability. The visits will foster a deep understanding of building with an inclination to local designs and techniques while working on an existing project will illustrate the immediate applications and impacts of traditional ideals on contemporary architecture.

Itinerary

In the 15 days, participants will get to work on their own capstone project in sync with their subjects in college or work. These projects will be relevant for an urban landscape, with inspiration taken from places visited during this Experience.

A traditional Washitsu 和室, also called a Tatami room

Osaka

Kyoto

Tokyo

Days 4, 8, and 15 are free days for the participants to explore the cities.

Upcoming batches

July 1-15, 2023

How Much Does It Cost?

INR 223,000 / $2,900

The price includes flights ex-India. The price without flights is $2,250.

What does the cost include?

*Flights are ex-New Delhi

Domain Expert Guidance

Course Material

flights

hotels

local & airport transfers

breakfast & dinner

visas

entry fees

Our Partners

People

Rachita Bhonsle

MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology

Curator & Tour leader - The Architecture Experience

Testimonials

Visiting structures and then interacting with their architects helped understanding the structures in detail. I got to understand more about vernacular architecture, and understanding different ways on how to plan services. My design subject case study is to design a high rise structure, for which this trip helped (particularly the Tropical Space studio visit). The use of materials by Tropical Space gave an understanding of sustainable architecture, rain water harvesting, double room systems, usage of low cost and sustainable material like bamboo. This trip also gives me different approaches towards the subjects. We even interacted with 1+1>2 architecture studio to look at an exchange program with our college. Mohor did a real good job. Overall it was a good learning experience.
Nimit Patni
4TH YEAR, L.S. RAHEJA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, MUMBAI
(Participant, Vietnam, July 2019)
Studio and site visits were very well organised but what I loved the most were the interactive sessions that we had with various artists and architects in Sri Lanka. Conversations with them were an extremely enriching experience. I got a better understanding in material selection, and the integration of nature in the landscape was eye opening. Prithy and Kshitija curated the experience extremely well and I got to learn a lot from them. About the places as well as the field in general. It was a great experience altogether! Very well planned especially keeping in mind the fact that we were here for a decent number of days and have almost covered everything ranging from the historic places to the modern ones. This trip was worth the money and will definitely influence my design in the future.
woman with glasses and red shirt smiling
Shhrruti Jain
Architect
(PARTICIPANT - SRI LANKA, OCTOBER 2019)
The overall experience was excellent. In all the places we visited, the learning experience was highly intuitive. The credits for that could be given to the technological advancements in Singapore, and also to the amazing people who accompanied us on this trip. We got to dive into the Urban development and housing aspects of Singapore. My experience with Reena was amazing. She helped and guided us about everything, and helped us in understanding all the aspects. All the experiences were actually very well integrated, and they complimented each other. So personally, I liked the entire experience. Definitely a 10 on 10!


boy holding camera
Krashang Goswami
4th Year, DIT Dehradun
(Participant, Singapore, December 2019)

Sustainable Development Goals

All our Experiences are aimed at implementing and solving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN. Goal no. 17 ‘Partnerships for the Goals’ is key to our Experiences, since we work with a global team of experts to be able to add value to the learning of the participants. The Architecture Experience Japan focuses on 3 of the Goals primarily.

sustainable development goal 9

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation​

– Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being.

sustainable development goal 11

Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable​

– By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing

– By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement

– By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters

sustainable development goal 12

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

– By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources

– Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production

FAQs

–  Students and fresh graduates from architecture colleges and related fields

–  Young professionals from architecture, design and related fields who want to explore Integration of traditional methodology in contemporary architecture in Japan.

Young architects could benefit exponentially from observing the significance of traditional architecture and how that has translated into contemporary ideologies that can be applied in an urban context. Architects can to draw inspiration from Japanese approaches to materiality and craftsmanship. Architects working in urban contexts can also learn from Japanese approaches to balancing density, liveability, and sustainability.

Yes! This Experience will take up to 20 participants. These participants will be split into smaller teams to execute projects which are designed to give added value to their ongoing projects (school or live)

The Architecture Experience is designed with the intent of enhancing architectural understanding. To this end, a short capstone project is included as part of the experience. The idea of the project is to refine an existing project with the ideologies of integrating traditional methodology in contemporary architecture.

This Experience will focus on observing and learning about different architectural techniques – active and passive, old and new, importance of material selection and other aspects vital to sustainable architecture, which are important tenets of contemporary and new age architecture, be it urban or non urban.

Yes! From a logistics point of view, this price includes the cost of accommodation, flights, visas, breakfast and dinner, local and airport transfers, and entry fees where applicable.

A building can only be understood by moving around and through it, and by experiencing the modulation, and feel the spaces one moves through - from outside into verandah, then rooms, passages, courtyards. Architecture cannot be totally explained but must be experienced."

Geoffrey Bawa

Contact Us

Tokyo International Forum. Photo by Rafael Viñoly Architects

If you’d like to know more about The Architecture Experience – Japan, please fill out this form, and one of us llamas will get back to you shortly.