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Murata Lab
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The lab explores how architecture and cities that respond to their environment come to be made.
AboutAbout the lab
Architecture and cities that respond to their environment.
The Murata Lab's main theme is how architecture and cities that respond to their environment are created.
The lab conducts research and design that examine how architecture and cities relate to various historical and geographical contexts, in order to clarify the concrete mechanisms of excellent built environments.
Elements such as courtyards and windows, for example, have taken diverse forms across eras and places as devices that mediate between architecture and nature.
The lab also takes part in many international design competitions abroad, working on both research and design.
Key terms
- Passive design
- Design measures that make interiors comfortable by using sunlight, heat, and wind rather than relying entirely on machines
- Spatial composition
- The idea of how to assemble a whole building by arranging rooms, courtyards, and openings
- Environmental performance
- A measure of how small the environmental load of a building is, such as how little energy it uses for heating, cooling, and lighting
NewsLab news
Selected as a finalist in an international design competition for public space in Italy
Selected in an international competition for retreat architecture in the United States
Selected in an international competition for pavilion architecture in Kosovo
Selected in an international competition for oasis architecture in Morocco
ResearchResearch themes
With the main theme of how architecture and cities that respond to their environment are created, the lab focuses on the principles inherent in the physical form and shape of buildings. Specific examples of its research themes include the relationship between spatial composition and passive design in contemporary houses, the collective characteristics of building groups seen in cities and streetscapes, and the correlation between architectural design and environmental performance across a building's life cycle.
*Illustrative imageHouse Design and Passive Design
The lab examines how the layout of rooms and the ways they are opened up take in wind and light in contemporary houses. In houses in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, it clarified the relationship between how spaces are opened and the flow of wind.
*Illustrative imageThe Character of Building Groups That Shape Streetscapes
The lab interprets the characteristics produced by clusters of buildings in cities and streetscapes. In Omotesando and Shimokitazawa in Tokyo, it investigates the character of temporary places that arise at storefronts and the boundaries between buildings.
*Illustrative imageBuilding Design and Lifetime Environmental Performance
The lab studies the relationship between building design and its environmental impact from construction to the end of use. It also studies traditional building systems in which timber is reused many times.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Murata Lab are faculty, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and exchange students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorRyo MurataPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Another daoist temple ( )” Francisco Anzola / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- House Design and Passive Design: “Tube house, old market” Crcolas / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- The Character of Building Groups That Shape Streetscapes: “Shimokitazawa Street 2015” Aw1805 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Building Design and Lifetime Environmental Performance: “Old timber barn - geograph.org.uk - 6634653” Philip Halling / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (菅原研究室): “Tenji-block” Haragayato / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Related lab (塩崎研究室): “Architectural Model ( )” THOR / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (斎尾研究室): “Oshu City Maesawa Elementary School Building 202508b” とらもん192 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (能作文徳研究室): “Traditional Japanese style houses in Miyajidake-jinja 01” STA3816 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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