©Naoyuki Kunikiyo

ONLINE Lecture

YOKAI Architecture
by Naoyuki Kunikiyo

7-8:30PM Friday, October 24

Webinar
Admission FREE
RSVP REQUIRED

Architect Naoyuki Kunikiyo, a senior designer at Sou Fujimoto Architects who led the overall masterplan design of the EXPO 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, will deliver this lecture on architecture that transcends human presence through the lens of yokai—the supernatural monsters that have long been intertwined with everyday life in Japan.

In his graduate research, Kunikiyo not only explored the architectural spaces where yokai might dwell, but also designed the yokai themselves. Since yokai are believed to emerge from places of mystery, they remain inseparable from architectural space. While many have been passed down in stories since before the Edo period, Kunikiyo imagines that they still persist in our contemporary cities. Walking through Tokyo, he reinterpreted their names, forms, and legends, envisioning new architectures where they might continue to exist.

This lecture is presented as a related program to Yokai Parade: Supernatural Monsters from Japan, currently on view at the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles.

LECTURER

Naoyuki Kunikiyo was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1993. He graduated from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University in 2016. In 2017, he studied abroad at the University of Liechtenstein, and in 2019 he completed the Graduate School of Architecture at Tokyo University of the Arts. He is currently a senior designer at Sou Fujimoto Architects. Kunikiyo has been involved in projects including EXPO 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest, and the International Center Station Northern Area Complex (Sendai).

All images ©Naoyuki Kunikiyo

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妖怪大行進 YOKAI PARADE: Supernatural Monsters from Japan