TEAROOM Maki © Yoshiro Masuda
Relating to the everyday
Architectonic designs, buildings, research and art projects meet in a constant dialogue with the space and the community.
dot architects is a Japanese architecture collective based in Osaka, where they are part of Coop Kitakagaya, a collaborative studio dedicated to practicing an ‘alternative society’. From this context, dot architects work with a wide range of partners—both professionals and non-professionals—across architecture, construction, research, and art. Their practice extends well beyond conventional architectural design, to on-site construction, research, and art projects. With at its core, engaging in ongoing dialogue with place and community.
The collective currently has eight members: Toshikatsu Ienari, Takeshi Shakushiro, Wataru Doi, Keiko Miyachi, Ai Ikeda,
Ryosuke Katsube, Asuka Kobayashi and Futo Kurahashi.
Key projects such as Umaki camp (2013, Shodoshima, JP), Chidori Bunka (2017, Osaka, JP), and On-hold House (2022, Hamamatsu, JP) demonstrate how architecture can act as a form of social and spatial choreography. dot architects embraces co-creation and informality. Their work reflects a deep care for and relation to the everyday: how people gather, adapt, and generate meaning over time. Rather than imposing fixed solutions, the collective cultivates structures that emerge from local needs and evolve alongside them. In this way, buildings and places are not static objects but living processes—active participants in social and ecological relationships. For their lecture, Toshikatsu Ienari and/or Wataru Doi will present recent works including Ozo Winery (Kobe, Japan).
AUDITORIUM ‘25-’26 - ROOTED: Architectures of relating
Lecture series on architecture and urbanism
Curator: Hanne Van Reusel, Stad & Architectuur
How does architecture acquire meaning? Which relations ground its practice? How do we engage with places, people, materials and poetics -within our wider ecological and social systems?
ROOTED explores architecture in its many forms, as part of an inextricable web of relations. It highlights practices that are deeply attuned to their environments—through poetic sensitivity, material exploration, long-term community collaboration, or acts of care. The invited speakers reflect on the relational processes that shape their work: the ways of seeing, acting, and engaging that give architecture its grounding and resonance.
PROGRAMME
19:45 Doors
20:00 Start lecture
21:30-21:45 End
PARTNERS
STUK, KU Leuven Dep. architecture, Existenz
With the support of the City of Leuven and the Flemish Government
SPONSOR
Vandersanden Group & Groep Van Roey
Location
Price
€ 12 standard
€8 STUK card
free for students, members S&A and partners
