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Tamura Lab
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A lab that studies the ground and foundations to reduce damage in major earthquakes.
AboutAbout the lab
Every building stands on the ground.
The Tamura Lab studies the ground that supports buildings and their foundation structures.
Aiming at new building foundation structures that are rational and sustainable, it investigates pile foundations, shallow foundations, soil-structure interaction, earth pressure, and more.
Combining centrifuge model tests and numerical analysis, it works out the behavior of complex ground and foundations.
It is one of the few labs in architecture departments in Japan that specializes in geotechnical and foundation engineering.
Key terms
- Pile foundation
- A foundation in which long, slender piles are driven into the ground so that the building is supported by a firm layer at their tips
- Shallow foundation
- A foundation in which the bottom of the building rests directly on the ground without piles
- Liquefaction
- A phenomenon in which loose, water-saturated sandy ground behaves like a liquid when shaken by an earthquake
ResearchResearch themes
No matter how fine a building is, if its foundation has trouble, the building will tilt and become a serious problem. The Tamura Lab investigates through experiments and numerical analysis what happens to the ground and foundations during a major earthquake, and applies the findings to rational design.
*Illustrative imageMajor earthquakes and building foundations
The lab studies the horizontal resistance and settlement of pile foundations in major earthquakes, the effect of foundation embedment, the behavior of pile foundations in liquefied ground, and the bearing capacity of shallow foundations. The results were reflected in the Architectural Institute of Japan's Recommendations for Design of Building Foundations.
*Illustrative imageCentrifuge model tests
These experiments apply centrifugal acceleration to a small model to reproduce the stress state of real ground. In a 50g centrifuge field, the behavior of ground and structures at 50 times the scale of the model can be reproduced.
MembersFaculty
The Tamura Lab's members include faculty and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorShuji TamuraPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorShuhei OtuskaPublications ↗
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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: “Auger Foundation Pile Drill Rig” Ingolfson / Public domain (cropped)
- Major earthquakes and building foundations: “Soil-liquefaction at Shinkiba after 2011 Tohoku Pacific Ocean offshore earthquake” Morio / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Centrifuge model tests: “Geotechnical centrifuge at the University of California, Davis.” Blkutter / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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