The College of Engineering recently finalized a memorandum of understanding with Kindai University (Osaka, Japan) that supports continued faculty research collaboration and also underpins a faculty-led study abroad experience for architecture students.
“Japan: Fieldwork in Micro-Urbanism” investigates Japanese design culture through the lens of micro-urbanism — the thresholds, alleys, markets, and everyday spatial practices that shape daily life,” explained Iman Ansari, an assistant professor and chair of undergraduate studies in architecture, who co-leads the study abroad experience with Halina Steiner.
“For two weeks in May, Ohio State students traveled through Tokyo, Kamakura, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Naoshima and Teshima, building a visual and analytical record of how these small-scale conditions structure much larger urban systems and social relations,” said Ansari.
The centerpiece was a three-day collaborative workshop across Kyoto and Osaka, developed in collaboration with Tohru Horiguchi, Knowlton alumnus and professor at Kindai University's Faculty of Architecture. The cross-cultural collaboration — negotiating not just content but working methods, languages, and assumptions — was itself a core aim of the program.
“Our students worked in mixed teams alongside Kindai graduate students on the theme of "alley culture as micro-urbanism" — spaces that are neither fully public nor private but support everyday life through informal, socially embedded practices. The teams worked across three scales, from traditional alleys and machiya, to small-scale architectural interventions, to contemporary public infrastructure, and presented concept videos at Kindai as a mid-term milestone,” explained Ansari.
These types of international partnerships lead to transformative and extraordinary student experiences for Buckeyes across the globe.
The deadline to apply for the summer 2027 program is January 1, 2027.