Sayart.net - Japan′s First Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition 2025 Showcases Global and Local Architectural Vision

  • October 14, 2025 (Tue)

Japan's First Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition 2025 Showcases Global and Local Architectural Vision

Sayart / Published October 14, 2025 02:49 PM
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Japan has launched its inaugural Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition 2025, a groundbreaking triennial event that runs from October 4 to November 30 across the twin cities of Fukuyama and Onomichi. Conceived by the Kambara Tsuneishi Foundation, this festival brings together 23 renowned architects and artists from Japan and around the world to explore the future of urban development and architecture's vital role in revitalizing local communities through exhibitions, site-specific installations, and public discussions.

The exhibition features an impressive lineup spanning multiple generations of architectural talent, including major figures such as Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Arata Isozaki, Sou Fujimoto, and SANAA, alongside emerging practices like Studio Mumbai, VUILD, and Clouds Architecture Office. The diverse program ranges from historical retrospectives to experimental installations, demonstrating how Japanese architecture continues to evolve by balancing traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology and innovation.

The Onomichi portion of the exhibition, spread across seven venues, connects Japan's rich design heritage with contemporary visions for the future. At Tadao Ando's Onomichi City Museum of Art, visitors can experience "Nine Visions: Japanese Architects from Japan to the World," a comprehensive survey showcasing all nine Japanese recipients of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. This exhibition traces the profound influence of Japanese architects on global architectural discourse through works by Kenzo Tange, Fumihiko Maki, Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, Shigeru Ban, Arata Isozaki, and Riken Yamamoto.

In front of the museum stands Shigeru Ban's Paper Log House, originally developed for disaster relief following the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake, serving as a powerful symbol of architecture's social responsibility. Nearby, Studio Mumbai has transformed the 1960s LOG building into a combined exhibition space and hotel, featuring an interactive display that explores how people's everyday lives connect with thoughtful design. This adaptive reuse project now attracts approximately 30,000 visitors annually, demonstrating how craftsmanship and careful material selection can integrate modern architecture with a city's existing character.

Similarly, Junya Nagasaka's LLOVE HOUSE Onomichi has converted an abandoned home into a vibrant center for cultural exchange, breathing new life into the historic neighborhood. Complementing these architectural interventions, photographer Yurika Takano's exhibition "Transferring Bodies, Transferring Architecture" captures Onomichi's historic streets and documents their transformation over time, providing visual context for the city's ongoing evolution.

In Fukuyama, the Shinshoji Zen Museum and Gardens presents "Next Architecture: Connecting Futures Through Design," featuring innovative works by Sou Fujimoto, Junya Ishigami, Norihisa Kawashima, Hiroki Akiyoshi (president of VUILD), and Clouds Architecture Office. Through detailed models and visionary proposals, this exhibition explores the complex interactions between architecture, the environment, and society, imagining how future cities could achieve better balance with both nature and culture.

Within the same temple grounds, visitors can preview a planned reconstruction project of Kenzo Tange's self-designed residence, originally built in Tokyo's Seijo neighborhood in 1953 before being demolished. The display includes a detailed one-third-scale model and extensive archival materials that contextualize Tange's lasting legacy and his significant influence on postwar Japanese architecture. Adding an environmental dimension to the exhibition, Norihisa Kawashima's "Compost Bench" represents a circular environmental project that transforms fallen leaves from the temple's maple trees into nourishing compost.

A series of small, movable pavilions described as "micro-architectures" punctuate the urban landscape throughout the Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition 2025. Designed by Yasushi Horibe, Junya Ishigami, and Hideyuki Nakayama, each kiosk offers a unique interpretation of transience and locality. Horibe's Tsuboya functions as an intimate tea stand at Shinshoji Temple, while Nakayama's "Kiosk Through Which the Landscape Passes (Catch)" stands prominently by the waterfront at Onomichi U2. Ishigami's "Clouds Descend," originally planned as the festival's information center at Fukuyama Station, experienced delays due to typhoon-related transit issues, serving as an unexpected reminder of architecture's delicate relationship with the natural world.

The organizers of the Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition view the event as more than just a showcase, positioning it as a vital platform to nurture creativity, education, and civic imagination while using architecture as a powerful tool for regional regeneration and meaningful intergenerational dialogue. Beyond the exhibitions themselves, the comprehensive program includes engaging talks and public discussions with leading figures such as Sou Fujimoto, Toyo Ito, and Junya Ishigami, as well as educational workshops for children and curated film screenings.

The festival's greatest achievement may be its successful integration of architecture with place, allowing audiences to truly inhabit and experience design rather than simply observe it. By thoughtfully connecting historical temples, modern museums, and lived cityscapes, the event transforms Hiroshima Prefecture into a dynamic landscape of ideas and innovation. With its next edition already planned for 2028, this inaugural exhibition suggests the beginning of a meaningful, long-term dialogue that could evolve into Japan's compelling answer to the internationally renowned Venice Architecture Biennale.

Japan has launched its inaugural Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition 2025, a groundbreaking triennial event that runs from October 4 to November 30 across the twin cities of Fukuyama and Onomichi. Conceived by the Kambara Tsuneishi Foundation, this festival brings together 23 renowned architects and artists from Japan and around the world to explore the future of urban development and architecture's vital role in revitalizing local communities through exhibitions, site-specific installations, and public discussions.

The exhibition features an impressive lineup spanning multiple generations of architectural talent, including major figures such as Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Arata Isozaki, Sou Fujimoto, and SANAA, alongside emerging practices like Studio Mumbai, VUILD, and Clouds Architecture Office. The diverse program ranges from historical retrospectives to experimental installations, demonstrating how Japanese architecture continues to evolve by balancing traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology and innovation.

The Onomichi portion of the exhibition, spread across seven venues, connects Japan's rich design heritage with contemporary visions for the future. At Tadao Ando's Onomichi City Museum of Art, visitors can experience "Nine Visions: Japanese Architects from Japan to the World," a comprehensive survey showcasing all nine Japanese recipients of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. This exhibition traces the profound influence of Japanese architects on global architectural discourse through works by Kenzo Tange, Fumihiko Maki, Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, Shigeru Ban, Arata Isozaki, and Riken Yamamoto.

In front of the museum stands Shigeru Ban's Paper Log House, originally developed for disaster relief following the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake, serving as a powerful symbol of architecture's social responsibility. Nearby, Studio Mumbai has transformed the 1960s LOG building into a combined exhibition space and hotel, featuring an interactive display that explores how people's everyday lives connect with thoughtful design. This adaptive reuse project now attracts approximately 30,000 visitors annually, demonstrating how craftsmanship and careful material selection can integrate modern architecture with a city's existing character.

Similarly, Junya Nagasaka's LLOVE HOUSE Onomichi has converted an abandoned home into a vibrant center for cultural exchange, breathing new life into the historic neighborhood. Complementing these architectural interventions, photographer Yurika Takano's exhibition "Transferring Bodies, Transferring Architecture" captures Onomichi's historic streets and documents their transformation over time, providing visual context for the city's ongoing evolution.

In Fukuyama, the Shinshoji Zen Museum and Gardens presents "Next Architecture: Connecting Futures Through Design," featuring innovative works by Sou Fujimoto, Junya Ishigami, Norihisa Kawashima, Hiroki Akiyoshi (president of VUILD), and Clouds Architecture Office. Through detailed models and visionary proposals, this exhibition explores the complex interactions between architecture, the environment, and society, imagining how future cities could achieve better balance with both nature and culture.

Within the same temple grounds, visitors can preview a planned reconstruction project of Kenzo Tange's self-designed residence, originally built in Tokyo's Seijo neighborhood in 1953 before being demolished. The display includes a detailed one-third-scale model and extensive archival materials that contextualize Tange's lasting legacy and his significant influence on postwar Japanese architecture. Adding an environmental dimension to the exhibition, Norihisa Kawashima's "Compost Bench" represents a circular environmental project that transforms fallen leaves from the temple's maple trees into nourishing compost.

A series of small, movable pavilions described as "micro-architectures" punctuate the urban landscape throughout the Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition 2025. Designed by Yasushi Horibe, Junya Ishigami, and Hideyuki Nakayama, each kiosk offers a unique interpretation of transience and locality. Horibe's Tsuboya functions as an intimate tea stand at Shinshoji Temple, while Nakayama's "Kiosk Through Which the Landscape Passes (Catch)" stands prominently by the waterfront at Onomichi U2. Ishigami's "Clouds Descend," originally planned as the festival's information center at Fukuyama Station, experienced delays due to typhoon-related transit issues, serving as an unexpected reminder of architecture's delicate relationship with the natural world.

The organizers of the Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition view the event as more than just a showcase, positioning it as a vital platform to nurture creativity, education, and civic imagination while using architecture as a powerful tool for regional regeneration and meaningful intergenerational dialogue. Beyond the exhibitions themselves, the comprehensive program includes engaging talks and public discussions with leading figures such as Sou Fujimoto, Toyo Ito, and Junya Ishigami, as well as educational workshops for children and curated film screenings.

The festival's greatest achievement may be its successful integration of architecture with place, allowing audiences to truly inhabit and experience design rather than simply observe it. By thoughtfully connecting historical temples, modern museums, and lived cityscapes, the event transforms Hiroshima Prefecture into a dynamic landscape of ideas and innovation. With its next edition already planned for 2028, this inaugural exhibition suggests the beginning of a meaningful, long-term dialogue that could evolve into Japan's compelling answer to the internationally renowned Venice Architecture Biennale.

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