July 29, 2021/ 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM

View Recording

The groundbreaking interdisciplinary MA: Space-Time in Japan exhibition was curated in the late 1970s by renowned architect, Arata Isozaki. It presented Japanese artistic culture through the unifying concept of MA found in painting, photography, theater, performance, music, sculpture, architecture and daily life in Japan, making explicit an implicit indigenous notion of order and orientation found in the simultaneity of time and space.

JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles and architecture professors Hitoshi Abe (University of California Los Angeles) and Ken Tadashi Oshima (University of Washington) are presenting a series of four webinars focusing on the application of MA in a variety of cultural spheres: ART, ARCHITECTURE, FOOD, and MUSIC.

The second webinar in the Rethinking of MA Webinar Series will examine MA in Japanese contemporary architecture. Manabu Chiba, Professor of Tokyo University and Principal of Chiba Manabu Architects, will share his views about the role of MA in the design of contemporary public space, where MA is translated as “Relationship/Distance between people." Together, the speakers will explore how the idea of MA has shaped Chiba’s approach to designing Japan’s public architecture and community environments and his philosophy for teaching the next generation of Japanese architects. The webinar will conclude with an audience Q&A.
 
The webinar recording will be available a few days after the program.

Guest Speaker

 Manabu Chiba

Professor Manabu Chiba is a professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo. He is also principal architect at Chiba Manabu Architects, with designs ranging from residential and commercial to office buildings, many of which have won Japanese architectural competitions.

Panelists

Hitoshi Abe

Hitoshi Abe is Principal at AHA (Atelier Hitoshi Abe), an architectural design firm based in the U.S. and Japan. He is also a professor in the department of Architecture and Urban Design and Director of the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, both at UCLA.

Ken Tadashi Oshima

Ken Tadashi Oshima is Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington, where he teaches in the areas of trans-national architectural history, theory, and design. He has also been a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and taught at Columbia University and the University of British Columbia.

Japan House Event Webpage