Reverence for Nature, Passion for Precision: What can we learn from Japan’s mechanical doll making tradition? by JAMES LAMBIASI, AIA

ONLINE EVENT:
Reverence for Nature, Passion for Precision: What can we learn from Japan’s mechanical doll making tradition?
by JAMES LAMBIASI, AIA

FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021 @ 19:00 JST (18:30 TO 19:00: TEST SESSION)

SUMMARY:
It is a pleasure to be invited to be a presenter for AIA Japan’s informal discussion series. As our discussion topic, I would like to present excerpts of a NHK documentary in which I was involved, tracing the relationship of Japan’s mechanical doll “karakuri ningyo” making tradition to its technological prowess in manufacturing we know today.  While my experience in producing this documentary provided many enlightening experiences which I would like to share, it brought up just as many questions that I hope to ponder together. For example, are there characteristics of Japanese tradition and culture that influence the relationship between humans, nature, and the technology produced? As architects, are there lessons here that we can also connect back to our own discipline?  I don’t have the answers! But I hope this will be an opportunity to share opinions and experiences regarding this topic. I am looking forward to seeing you then.

– Jim

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
James Lambiasi AIA has been a practicing architect and critic in Tokyo for 26 years. He is the principal of James Lambiasi Architect, serves as a visiting lecturer at Shibaura University and Temple University Japan Campus, and acts as an independent business consultant for Japanese projects executed by the American architectural firm Pickard Chilton. He is a contributing architectural critic for the online publication Artscape Japan, and has hosted eight episodes of the NHK television series “Journeys in Japan” which focuses on architecture in Japan. He is a founding member of the AIA Japan Chapter, and served as its President in 2008.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Understand the evolution of technology in Japan, from traditional crafts to the advanced technological global status Japan has today.
2. Understand cultural and religious aspects of Japan that influence outlook on nature.
3. Understand traditions in Japanese architecture that relate to its simultaneous reverence for nature and passion for precision.
4. Understand how cultural traditions that shape Japanese craft pervade into the discipline of construction and influence modern architectural design today.

CES:
2.0 LU for AIA Members