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Watanabe Lab
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The lab conceives new architecture across fields such as architecture and civil engineering.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring the future of architecture beyond disciplinary boundaries.
The Watanabe Lab studies new forms of society and architecture that cross the boundaries of the architectural discipline.
The lab practices design across fields and scales, including architecture, design, and urban infrastructure.
It surveys the spatial structures of port cities around the world and of cities and settlements in Northern Europe and Asia, to clarify the mechanisms that give rise to architecture.
Key terms
- Infrachitecture
- A new architectural form in which infrastructure (social infrastructure) and architecture are integrated
- Crossover (Xover)
- An approach to creating architecture and products by crossing national borders, technical fields, and other boundaries
- Spatial principles
- The fundamental mechanisms and ideas that make a given space what it is
NewsLab news
A master's student won the top prize in the Architectural Institute of Japan's FY2025 Design Competition
A paper by Prof. Watanabe and colleagues was published in the Architectural Institute of Japan's Journal of Architecture and Building Science
A paper by Prof. Watanabe and colleagues was published in the Architectural Institute of Japan's Journal of Architecture and Planning
A paper by Prof. Watanabe and colleagues was published in Japan Architectural Review
ResearchResearch themes
The Watanabe Lab divides its project research into two strands, Practice and Study, and pursues them at the same time. Going beyond the boundaries of architecture, it explores new architectural forms that integrate infrastructure and architecture, as well as the spatial principles underlying them.
*Illustrative imageDesign that integrates civil engineering and architecture
Rather than separating the conventional substructure (civil engineering and infrastructure) from the superstructure (architecture), the lab designs a new architectural type in which the two are integrated, called "Infrachitecture."
*Illustrative imageDesign across borders and disciplines
A project called "Xover," which creates architecture and products by crossing four elements: national borders, technical fields, production systems, and functions.
*Illustrative imageTranslating history into the present
A project that seeks new creativity by re-translating the ideas and creations of others found in history into the present day, as a translator would.
*Illustrative imageResearch reading the principles of space
Targeting various spaces such as caves, the works of thinkers, and information space, the lab clarifies the principles that make them possible and explores possibilities for applying them today.
MembersFaculty
The Watanabe Lab's members consist of faculty and students.
- Associate ProfessorTaishi Watanabe
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
On a 4-point scale, ● marks where students' answers fall
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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: “Mangrove roots in the Laguna de La Restinga” Wilfredor / CC0 (cropped)
- Design that integrates civil engineering and architecture: “Chand baori stepwell” SaiGoutham17 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Design across borders and disciplines: “Aerial image of the confluence of the Inn and Salzach (view from the west)” Carsten Steger / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Translating history into the present: “Zo'onna Noh Mask, Edo period, 18th century, wood with polychromy - Tokyo National Museum - DSC06166” Daderot / CC0 (cropped)
- Research reading the principles of space: “Cave no 10 (Interior), Nasik caves” Rohit14400 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (田中研究室): “Kintsugi on broken Kyūsu lid-top oblique PNr°1258” D-Kuru / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (小林研究室): “Empty seats” ProjectManhattan / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (宮本研究室): “Government Center Study models ( )” City of Boston Archives from West Roxbury, United States / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (吉村研究室): “Tiny house, Portland” Tammy / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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