ENAC Seminar Series by Prof. M. Tsuneyama
Event details
| Date | 04.12.2020 |
| Hour | 09:00 › 09:45 |
| Speaker | Prof. Mio Tsuneyama |
| Location |
Zoom
Online
|
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
09:00 – 09:45 – Prof. Mio Tsuneyama
Junior Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Science, Japan
Talk title:
Urban Soil Commons
Abstract:
Against the backdrop of climate change and low economic growth, spontaneous "urban commons" are emerging globally in cities by local people to improve their living conditions. The creation of places for urban commons utilizes limited urban resources such as waste material, rainwater, sun, and soil, and is connected to the urban ecology.
Among urban resources, soil has received a lot of attention in recent years. The world in soil beneath our feet is the root of human life, where a wide variety of microorganisms work to produce our food, clean water, and grow plants that produce oxygen. The importance of the work of soil and microorganisms is explained by David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé in “The Hidden Half of Nature”. Bruno Latour also calls the biofilm including soil, Terrestrial, a recognition that humans and nature are defined by a new relationship. Dana Haraway calls humans “compost”, arguing for a symbiosis that transcends species.
Although architecture is built in contact with the soil and supported by soil structures, the subsoil environment is weakened by the fact that most of the urban ground surface is covered with asphalt and concrete. In addition, current architecture is designed to be industrial waste, which is a burden on our scarce ecological footprint. Is it possible to return architecture to the soil rather than to waste, to incorporate it into the biosphere of its decomposition and reproduction and that biological cycle become a common ground for the city's resources? For this purpose, architectural design is required to consider and trace the urban, environmental, ecological and material cycles and life in an integrated manner. This lecture introduces the possibility of new forms of urban living that return to the soil and a new vision of urban planning through the soil commons.
Short bio:
Mio Tsuneyama is a junior associate professor in Tokyo University of Science and cofounder of architecture practice Studio mnm, based in Tokyo, Japan. Her practice and research are based on “urban living”, “commons” and “ecology”, known by her architectural works such as House for Seven People(2013) and Holes in the House –Urban Wild Ecology(2017-), which received a number of awards, most notably the special mention to the Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2016. She is currently a member of the Voice of the Earth Design Subcommittee, which studies the Actor-network-theory by the relationships between material and energy circulation with human and non-human beings in architectural design. She began her architecture studies in the undergraduate program at Tokyo University of Science and received her masters at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in the theme of urban living in 2008. She worked at several architecture office in Tokyo such as SANAA and Junya Ishigami as short-term intern during her study in Japan. She also has the experience of practicing in Switzerland as she worked as an intern at Bonhôte Zapata Architectes in Geneva and as an architect at HHF Architects in Basel.
Junior Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Science, Japan
Talk title:
Urban Soil Commons
Abstract:
Against the backdrop of climate change and low economic growth, spontaneous "urban commons" are emerging globally in cities by local people to improve their living conditions. The creation of places for urban commons utilizes limited urban resources such as waste material, rainwater, sun, and soil, and is connected to the urban ecology.
Among urban resources, soil has received a lot of attention in recent years. The world in soil beneath our feet is the root of human life, where a wide variety of microorganisms work to produce our food, clean water, and grow plants that produce oxygen. The importance of the work of soil and microorganisms is explained by David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé in “The Hidden Half of Nature”. Bruno Latour also calls the biofilm including soil, Terrestrial, a recognition that humans and nature are defined by a new relationship. Dana Haraway calls humans “compost”, arguing for a symbiosis that transcends species.
Although architecture is built in contact with the soil and supported by soil structures, the subsoil environment is weakened by the fact that most of the urban ground surface is covered with asphalt and concrete. In addition, current architecture is designed to be industrial waste, which is a burden on our scarce ecological footprint. Is it possible to return architecture to the soil rather than to waste, to incorporate it into the biosphere of its decomposition and reproduction and that biological cycle become a common ground for the city's resources? For this purpose, architectural design is required to consider and trace the urban, environmental, ecological and material cycles and life in an integrated manner. This lecture introduces the possibility of new forms of urban living that return to the soil and a new vision of urban planning through the soil commons.
Short bio:
Mio Tsuneyama is a junior associate professor in Tokyo University of Science and cofounder of architecture practice Studio mnm, based in Tokyo, Japan. Her practice and research are based on “urban living”, “commons” and “ecology”, known by her architectural works such as House for Seven People(2013) and Holes in the House –Urban Wild Ecology(2017-), which received a number of awards, most notably the special mention to the Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2016. She is currently a member of the Voice of the Earth Design Subcommittee, which studies the Actor-network-theory by the relationships between material and energy circulation with human and non-human beings in architectural design. She began her architecture studies in the undergraduate program at Tokyo University of Science and received her masters at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in the theme of urban living in 2008. She worked at several architecture office in Tokyo such as SANAA and Junya Ishigami as short-term intern during her study in Japan. She also has the experience of practicing in Switzerland as she worked as an intern at Bonhôte Zapata Architectes in Geneva and as an architect at HHF Architects in Basel.
Practical information
- General public
- Invitation required
- This event is internal
Organizer
- ENAC
Contact
- Joanna Jermini-Howard / Cristina Perez