Studio Details

Location
Tokyo, Japan

Date
13 July-24 July, 2026

Team Leaders
Kengo Kuma (Founder, Kengo Kuma and Associates)
Rita Topa (Partner, Kengo Kuma and Associates)
Andrea Toccolini (Chief Project Director, Kengo Kuma and Associates)
Hirotaka Mashiko (Chief Project Director, Kengo Kuma and Associates)
Mohammad Eimar (Chief Project Director, Kengo Kuma and Associates)

Program
Small residential interventions, hybrid housing, adaptive reuse, urban blocks, or ecological towers

Field Trips and Site Visits
COMING SOON

Project

Back to Nature – Biophilic Futures for Tokyo 2050
Inspired by the “Back to Nature” lectures by Kengo Kuma, we explore how architecture can reconnect dense cities with nature in the coming decades.

Tokyo is entering a period of profound transformation. While Japan’s population is expected to decline by 2050, urban life may increasingly concentrate in central areas. At the same time, remote and hybrid work are reshaping the role of offices and commuting. Many people may no longer travel to workplaces daily, yet Tokyo’s railway network will continue to structure mobility, culture, and access to the city.

These shifts invite new questions about the future of the metropolis: if the city centre is no longer defined by office districts and daily commuting, what new forms of urban life can emerge? How can architecture transform commercial areas and public spaces into environments that support ecological balance, social interaction, and new ways of living and working?

Our site is the area between Omotesando, Harajuku, and the forest of the Meiji Shrine. This zone represents a unique encounter between one of Tokyo’s largest urban forests and one of its most active cultural and commercial districts. It offers a laboratory to explore new relationships between forest and city, architecture and landscape, density and ecology.

Future Scenarios – Tokyo 2050
• The Remote City – Hybrid work transforms office districts into mixed environments for living, culture, and flexible work.
• The Shrinking Metropolis – Population decline changes urban density while central Tokyo attracts new residents and adaptive reuse of buildings.
• The Ecological City – Climate pressure requires architecture to integrate vegetation, water systems, and microclimates.

How can architecture dissolve into nature, climate, and urban life?
Projects may range from small residential interventions and hybrid housing to adaptive reuse, urban blocks, or ecological towers. We will explore how biophilic principles can operate across scales—from intimate living spaces to large metropolitan structures.

Kengo Kuma was born in 1954. He established Kengo Kuma & Associates in 1990. He is currently a University Professor and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and a member of the Japan Art Academy after teaching at Keio University and the University of Tokyo. KKAA projects are currently underway in more than 50 countries. Kengo Kuma proposes architecture that opens up new relationships between nature, technology, and human beings. His major publications include Kengo Kuma Onomatopoeia Architecture Grounding (X-Knowledge), Nihon no Kenchiku (Architecture of Japan, Iwanami Shoten), Zen Shigoto (Kengo Kuma – the complete works, Daiwa Shobo), Ten Sen Men (Point Line Plane, Iwanami Shoten), Makeru Kenchiku (Architecture of Defeat, Iwanami Shoten), Shizen na Kenchiku (Natural Architecture, Iwanami Shinsho), Chii-sana Kenchiku (Small Architecture, Iwanami Shinsho) and many others.

Tokyo + Paris, Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul
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Internships and Opportunities

Young designers and students accepted to join Kengo Kuma and Associates at Venice Studio may be considered for available internship or job opportunities at Kengo Kuma and Associates. Selection of candidates is at the sole discretion of the team leaders and Kengo Kuma and Associates. Places are not guaranteed.

Program Information & Ticketing

Learn more about the program, inc., the application process and pricing here →