July 4, 2022
No.2022-010

The Japan Pavilion Exhibition at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition

La Biennale di Venezia (2023)“Architecture, a place of mind”
Maki Onishi is chosen to be a curator
The Japan Foundation, commissioner and organizer of the Japan Pavilion of the Venice Biennale
is pleased to announce that outline of Japanese participation in the Biennale has been decided as
below:■The Japan Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition– La Biennale di Venezia
Title:
Commissioner/Organizer:

Curator:Architecture, a place of mind
The Japan Foundation
Maki Onishi (Architect | Director and Co-founder, onishimaki+hyakudayuki
architects / o+h)

Deputy Curator:

Yuki Hyakuda (Architect | Director and Co-founder, onishimaki+hyakudayuki
architects / o+h)

Project Members:

Akane Moriyama (Textile Designer, Artist)
Futoshi Mizuno (Architect | President, Mizuno Seitoen Lab)dot architects (Architecture collective)
Yurika Kono (Photographer)
Yuma Harada (Designer | Representative, UMA /design farm)
Tomomi Tada (Editor | President, MUESUM)■Outline of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia
Dates:
Venues:Director:
Theme:
Official Website:May 20 (Sat) – November 26 (Sun), 2023
Giardini di Castello, Arsenale, and various other venues
Lesley Lokko
The Laboratory of the Future
http://www.labiennale.org

Press inquiries :Kumakura (Ms.), Harada (Ms.), Public Relations Department, The Japan Foundation
Tel: +81-(0)3-5369-6075 / Fax:+81-(0)3-5369-6044
E-mail: press@jpf.go.jp

■About the Curator
Maki Onishi
Born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan in 1983, Maki Onishi graduated from
Kyoto University’s Undergraduate School of Architecture in 2006,
completed a master’s degree at the University of Tokyo in 2008, andlaunched onishimaki+hyakudayuki / o+h the same year with codirector Yuki Hyakuda. Onishi became a Visiting Professor at Kyoto
University in 2016, a Guest Professor at Yokohama NationalUniversity (Y-GSA) in 2017, and in 2022 was appointed Professor atYokohama National University (Y-GSA).
Major works include Shelter Inclusive Place COPAL (Yamagata City
Southern Children's Play Facility, 2022), Taga Community Center (2019), Good Job! CenterKASHIBA (2016), and Double Helix House (2011). Awards include the ADAN prize, Grand Prix
in 2018 for Good Job Center KASHIBA, the JIA Young Architect Award in 2018, and the AIJ
Young Architect Award for Selected Architectural Designs 2019 for Good Job Center KASHIBA.

■Curator’s Statement
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, people in Japan have become more aware of local links
and of the importance of building things together. In cities, new development projects are
reproducing homogenous and controlled spaces. Project owners and architects may never get
to know each other or even see each other’s faces. Construction has become more complex,
with greater specialization, and the work is performed by people who you are unfamiliar with.
As a result, architecture is moving away from people, and seems to be leaving people isolated.
Do people still love architecture like they used to?
At the same time, there are signs that more inclusive thinking—recognizing and respecting
differences—has begun to emerge. Rather than everything being subject to a single set ofvalues, our values now start out from the individual, with small circles of empathy that overlap
with circles centered on other individuals, eventually transforming society so that it becomes
inclusive of all. Such a society surely needs individualistic and tolerant architecture, shifting
away from homogenization and efficiency. Such architecture could perhaps be called “place ofmind” architecture.
Architecture is generally thought of in terms of artificial man-made objects detached fromhumanity and nature, but there are occasional moments when it seems to come to life. For
Press inquiries :Kumakura (Ms.), Harada (Ms.), Public Relations Department, The Japan Foundation
Tel: +81-(0)3-5369-6075 / Fax:+81-(0)3-5369-6044
E-mail: press@jpf.go.jp

instance, when you think about the pit-house dwellings of prehistoric Jomon Japan, or thecountry’s thatched-roof farmhouses, it is easy to envision hairy animals of some sort huddled
against the walls, or a traveler with a straw rain cape taking shelter under the eaves. Suchhouses are more than an assemblage of construction materials. They seem to encourage you
to pat them and feel their warmth. They may not always do what you want them to do, butthey are more like living creatures. It should be possible for us to rethink our view of architecture
to focus on characteristics like these.
The aim of this exhibition is to bring our thoughts together and to join in thinking in more depth
about the potential for place of mind architecture—architecture with a presence that gives theimpression of having its own mind, being tolerant, warm, and drawing in large numbers ofpeople to become involved with nature.
Architecture, a place of mind
Organic rather than segmental
Grown rather than assembled
Loved rather than admired
Individual rather than anonymous
Alive rather than artificial
A place for living rather than just existing

Press inquiries :Kumakura (Ms.), Harada (Ms.), Public Relations Department, The Japan Foundation
Tel: +81-(0)3-5369-6075 / Fax:+81-(0)3-5369-6044
E-mail: press@jpf.go.jp

■Images for press use of the Japan Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition– La Biennale di Venezia
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Rendering for Architecture, a place of mind

Press inquiries :Kumakura (Ms.), Harada (Ms.), Public Relations Department, The Japan Foundation
Tel: +81-(0)3-5369-6075 / Fax:+81-(0)3-5369-6044
E-mail: press@jpf.go.jp

Japan Pavilion exterior

Japan Pavilion interior

Japan Pavilion pilotis

Press inquiries :Kumakura (Ms.), Harada (Ms.), Public Relations Department, The Japan Foundation
Tel: +81-(0)3-5369-6075 / Fax:+81-(0)3-5369-6044
E-mail: press@jpf.go.jp