Kyoto Lectures

Kyoto still preserves its ancient cultural tradition as one of Japan's major academic centers and a meeting place for scholars from around the world. Organized in collaboration with the École Française d’Extrême-Orient and the Institute for Research in Humanities at Kyoto University, the Kyoto Lectures offer specialists in East Asian cultures and societies the opportunity to present their ongoing research results in Kyoto.
From Metabolism to Post Metabolism

Kyoto Lectures

From Metabolism to Post Metabolism

Japanese Cities between Utopian Visions and Reality in Flux

Raffaele Pernice

29 gennaio 2026 18:00

The lecture will critically outline the ideas and works of the Group Metabolism and their iconic projects in the context of the continuous transformation of the Japanese urban environment. Beyond the forms and the aesthetics of their propositions, the cultural relevance and the methodological approach proposed by Metabolism, rooted in the responsiveness of Japanese design and the adaptability of the traditional architectural construction systems, still retain some relevance.  Its importance is in the latent capability to address the great criticalities of our time in Japan and globally.

Raffaele Pernice is Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Urbanism at UNSW Sydney, and a 2026 JSPS BRIDGE Fellow at Kyushu University. Recipient of a Monbukagakushō Scholarship and a JSPS Postdoc Research Fellowship, he holds a PhD in Architecture from Waseda University and a MA in Architecture from IUAV University, Italy. He is editor of the book The Urbanism of Metabolism (Routledge, 2022).

 

This hybrid lecture will be held on site (registration required in advance from here) and via Zoom.

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86047783858

Meeting ID: 860 4778 3858