Architalk: Seeing the World through Architecture

I-House boasts a building constructed under the collaboration of three prominent modern Japanese architects, and from its inauguration has been receiving guests and members from the field of architecture. To expand this network, I-House launched a new program in 2016, the tenth anniversary of the extensive renovation of the building, inviting speakers from Japan and abroad to think about contemporary issues through architecture.

Architalk Webinar Series

The Architalk series aims to highlight how architecture both reflects and responds to critical issues around the globe, such as climate change, community building, and the development of an inclusive and barrier free society.

I-House kicked off its 2024 Architalk series with Theaster Gates, an artist, urban designer, and architect who worked to revitalize abandoned buildings and urban neighborhoods in Chicago and elsewhere through architecture and design.

Those who wish to receive detailed information on each session through the I-House e-news are asked to register through the e-news registration form.

Organizer: International House of Japan (IHJ)
Sponsor: Jyukankyo Foundation, MRA Foundation, US-Japan Foundation

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[Architalk Series 2024]
#1 Theaster Gates: Crafting Black Space

New Video

This video has Japanese subtitles. Go to Youtube Help for more details.

 

  • Speaker：Theaster GATES (Artist, Urban Designer)
  • Moderator：Mami KATAOKA (IHJ trustee and Mori Art Museum Director)
  • Release Date：March 29, 2024
  • Organizer：International House of Japan (IHJ)
  • Sponsor：Jyukankyo Foundation, MRA Foundation, US-Japan Foundation

In this talks titled “Theaster Gates: Crafting Black Space,” Gates discusses his placemaking practice that began with revitalizing a number of vacant old buildings in his hometown of Chicago into centers for art, as well as activities around Black space in Germany and Britain, that helped demonstrate the cultural value present in urban neighborhoods that experienced racially motivated divestment. He also talks about how the architectural spaces he creates architectural also function as works of art.


In addition to his lecture at I-House, Gates visited rural areas in Japan, such as Mashiko, Tochigi, for informal dialogue with local leaders and counterparts and to give a lecture in Kyoto about his ideas and work. Videos of his visits in Tochigi and Kyoto will be available online soon.

Theaster GATES (Artist, Urban Designer)
founded the nonprofit Rebuild Foundation in 2009 in Chicago and has been engaged in the project of revitalizing abandoned urban buildings into cultural institutions as an art practice. He was selected to design the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion, a work that brings a new perspective to art, architecture, and social practice. He has also produced a number of “Afro-Mingei” works, his philosophy that merges the Japanese folk art movement with the aesthetics of African American art.

Photo: Rankin

Mami KATAOKA (I-House trustee and Mori Art Museum Director)
joined the Mori Art Museum in 2003, taking on the role of Director in 2020. She has also taken on the position of Director of the National Center for Art Research since April 2023.Beyond Tokyo, Kataoka has held positions at the Hayward Gallery in London, where from 2007 to 2009 she was the institution’s first International Curator; she has also acted as Co-Artistic Director for the 9th Gwangju Biennale (2012), Artistic Director for the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) and Artistic Director for the Aichi Triennale 2022. Kataoka served as a Board Member (2014-2022). She is also a trustee of the International House of Japan since 2023.

  Past Architalk Events

[Architalk Series 2024 Podcast] Theaster Gates: Afro-Mingei

New Podcast

 

  • Speaker：Theaster GATES (Artist, Urban Designer)
  • Release Date：May 30, 2024
  • Organizer：International House of Japan (IHJ)
  • Sponsor：Jyukankyo Foundation, MRA Foundation, US-Japan Foundation

During his stay in Japan, Theaster Gates also visited a traditional tea manufacturer in Kyoto and the town of Mashiko in Tochigi, famous for its pottery, creating opportunities for dialogue with specialists involved in traditional culture. A podcast of his talk titled “Afro-Mingei,” held in Kyoto, is now available.

The Japanese mingei movement, developed by Muneyoshi Yanagi, Kanjiro Kawai, and Shoji Hamada, highlighted the beauty of hand-made crafts used in everyday life that was produced by nameless artisans. The “Black Is Beautiful” movement in the United States, meanwhile, emphasized the beauty embodied in the sources of African-American culture. Theaster Gates sees parallels and connections between these two movements and elucidated his ideas underlying his concept of “Afro-Mingei.”

Theaster GATES (Artist, Urban Designer)
founded the nonprofit Rebuild Foundation in 2009 in Chicago and has been engaged in the project of revitalizing abandoned urban buildings into cultural institutions as an art practice. He was selected to design the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion, a work that brings a new perspective to art, architecture, and social practice. He has also produced a number of “Afro-Mingei” works, his philosophy that merges the Japanese folk art movement with the aesthetics of African American art.

Photo: Rankin

  Past Architalk Events

[Architalk Series 2024]
“Bridging the Gap (Climate, Culture, Material & Architecture)”

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Architalk Series 2024 featuring Francis Kéré “Bridging the Gap (Climate, Culture, Material & Architecture)”

 

On November 22, I-House will invite world-renowned architect and 2022 recipient of the Pritzker Prize Diébédo Francis Kéré for its Architalk series of lectures. Kéré is a native of Burkina Faso and the first African to win the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award in architectural design. He is internationally recognized for his sustainable architectural style that achieves harmony with the climate and natural environment and that makes use of local knowledge and materials. Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA, a Pritzker Prize winner in 2010, will be the special guest commentator.

 
  • Date：Friday, November 22, 6:30-8:00 pm (JST) *doors open at 6:00 pm
  • Speaker：Francis KÉRÉ（Architect, Founder of Kéré Architecture）
  • Guest commentator：Kazuyo SEJIMA（Architect, Founder of SANAA）
  • Moderator：Yuko HASEGAWA（Director of Arts and Design at I-House; Director of Kanazawa 21st Century Museum）
  • Admission：3,000yen (IHJ members & students 2000yen) *reservations are required
  • Language：Japanese / English (with simultaneous interpretation)
  • Venue：International House of Japan
  • Organized by TheInternational House of Japan
  • Sponsored by The Jyukankyo Foundation, MRA Foundation

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    FrancisKere

    Francis Kéré (Architect, Founder of Kéré Architecture)
    is an internationally acclaimed architect known for his community-focused and sustainable approach. He won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004 for his first project, a primary school in his native Gando, Burkina Faso. In 2022, he became the first African architect to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Kéré's work has been exhibited worldwide, and he currently holds professorships at TU München and Yale University. Kéré Architecture works globally. Current projects include the Benin National Parliament and Dakar's Goethe Institut. The internationally acclaimed architect Francis Kéré garnered critical praise from the beginning of his architectural practice when awarded the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2004) for his first ever building - a primary school he designed, raised the funds for and realised in collaboration with the residents of his native Gando, Burkina Faso. In 2022, he became the first African architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Kéré has gone on to become one of the most distinguished contemporary architects, thanks to his pioneering of a communal approach to design and his commitment to sustainable materials, as well as modes of construction. Inspired by a curiosity for the particularities of any given locality and its social tapestry, he has gathered a diverse, agile team at his Berlin-based Kéré Architecture offices, to take on projects across four continents. Most prominently these include his design for the Benin National Parliament (under construction), the Goethe Institut in Dakar (under construction), the Léo Surgical Clinic & Health Centre (2014), the Lycée Schorge Secondary School (2016), the Serpentine Pavilion (2017) and Xylem (2019), a gathering pavilion for the Tippet Rise Art Center. Underpinning his architectural practice are his past and current teaching engagements at TU München, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, and Yale University as well as his participation in solo and group exhibitions including at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the Museo ICO in Madrid, the Architekturmuseum in Munich, the MoMA in New York, the Royal Academy in London and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

    Sejima

    Kazuyo Sejima（Architect, Founder of SANNA
    was born in 1956 in Ibaraki and studied architecture at Japan Women’s University. In 1987, she opened her own studio, Kazuyo Sejima & Associates, and in 1995, together with Ryue Nishizawa, founded SANAA. She is currently a professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan, a visiting professor at Japan Women’s University and the Osaka University of Arts, an emeritus professor at Yokohama National University, and director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. Major works include Saishunkan Seiyaku Women’s Dormitory, House in a Plum Grove, the Inujima Art House Project, the Sumida Hokusai Museum, and Japan Women’s University Mejiro Campus.

     


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