Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito, Tokyo Sensoji Temple, Tokyo Musashino Art University Museum & Library by Sou Fujimoto, Tokyo Zenkoji Temple, Takayama Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama, Naoshima Sumida Hokusai Museum by Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA, Tokyo Murahan, a former merchant row house, Takayama Gifu Media Cosmos by Toyo Ito, Gifu Ryoanji Temple, Kyoto

19 students from Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Industrial Design, and Interior Design studied buildings, streets, and gardens of Japan with Professor Aki Ishida this winter session. They began their 2-week program in Tokyo, where they took the shinkansen bullet train to Takayama, then to Gifu, the art islands of Naoshima and Teshima, Kyoto, and back to Tokyo.

They traversed the dense metropolis as well as depopulated rural towns, and slept on tatami at Zenkoji Temple and on beds at modern hotels in post-war buildings. Through drawing, photographing, many hours of walking, and riding trains, buses, and ferries, they observed firsthand the manners in which buildings meet the streets and gardens, and the experiences and spaces that result at these junctures. The group will exhibit their work and share their experiences in Cowgill lobby on April 1 to 3.

1. Naoshima Pavilion by Sou Fujimoto, Naoshima
2. Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito, Tokyo
3. Sensoji Temple, Tokyo
4. Musashino Art University Museum & Library by Sou Fujimoto, Tokyo
5. Zenkoji Temple, Takayama
6. Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama, Naoshima
7. Sumida Hokusai Museum by Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA, Tokyo
8. Murahan, a former merchant row house, Takayama
9. Gifu Media Cosmos by Toyo Ito, Gifu
10. Ryoanji Temple, Kyoto

Photography: Videsha Bansal, Aki Ishida, Holly McNeilly