On March 14, the first Institute lecture of the spring semester 2024 took place. As part of our \u00abPositions on Urbanism\u00bb series, Mio Tsuneyama from Japan gave a lecture entitled \u00abUrban Fungus – Architecture is a complex mesh\u00bb. <\/p>\n\n
Mio Tsuneyama shows how a new generation of architects is discovering the periphery of Tokyo. In contrast to the city centre, where expensive renovation projects are regularly invested in and building materials are immediately scrapped, the periphery of Tokyo is affected by vacancies and people moving away. However, the houses here are not immediately demolished and this new movement of architects, to which Mio Tsuneyama also belongs, sees this phenomenon as potential. They utilise the vacancies with new functions and recycle the waste generated in the city. The large amount of waste is a resource that, together with sunlight and rainwater, is fed back into the ecological cycle of production and decomposition.<\/p>\n\n