Architect, Curator
Shinichi Kawakatsu
【Contact】
kawakatsu@centrecoak.org
https://centrecoak.org.
https://kawakatsu.centrecoak.org.
Born in 1983. Having graduated from Kyoto Institute of Technology, he went on to finish his master’s degree at same institution in 2008. Since 2008~2023, Kawakatsu has led architectural research project“ RAD (Research for Architectural Design)”, and has taken major roles in architectural exhibition curation, public workshop and event. In 2024 he founded Centre for Co-Architecture Kyoto (CoAK). He is a Special Researcher at Kyoto Institute of Technology and Professior at Kyoto University of the Arts, teaching architectural design, architectural theory and architectural exhibition history.
Selected Projects
Institution / Organizing
Centre for Co-Architecture Kyoto
We established the Architecture Centre CoAK as a dedicated platform for curating and disseminating knowledge about architecture in Kyoto. The center hosts a diverse range of activities, including exhibitions, workshops, and various events, while also organizing architectural tours and community engagement programs. Through these initiatives, CoAK serves as a hub for fostering dialogue and deepening the public’s understanding of Kyoto’s architectural heritage and contemporary practices.
website : https://centrecoak.org
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/centreforco_architecturekyoto/
Exhibition Curating
Living of Mending / Mending of Living
In recent years, the concept of architecture as a continuum encompassing everything from planning to operation has garnered renewed interest. Concurrently, the practice of "mending"—which bridges the gap between the processes of creation and use—has gained attention. This perspective invites us to reconsider value: even if a physical structure is impermanent, might there not be significance in prolonging its lifespan and embracing its constancy or gradual transformation? This exhibition examines the often-overlooked act of mending—including maintenance, repair, and cleaning—as a critical practice. It explores the latent potential within these acts and their capacity for fostering creative and thoughtful engagement with the built environment.
Venue: AIJ Architectural Museum, Tokyo
Year: 2023
Organizer: Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ)
Exhibition Curating
Architecture Pass Kyoto
The exhibition featured 12 architects across 11 venues in Kyoto, including architects' studios, construction sites, and buildings they designed, under the theme "Where Architecture is Born." The event sought to merge the experience of exploring the city with the exhibition itself, highlighting Kyoto's urban and locational characteristics as a birthplace of architecture.
In recent years, the process of architectural creation has increasingly involved non-architects, such as local residents and community participants through workshops and collaborative initiatives. Furthermore, the completion of a building is no longer viewed as the culmination of the process; instead, there is a growing emphasis on evolving architecture toward an ideal state through continued user engagement.
This exhibition offered a platform to critically reflect on contemporary architectural practices and the evolving methodologies in the production and use of architecture.
Venue: Kyoto, JAPAN
Year: 2022
Organizer: Architecture Pass Kyoto Committee
Grant: Arts Aid KYOTO
Website: https://archipasskyoto.com/
Catalogue: https://bonchiedit.theshop.jp/items/78255431
Community Engagement
T City New Hall Project
For the construction project of the new city hall, we worked with an architectural firm to plan and organise public workshops and to conduct PR. Considering that the project is a long-term project, the programme is designed to link the design, construction and operation phases of the project.
In addition to traditional participatory workshops, mobile workshop booths were set up at various locations in the city in an attempt to gather a large number of opinions from a wide range of citizens. In addition, interviews with disabled people's organisations were enhanced to consider spaces where citizens from different standpoints can be together.
In PR, the project report was published on each workshop and the opinions of citizens in order to publicise the construction of the city hall itself.
Venue: Tondabayashi, Osaka, Japan
Year: 2021~2022
Collaborator: YAP, AXS
Exhibition Curating
Street Tools
What does it take to transform a street? This exhibition explored the concept of "street tools"—devices or interventions that mediate between people's behaviors in public spaces and the frameworks of social institutions, such as laws and regulations. The exhibition showcased 18 examples of street tools developed through practical experiments in various locations.These tools, which can be created by anyone within their resources, expand the possibilities of how streets can be used and support diverse human activities. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor spaces have taken on new significance, with growing expectations for streets to function as dynamic arenas where various actions and interactions converge.This exhibition invited visitors to reimagine the future of streets through the lens of these innovative street tools, born from real-world experimentation and creativity.
Venue: AIJ Architectural Museum, Tokyo
Year: 2022
Organizer: Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ)
Co-curator: Eiichi Koizumi
Website: https://bunka.aij.or.jp/events/22exhibition/
Exhibition Curating
EAST-EAST 5 | Recipe for Recovery
The project name “East-East” reflects the geographical positioning of Lithuania in Eastern Europe and Japan in East Asia, symbolizing mutual understanding, collaboration, and harmony. All events under the “East-East” project followed a consistent structure, consisting of three key components: (1) an architectural exhibition, (2) a public forum or seminar, and (3) a student workshop. Each event brought together 10 architects and 10 architecture students from Japan and Lithuania, fostering cross-cultural exchange and shared exploration.The fifth iteration of the project was held in Kaunas, designated as the European Capital of Culture in September 2022. Centered on the theme “Recovery,” architects from both countries explored how architecture can contribute to the restoration of the global environment, the rebuilding of human connections, and the revitalization of communities.
Venue: KAUNAS, Lithuania
Year: 2022
Organizer: KAUNAS ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL
Co-curator: Paulius Vaitiekūnas
Document : EAST-EAST 5 Document
Learning Program
Town Play Studies
This programme is designed to learn and practise new urban design methods and urbanist ideas with teenagers, as an alternative to 20th century urban planning and urban design.In 2021, working with a Tokyo developer, a programme of spatial intervention through 'play' was implemented in a station-front space developed in the 1980s, using teenagers' imaginative playful ideas to confront urban issues.
Venue: Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Year: 2020~
Organizer: GAKU
Co-Producer: Kei Kaiho, Eri Tsugawa
Website: https://townplaystudies.com/
Exhibition Curating
Suujin Maintenance Club
The spaces in which we live continue to be sustained while being constantly renewed by the various little acts carried out by different people. The density of these ceaseless interactions with the city gives rise to its unique textures and vigor.
In the SUUJIN MAINTENANCE CLUB project, we will attempt to conduct maintenance on seemingly abandoned objects (cracked concrete, broken traffic cones, etc.) and on the lost behaviors of people (their interactions and liveliness) in Kyoto Sujin district, which is currently undergoing gentrification. The act of maintenance is not about restoring things by simply returning them to their former states; rather, it is about imagining their past and creating the time ahead of them in which they will continue to be sustained.
In doing this, we seek to consider the positive and negative aspects of the act of maintenance. In carrying out the project, we will collaborate with a variety of people and explore ways of conducting maintenance based on the methods that they employ in their daily creative activities. Additionally, we will document these methods and disclose them to the public. By doing so, we aim to compile an archive of maintenance methods so that they can be shared.
Exhibition Title: Still Moving
Venue: Ex-Suujin Elementary School, Kyoto, JAPAN
Year: 2015
Organizer: Kyoto City University of Arts
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Exhibition Title: Adhocracy Athens
Venue: Onassis Cultural Centre, Athene, Greek
Year: 2015
Organizer:Onassis Cultural Centre
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Website: https://maintenanceclub.tumblr.com/
Exhibition Curating
EXPO’ 70 Pavilion Satellite
An exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of Expo '70 Osaka was organized, featuring meticulously selected materials from an extensive archive comprising tens of thousands of items preserved at the Expo Park. Some of these materials were displayed as pavilion satellites. The research, curation, and exhibition planning were conducted with a focus on maximizing the archival collection's potential to convey the profound cultural and historical significance of the event. Given the restricted access to certain materials, the "Playback Archive" initiative was launched, inviting experts from various disciplines to analyze and contextualize selected items of interest. This approach facilitated a multifaceted exploration of the archival value of Expo '70, offering a unique perspective on its enduring legacy.
Venue: T-ART HALL、Tokyo, Japan
Year: 2020
Organizer: Osaka Prefecture, TSP-Taiyo
Exhibition Design: NO ARCHITECTS
Community Art Programm
Art expressing the city
the city of the circulating commons
This art program focused on the interstitial spaces between redevelopment zones in Tokyo. Through comprehensive research into the area's historical resources, the program collaborated with artists to transform the city's collective memories into site-specific artworks. These works were strategically installed in local restaurants and community spaces, fostering accessibility and engagement. During the exhibition period, guided tours were organized, offering participants an opportunity to experience both the artworks and the area's historical traces. The project explored the dynamic relationship between art and the local community, as well as the optimal methods for presenting artworks within a community-oriented context.
Venue: NishiShinbashi, Tokyo, Japan
Year: 2018~2022
Organizer: Mori Art Museum
participants: Takashi Honma、Yuta Nakamura、Asako Shiroki、Yui Usui
Photo: Tayama Tatsuyuki
Photo Courtesy: Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Exhibition Design
JAPAN in ARCHITECTURE
genealogies of its transformation
The team oversaw the venue organization and exhibition design for the architecture exhibition. To ensure that the hundreds of exhibits—including models, drawings, and photographs—were easily comprehensible for visitors, we adopted an approach that layered information both visually and spatially, offering distinct perspectives from distant and close-up views.The exhibition stands were tailored to reflect the theme of each section, with variations in design aimed at enhancing the overall dynamism and engagement of the exhibition, creating a more immersive and stimulating visitor experience.
Director:Terunobu Fujimori
Exhibition Design : Momoko Kudo、 Daisuke Motogi、So Hashizume、Shohei Iida
Organizer: Mori Art Museum
Photo: Koroda Takeru
Photo courtesy: Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Conference / Exhibition
Parallel Projections
A series of events for young architecture professionals, held in 2016 to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the Architectural Institute of Japan, and continued for five years after that. The Architectural Institute of Japan is made up of a wide range of architecture-related professionals, not just architects, and the sessions always explored the possibilities of collaboration between members with different specialisms.
There were 33 sessions in total, with over 250 participants, and discussions were held on the role of architects in modern society and the possibilities of architectural projects. We believe that one of the major achievements of the event was the diverse collaborations that arose between participants through the sessions.
Local Development
Venue: AIJ Hall, Tokyo
Organizer: Architectural Institute of Japan
Co-curator: Takuma Tsuji
Website: https://bunka.aij.or.jp/para-projections/
Document(2021): Learning form Architecture
New Oomi Village Project
The project aims to revitalise a village that was abandoned about 50 years ago. The project aims to discover modern possibilities and attractions in the village, which is located approximately one hour from the city centre and retains a rich natural satoyama environment, and to regenerate it as a place for civic activities.
So up to now, the project has organised environmental improvements such as cleaning up illegally dumped rubbish, workshops on renovating old houses, hands-on workshops using the nature of the satoyama, open-air exhibitions and performance events.
Exhibition Curating
PARIS TOKYO – KENCHIKU ARCHITECTURE
The exhibition was held at The Pavillon de Arsenal in Paris, and was a development of the 2011 French-Japanese Young Architects Exchange Symposium. Six young architects each from Japan and France were selected. Before the exhibition, preliminary research workshops were held in Tokyo and Paris to deepen mutual understanding.The Japanese architects presented their proposals for Paris, while the French architects presented their proposals for Tokyo. They presented visions of the city that included new urban attractions and perspectives.
Venue : The Pavillon de Arsenal, Paris, France
Year: 2012~2013
Participants: (Japan)Jo Nagasaka、TNA、Ryuji Nakamura、Yuko Nagayama、ondesign、Yasutaka Yoshimura
(France) Est-ce ainsi、GRAU architectes urbanistes、La Ville Rayée、NP2F、RAUM、 Thomas Raynaud
Organizer:The Pavillon de Arsenal
Co-Curator:Benjamin Aubry
Exhibition. Curating
ARCHIZINES OSAKA / TOKYO
Archizines is an exhibition showcasing independent architecture magazines from around the world. As part of its touring exhibition in Japan, historical Japanese architectural magazines were researched and presented as original, region-specific content.
The exhibition juxtaposed the synchronicity of the global Archizines collection with the diachronic exploration of Japan's architectural publishing history, illustrating the evolving breadth and impact of architectural magazines. Furthermore, several architects were invited to create new "Architectzines," which were displayed as part of the exhibition and made available for purchase. This initiative not only celebrated the legacy of architectural publications but also encouraged contemporary creative contributions to the genre.
Venue: designde>, Osaka / Tokyo Art Book fair, Tokyo, Japan
Year: 2012
Original exhibition curating: Elias Redstone
Scenography: Daisuke Motogi (DDAA)
Graphic:Shohei Iida
DIY Workshop
HAPS BASE DIY WS
Project to renovate a vacant house in Kyoto into an office and gallery for HAPS, an organisation that supports young artists HAPS aimed to balance the issue of vacant houses and support for artists by renovating vacant houses by artists themselves and turning them into studios and living spaces. Therefore, it was decided to regard the creation of a base for HAPS as a pilot project and to aim to renovate the townhouse in a workshop format. As architectural experts, we decided on the details of the refurbishment, drew up a process and construction plan that allowed the participation of laypeople, and provided on-site guidance. We are now attempting to determine the details and create a record of the project with the theme of traceability, so that it can later be used as a reference case for artists who want to utilise vacant houses. By involving the artists in the construction, the project also attempted to transform the labour into a creative performance.
Venue: Kyoto, Japan
Year: 2012
Organizer: HAPS (Higashiyama Artists Placement Service), Kyoto City
Publications
（Books）
・Shinichi Kawakatsu et al (eds), The Visual Dictionary of Architectural Ideologies, Gauge Publishers, Japan, 2023
・Shinichi Kawakatsu, Architecture Pass Kyoto, Bosch Edition, 2022
・Shinichi Kawakatsu, PARIS TOKYO Spontaneous order, RAD, 2013
（Articles）
・Architecture as Praxis, Shinkenchiku 202405, 2024
・Architecture as a project / Architecture as a thing, Juutakutokushu, JAPAN,2021
・The Future of Model(ing) - The Fusion of Physical and Digital, Kenchiku Touron web, JAPAN,2021
・The Politics of Distance - Intersection of Infectious Disease and Architecture、Kenchiku Touron web, JAPAN,2021
・Development of Adhocracy in Architecture, SD2017, JAPAN,2017
・Symposium：Globalization of the Historic City and the Architect's Expansion, Kenchiku Touron web, JAPAN,2016
・Architecture is not competition, ShinKenchiku, JAPAN, 2016
・Architectural Exhibits as a Form of Life, Online Magazine–10+1website, JAPAN, 2015
・The city will once again become a place where people's imaginations can flourish , PARIS / TOKYO - spontaneous order -, JAPAN ,2013
・KENCHIKU | ARCHITECTURE, l'architecture d'aujourd'hui 398, FRANCE, 2013
・Chronological Table of Architectural Magazines, design magazine–IDEA 357, JAPAN, 2013
・Promise of scale, Ra＋： , JAPAN, 2012
・Studio Visit 02: Research for Architectural Domain, Online Magazine–DOMUS web, ITALY,2012
© Copyright Shinichi Kawakatsu 2024 All Rights Reserved.