The project addresses rural Japan’s declining population and aging communities through the revitalisation of abandoned spaces. By engaging foreign students, we aimed to discover new uses for local resources, fostering a sustainable economy beneficial to both locals and visitors.
We began by harvesting local materials, recycling mud and clay tiles, and learning bamboo splitting from local villagers. The school emphasizes collecting and treating materials, directly engaging with the landscape, and understanding the area’s geographical, cultural, social, and economic contexts.
We invited a master plasterer from a nearby town to teach us how to create a wattle and daub wall, and we learned traditional Japanese carpentry from the village itself, which served as our construction textbook.
The project has been about gaining outdoor experiences, appreciating the wonderful tactility of working with harvested natural materials, and recognizing the shared world of humans, animals, and insects.
