Hiroba – Learning from Japanese public spaces

In Sweden, there is plenty of public space. We have spacious streets and squares but no strong culture of using them. Unlike Sweden, Tokyo has very little of what we would categorize as squares or public spaces. The word square is translated in Japanese to hiroba and historically these rooms in Japan are not defined by a physical place but instead through human activity and interaction.

In our project, we turn our eyes to Japan, and specifically Tokyo – a city that at first glance does not have that very much in common with our public spaces in Sweden. We see, however, that in Japan one can solve the creation of temporary spaces and rooms in very interesting ways. The purpose of this project is to challenge the design and use of public spaces in Sweden with inspiration from Tokyo.

“Hiroba” is a research project run by Samuel Michaëlsson, Yosuke Tsuga and Anna Kawai. During the summer of 2022 we have conducted a series of interviews with experts in both Japan and Sweden, some of which we will present during the lecture. Through these discussions and events we are hoping to start a dialogue with Swedish architects, urbanists, artists and others interested in placemaking. Yosuke Tsuga will also present some of his previous work related to the research.

The presentation and discussion will be held in English.
Ingen anmälan, först till kvarn.