Hitoshi Abe, Lecturer
Hitoshi Abe, Professor and former Chair in the Department of Architecture and Urban Design at the School of Arts and Architecture and Chair in the Study of Contemporary Japan and the Director of the UCLA Paul I. and Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies. Since 1992, when Dr. Hitoshi Abe won first prize in the Miyagi Stadium Competition and established Atelier Hitoshi Abe, he has maintained an active international design practice based in Sendai, Japan, as well as a schedule of lecturing and publishing, which place him among the leaders in his field. https://aha.design

Tezzo Nishizawa, Lecturer
Born in Kyoto, 1974. Since 2023 he has been a specially appointed professor of design and architecture at Kyoto Institute of Technology. His many projects includes art museums and cultural facilities: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (Tokyo, 2012, in collaboration with Noriko Nagayama), the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art renewal project (2019, in collaboration with Jun Aoki and Associates) 
and the Hachinohe Art Museum (2021, in collaboration with Yoshihide Asaco and Junpei Mori). 
He has received numerous awards, among them 2021 Architectural Institute of Japan Prize, 2020 JIA Japan Architecture Grand Prix, and 62nd Mainichi Arts Award.  https://tezzonishizawa.com/
 

Michael Osman, Moderator
Michael Osman’s research in architectural history focuses on the 19th and 20th centuries, with a particular emphasis on buildings and cities in the United States. He seeks connections between the infrastructure that undergirds the processes of modernization and the historiography of modernist architecture.  The topics of his writing include: the influence of ecological science on theories of city growth, early instruments for remote sensing, and the architectural profession’s relation to modern construction processes. https://we-aggregate.org

2.「矩」Kane: The Canon of Japanese Architecture
Don Choi & Takaharu Tezuka & Yui Tezuka
DEC. 10, 2024          

In Japanese architecture, the notion of 矩 (kane) serves as a guiding framework for practicing, norms and measurements are harmonized to create a unique aesthetic order. The speakers will talk about how this modular system affects the way they think and design.

3.「廃墟」Hai/kyo: Destruction and Rebirth of Japanese Architecture
Ken Tadashi Oshima & Alicia Volk
JAN. 9, 2025 (TBD)  

廃墟 (HAI/KYO) refers to ruins that embody the remnants of historical destruction caused by disasters such as earthquakes, fires, floods, and wars, while also symbolizing themes of rebirth, recovery, and the creation of new urban landscapes.

4.「陰影」In/Ei: Images of Japanese Architecture
Toru Horiguchi & Liam Young
APR. 2025                 

陰影 (IN/EI) refers to the concept of shadows that highlights the importance of darkness as a vital element in representation, contrasting with the Western focus on light and clarity, and emphasizing the true essence of architecture and form.

5.「数寄」Suki: Microcosm of Tastes
Reijiro Izumi & Kunio Kirisako
JUN. 11, 2025

数寄 (SUKI) originally signified a love for poetry in the Heian period, but evolved to primarily denote the refined aesthetic and cultural appreciation associated with the tea ceremony, reflecting a nuanced relationship between art, architecture, and the appreciation of beauty.