The Future of Work I: Awaji-Shima

George L. Legendre

The Future of Work I : AwajiShima

Spring 2025

Studio Report

George L. Legendre

The Future of Work I : AwajiShima

The Future of Work I : Awaji-Shima

Studio Instructor George L. Legendre

This studio inaugurates a multi-year design research program into the future of work made possible by the generous support of the Nambu Family Design Studio Fund.

At stake are the broad societal issues of employment, education, and work-life balance, as they relate to architecture, urbanism, and the environment.

The inaugural semester of the program focuses on the spaces of work and is sited on Awaji, an island located in Seto Inland Sea in central Japan. In the past few years, Awaji has benefited from generous outside investment in affordable housing, primary schooling, small-holding agriculture, and hospitality, catering to visitors and professionals in search of a better life beyond the city.

The projects presented in this report explore ways in which innovative factorymade spaces could support the island’s regeneration though a unique combination of hospitality, agriculture, skills training and social enterprise.

Teaching Assistant Rishita Sen Students Keane Chua, Soroush Ehsani-Yeganeh, Elise Hsu, Ella Larkin, Regina Pricillia, Nicky Rhodes, Zachary Slonsky, Ann Tanaka, Esteban Vanegas Jr., Jeya Wilson, Lou Xiao, Ziyang Xiong Final Review Critics James Dallman, Iman Fayyad, Jenny French, Jon Gregurick, Grace La, Mohsen Mostafavi, Keiko Okabayashi, Riho Sato, Allen Sayegh, Michael Voligny, Sarah Whiting, Adrian Wong

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Background

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Case Study V Jeya Wilson

Preface George L. Legendre

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Case Study VI Lou Xiao

Studio Overview George L. Legendre

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Seasoned Frames: OSM-Based Juice & Ice Cream Shop Lou Xiao

Projects

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Case Study VII Ella Larkin

Sake Workshop Ziyang Xiyong

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Patch-Werk Ella Larkin

Asanokonda Residency Zachary Slonsky

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Case Study VIII Keane Chua

Moku San Regina Pricillia

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Ceremony Keane Chua

Case Study I Regina Pricillia

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Case Study IX Elise Hsu

SIP Shelf Ann Tanaka

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Compounds Elise Hsu

Case Study II Ann Tanaka

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Case Study X Ziyang Xiyong

Case Study III Esteban Vanegas Jr.

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AgriLab Village Soroush Ehsani-Yeganeh

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Case Study XI Soroush Ehsani-Yeganeh

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Case Study XII Zachary Slonsky

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Contributors

Gentle Growth: An Expansion Alternative Esteban Vanegas Jr.

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Archival Material Nicky Rhodes

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Case Study IV Nicky Rhodes

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Seasonal Space Jeya Wilson

Title

9 Sum, tem est, odi repereiciam re commoditia sus aut ut id eveles autestrum quatiur re vent qui doleni reres.

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Firstname Lastname

George L. Legendre

This studio is the first of a series on to the future of work in our changing societies, made possible by the generous support of the Nambu Family Design Studio Fund. At stake are the broad societal issues of employment, education, and work-life balance, as they relate to architecture, urbanism, and the preservation of the environment.

This first season focuses on the spaces of work and extends a multi-year investigation of the re-emergent phenomenon known as Offsite Manufacturing (OSM for short).

The studio is sited on Awaji, an island the size of Singapore located in Seto Inland Sea in central Japan. With its stunning natural setting and depopulating villages only a short distance from the mega-agglomeration of Kobe/Osaka, the mixed predicament of the island is typical of Japan’s most peri-urban environments.

Thinking about the future of work outside the city means finding ways to economically revitalize the periphery. In the past few years, thanks to the sustained patronage of the Tokyobased corporation Pasona Inc, Awaji has seen investments in affordable housing, primary schooling, small-holding agriculture, and an assortment of hospitality venues catering to same-day visitors, as well as professionals in search of work and a better quality of life.

The introduction of sustainable agricultural practices and training has been a particularly important part of this initiative.

Working to a brief of mid-sized communal buildings designed and assembled in factories, the students explored various ways in which architecture and manufacturing could support Awaji’s unique combination of agriculture, social enterprise, hospitality, education, and outreach.

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Preface

The Future of Work on Awaji-shima: Context, Site, and Culture.

George L. Legendre

While our past studios explored historical European and North American precedents, prioritized the demands of OSM-driven design and concentrated on small-scale residential models, this studio benefitted from the exceptional institutional support of the Tokyobased Nambu Family Fund to expand its research into the world of tomorrow’s spaces of work.

In a fascinating, if somewhat unusual, twist we were invited to reflect on the broad questions Above: research model Riverford housing by CCG Glasgow, George L. Legendre, Robert Hairstans, Mark Pantano, Anne Stack, Jessica Yuan, (photo George L. Legendre)

of work and well-being away from the cities, these centres of mass employment, focussing instead on the rural heartlands and economically depressed coastal communities of Hyogo prefecture in central Japan.

In late September 2024 we arrived on Awaji, an island the size of Singapore, a short distance from the mega-city of Kobe and Osaka in the Seto Inland Sea. With its stunning natural setting, depopulating towns, and semiabandoned fishing and farming villages, the predicament of the island is typical of Japan’s peri-urban environments. Thinking about the future of work in such places means finding ways to economically revitalize them, a slow process at best. In practice however, the progress made over the past decade on Awaji shows how the economic decline beyond large metropolitan conurbations can be decisively reversed. This is the context the studies and design proposals published in this report seek to address.

II This semester reprises a multi-year investigation of the re-emergent phenomenon known as Offsite Manufacturing (OSM). OSM is not a new idea –the Bauhaus proposed it in the 1920s as a socially progressive model for mass housing.

Above: View The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge linking Kobe and Osaka on Honshu Island with Awaji Island (photo George L. Legendre).

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The material included in this report forms part of an ongoing design research initiative launched in 2018 under the somewhat cryptic title of Model as Building – Building as Model1.

The four graduate studios taught under this moniker between 2018 and 2024 explored the reemergence in the twenty-first century of offsite manufacturing or OSM, formerly known as prefab, whereby projects of any size or purpose are designed and built anywhere –anywhere that is except on site.

OSM is not a technical problem, and our research has never been about construction. Our primary interest lies in the nature of building, and the ways in which the work of unsuspecting actors of the design and manufacturing world enrich our understanding of architecture and urbanity as disciplines.

Today, however, while need remains an important factor behind OSM, need is no longer the dominant one. Desire in its contemporary forms (consumerism, digital technology, social media culture) is equally important.

Sometimes it seems that OSM isn’t even about making buildings, but models at scale 1:1 (or maybe the other way around). Model as Building – Building as Model: we have long been intrigued by this uncanny comparison, which frames the multiple case studies compiled during the first four weeks of the term, and the design proposals developed thereafter.

This new world offers opportunities for designers, too. The real draw lies in recognizing that OSM is about process –and a conceptual process at that. First and foremost, there is the primal pleasure of working in this way, which doesn’t go away with age or experience. Simple constraints inform the designer’s thinking: protocols of assembly and tooling, the width of a single room, and of course, the width of the freeway on which the house is trucked, like a gigantic model from the land of Gulliver. UK architect Andrew Waugh once said, quite rightly, that the width of the motorways will determine the form of future cities, in the same way that a fixed plot width determined the form of Victorian London2.

Thinking about the future of work outside the city means finding ways to economically revitalize its periphery. In the past few years, thanks to the sustained patronage of the Tokyobased corporation Pasona Inc, Awaji has seen investments in affordable housing, primary schooling, small-holding agriculture, and an assortment of hospitality venues catering to same-day visitors, as well as professionals in search of work and a better quality of life.

The Introduction of sustainable agricultural practices and training has been a particularly important part of this initiative. Hence, working to a brief of mid-sized communal buildings designed and assembled in factories, the students explored various ways in which architecture and manufacturing could support Awaji’s unique combination of agriculture, social enterprise, hospitality, education, and outreach.

Finally, with its scale shifts, patterns, and strangely direct translation from making to building, OSM may have more in common with the speculative efforts of design students working away on the trays of the GSD, than it has with traditional building.

The proposals are located on a hillside above the fishing village of Asano, on the west coast of the island. Once a thriving coastal community of fishers and farmers, Asano has been steadily depopulating since the 1980s. Further up the hill, our site was originally formed by traditional Japanese mountain farming practices. The geometric terraces of its former rice fields cascade down the steep mountainside, taking nature and its accidents in their stride.

Above: Construction and Design Manual / Container and Modular Building DOM Publishers Berlin 2016 (photos George L. Legendre)

Above: Catering spaces in the offices of Pasona Inc on the west side of Awaji. Below: view of Asanokanda (photos George L. Legendre)

Studio Overview

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III

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When visiting say, Milan or Paris, the stark boundary between past and present never goes away. In Osaka, on the other hand, a visitor shall pause before a single-storey timber house and stare at the dark metal grill work on the gate, while missing entirely the 18-storey glass tower standing across the street. These parallel realities do not feel mutually exclusive.

The site brims with geological crevices, lenticularly-shaped water basins, as well as talwegs running along the valley, and channelling the mountain springs down to the grey sea3.

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George L. Legendre

Alongside geography and program, the cultural context of Japan constitutes an important –albeit elusive–part of this semester’s agenda. There has been a dialogue between what one might call the eastern and western parts of our brief. Japan’s extensive use of timber and ancient craft of joinery, for instance, mirror the central role played by structural wood in the re-emergence of Off-Site Manufacturing.

There is therefore an important conceptual affinity between the central tenet of OSM and the cultural role of timber in Japanese history, and most of the proposals in this report have paid attention to it.

Beyond that, the brief seeks to engage with the idiosyncrasies of Japanese culture as we perceive it, such as the ubiquitous blend of contemporary and traditional. While many countries in southern Europe feature equally striking combinations of vernacular and modern, the feeling in Japan is significantly different.

Above: traditional joinery exhibit from the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, Kobe (photo George L. Legendre).

We then have the distinctly Japanese way of putting together perfect buildings with little regard for the customary western distinctions between large or small, permanent or provisional, crafty or makeshift, ‘important’ or ‘menial’.

Staring at a hundred concrete beams neatly stacked behind a cordon like screws and washers boxed away on a shelf, a foreign visitor welcomed into a busy construction site in Japan would be forgiven to think she is entering a quiet, family-owned hardware store. The contrast is not so much down to tidiness and organisation (important as they may be), as to an apparent lack of hierarchy in our surroundings.

In Japan, everything around us often feels equally important4.

Above: a new hotel and marina under construction next to the new Awaji Opera House, by Shigeru Ban Architects (photo George L. Legendre).

Finally, we must reckon with our own longstanding obsession with Japanese aesthetics, and the incessant movement across the imaginary border between Europe, the US and Japan over the past 150 years.

From the proto-Modernist appetite for Japonaiserie amongst European printmakers in the 1860s to the linguistic flights of fancy of Roland Barthes’ Empire of Signs, or Manfredo Tafuri’s Modern Architecture in Japan in the 1960s5, the list of exchanges, borrowings, thefts, understandings, and misunderstandings is long and productive. Language is of particular interest to anyone who studies this list. Japan’s ideogrammatic script merges symbols and images in ways fundamentally alien to the western mind, which sometimes leads to perplexing commentary on all things Japanese.

In any case, the projects and case studies published in this report seem to have absorbed by osmosis, and to varying extents, this powerful cultural context. Note the emphasis on craft and assembly, the attention to detail, the understated, minimal or maximal elegance, and the odd direct homages to traditional Japanese icons like the Katsura floor layouts, or the delicate framing of the Koraku-en gardens. These pervasive references testify to the immense power of context as we experienced it on site, as well as from afar.

Indeed, while the programs under consideration this term have been mostly contemporary –a disaster relief complex for coastal victims of climate change, a DIY factory for dismantling and recycling small homes lost to depopulation–there is clearly something timeless to the texture of these proposals –something perfectly in keeping with the uniquely Japanese sensation of an eternal present.

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4 Roland Barthes’ view of the country, for instance, is that ‘the proliferation of functional suffixes and the complexity of enclitics suppose that the subject advances into utterance through certain precautions, repetitions, delays, and insistences whose final volume turn the subject, precisely, into a great envelope empty of speech, and not that dense kernel which is supposed to direct our sentences from outside and from above’ 6 Above: Barthes Roland Empire of Signs (originally 1970) English edition Published by Hill and Wang, 1983. Guest room at Zenbo Seinei by Shigeru Ban Architects. (photos George L. Legendre).

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Building as Model – Model as Building I 2018, Building as Model – Model as Building II 2019 , Kit House I 2022, Kit House II 2024, Harvard Graduate School of Design Cambridge USA. 2017 London Build Expo, Olympia, roundtable.

The stunning quality of this entirely man-made geography appears on undated satellite images, before the village encroached at its margins and the winding down of rice farming gave way to a sprawling undergrowth. The long retaining walls setting out in stone the site’s original contours have since disappeared.

The distinctly non-western way of lavishing the same amount of attention on each stage of the design and building process was first reported by Rem Koolhaas in relation to the ritual of the –I quote– ‘Japanese meeting’ minutes of OMA’s Fukuoka Nexus World Housing in 1990.

Tafuri, Manfredo Modern Architecture in Japan MACK Publishers edited by Mohsen Mostafavi 2022 Barthes, Roland (1915-80) Empire of Signs (originally 1970) English edition Published

by Hill and Wang, 1983

Studio Overview

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With the part-time philosopher-guide Roland Barthes leading the pack, it is a miracle that this modern day visitor managed to locate Tokyo’s Shibuya tube station at all.

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George L. Legendre Ann Tanaka, SIP Shelf, p.71

Title

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Projects

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Firstname Lastname

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Firstname Lastname

A B C D E F G H I J K L

Ziyang Xiong Zachary Slonsky Regina Pricillia Ann Tanaka Esteban Vanegas Nicky Rhodes Jeya Wilson Lou Xiao Ella Larkin Keane Chua Elise Hsu Souroush Ehsani-Yeganeh

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Sake Workshop

Ziyang Xiong

This project explores an experimental application of OSM within the Japanese rural context. It aims to reinterpret traditional rural architecture—its concepts, structures, and materials—through a modular system that can flexibly adapt to the needs of diverse local industries, contributing to rural revitalization.

The specific program is a combined sake workshop and information center, serving as a multifunctional hub where locals and tourists can work, learn, and connect.

The system is composed of two interdependent modules: a solid timber module and a lightweight bamboo module. The timber module forms a refined, grounded “massing,” while the bamboo wraps around it like a “cloud,” introducing lightness and transparency. Together, they generate a dynamic range of spatial experiences and scales suited to different functions.

Structurally and spatially, the modules are designed to support one another, embodying a symbiotic architectural relationship.

Following page: Final model showing the interdependency of materials based on building programs

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Sake Workshop

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Ziyang Xiong Previous page top: Formal analysis Japanese formal styles and ideas showing the production of sake

Previous page bottom: Circulation diagram showing programming adjacencies

Top: Building massing diagram studies

Sake Workshop

27 Above and following page: Massing models representing design and OSM strategies used in design

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Ziyang Xiong

Sake Workshop

29 Above and following page: Components used in design

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Ziyang Xiong

Sake Workshop

31 Above: Assembly of solid timber module

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Ziyang Xiong Above: Assembly of lightweight bamboo module

Sake Workshop

33 Above: Joint details of solid timber module

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Ziyang Xiong Above: Joint details of lightweight bamboo module

Sake Workshop

35 Top: The render shows the spatial quality of the interdependent modules of timber and bamboo

Bottom: Final assembly model representing the design and construction systems at play

Following page: Model detail showing the junction between the two halves

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Ziyang Xiong

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Asanokanda Residencies

Zachary Slonsky

A couple of thousand years before Mies, Japanese building culture circumnavigated the load-bearing wall, celebrating the opportunity for a fluid, open space. Post and lintel construction systems were the norm, with walls, floor, and ceiling elements designed specifically to fill the spaces in between. The modernist grid, in charge of regulating proportions and ensuring the Fordist schematic for interchangeable parts, was inscribed by the tatami mat. This approach enabled building labor to be divided amongst the buildings’ constituent components- each artisan could work independently, with the confidence that their work would cohere within the final assemblage. Carpenters, weavers, papermakers, illustrators, blacksmiths, and ceramicists were all upheld by the orchestra of Traditional Japanese Architecture.

The pre-modern modernity sparks the motive of this project. The following pages propose a contemporary model for an architecture which negotiates global material, economic, and labor conditions with local identity, history, and institutions. It proposes the future of work as an artist residency, which is itself a typology for bridging these gaps.

Following page: View of the final aggregated model showing the use of tatami as a measure and a unit of design

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Asanokonda Residency

39 Above: This system is coordinated by the tatami mat, which forms the base aggregate unit for the mid-scale expression. The following tatami patterns are considered “lucky” because they never let four corners meet.

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Zachary Slonsky Above: Four mid-scale formal conditions can extend from the tatami stamp

Asanokonda Residency

41 Above: The process of adapting a readymade architecture to a specific condition practices a similar logic to that of opensource software, where source code is provided as a substrate, and user-made libraries elaborate more idiosyncratic formulations.

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Zachary Slonsky Above: While the system is first designed formally – with later extrapolations around what sorts of activities could happen across the diversity of its spaces – once it is designed, it then becomes used in reverse.

Asanokonda Residency

43 Above: Drawings showing system resolution using plans, sections and elevations

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Zachary Slonsky Top: Aggregated model showing the building as a whole

Bottom: Detail showing the model of a portion of the system that may be aggregated to create novel spaces based on needs.

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Moku San

Regina Pricillia

The primary challenge of the studio brief lies in reconciling the simultaneity of site-specificity and a site-less attitude—an approach demanded by its Japanese context while operating as an OSM project. It calls for architecture that serves a collective in an imagined future mode of work, departing from the small modular cabins typically associated with OSM. This project consists of three modules whose geometry enables a range of combinatory forms that can expand and contract as needed. Module 01 has a square footprint of 4.8 m x 4.8 m, while Modules 02 and 03 retain the same 4.8 m radius and sweep it across 60 degrees, creating a pizza-slice-shaped footprint. Their roofs slope in inverse directions, allowing Module 01 to turn corners in multiple ways—though never at a right angle.

The modules draw inspiration from old Japanese compounds and the care with which they frame gardens. The construction and assembly process is informed by the handcrafted precision of Japanese joinery and embraces the ornamentation of structural redundancy—a quality often hidden beneath modernist aesthetics.

Once an aggregate form is composed, cladding is applied selectively to enable a range of programmatic potentials and spatial intimacies—from large, porous spaces open to gardens to small, enclosed offices for individual privacy.

The design proposes an adaptable architectural language that resists rigid formal prescriptions. It invites growth, subtraction, and transformation over time, privileging relationships: between interior and exterior, individual and collective, and structure and site.

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Moku san

47 Above: Aggregate Schematic of proposed design

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Regina Pricillia Above: Aggregate Isonomteric view

MODULE 01_ TIMBER FRAME ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS DIMENSIONS 4800 mm 4800 mm 4800 mm

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* NOTE THAT PACKAGE DOES NOT COME WITH CLADDING

2400 2400

EQ

EQ

EQ

EQ

4800

3600

2400

430 0

_ PLAN SCHEMATIC SIDE ELEVATION FRONT ELEVATION

Above and following page: General design idea of Module 1 and parts list

Moku san

L W H

CAREFULLY READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE ASSEMBLY. REFER TO ILLUSTRATIONS AND PAY ATTENTION TO PARTS ORIENTATION DURING ASSEMBLY SOME PARTS MAY BE DIFFICULT TO DISTINGUISH FROM ONE ANOTHER.

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Regina Pricillia

PAY EXTRA ATTENTION WHEN HANDLING SHARP POINTS AND EDGES. TO AVOID SUFFOCATION, DO NOT PUT THE PLASTIC BAG OVER YOUR FACE.

2x

2x

5x

9x

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A1 10x A2 5x

C1 4x C2 4x E1 2X E2 4X E3 4X

G1 - G8 (1x each)

B1 2x B2 1x B3 5x

52 D1 - D4 (3x each)

F1 1x F2 2x

H1 5x H2 9x

Moku san

53 Above and following page: Module 1 model assembly process and final product

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Regina Pricillia

MODULE 02_ TIMBER FRAME ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS DIMENSIONS

4800 mm

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* NOTE THAT PACKAGE DOES NOT COME WITH CLADDING ** ELEVATION HEIGHTS SAME AS MODULE 01

30 °

2400

_ PLAN SCHEMATIC SIDE ELEVATION FRONT ELEVATION

Above and following page: General design idea of Module 2 and parts list

Moku san

RADIUS 4800 mm ANGLE 60 ° H

CAREFULLY READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE ASSEMBLY. REFER TO ILLUSTRATIONS AND PAY ATTENTION TO PARTS ORIENTATION DURING ASSEMBLY SOME PARTS MAY BE DIFFICULT TO DISTINGUISH FROM ONE ANOTHER.

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Regina Pricillia

PAY EXTRA ATTENTION WHEN HANDLING SHARP POINTS AND EDGES. TO AVOID SUFFOCATION, DO NOT PUT THE PLASTIC BAG OVER YOUR FACE.

1x

Missing header

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A1 6x A2 6x A3 1x

G1 - G7 (1x each)

C1 2x C2 1x C3 4x C4 1x

B1 - B7 (1x each)

E1 2x E2 4x E3 2x

D1 3x D2 3x D3 1x

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Regina Pricillia F1 - F6 (1x each)

F1 - F6 (1x each) H1 - H6 (1x each)

D1 3x D2 3x D3 1x

Moku san

59 Above and following page: Module 2 model assembly process and final product

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Regina Pricillia

MODULE 03_ TIMBER FRAME ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS DIMENSIONS

4800 mm

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* NOTE THAT PACKAGE DOES NOT COME WITH CLADDING ** ELEVATION HEIGHTS SAME AS MODULE 01

30 °

2400

_ PLAN SCHEMATIC SIDE ELEVATION FRONT ELEVATION

Above and following page: General design idea of Module 3 and parts list

Moku san

RADIUS 4800 mm ANGLE 60 ° H

CAREFULLY READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE ASSEMBLY. REFER TO ILLUSTRATIONS AND PAY ATTENTION TO PARTS ORIENTATION DURING ASSEMBLY SOME PARTS MAY BE DIFFICULT TO DISTINGUISH FROM ONE ANOTHER.

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Regina Pricillia

PAY EXTRA ATTENTION WHEN HANDLING SHARP POINTS AND EDGES. TO AVOID SUFFOCATION, DO NOT PUT THE PLASTIC BAG OVER YOUR FACE.

Missing header

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A1 6x A2 6x A3 1x

G1 - G7 (1x each)

B1 - B7 (1x each)

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Regina Pricillia F1 - F8 (1x each)

H1 - H7 (1x each)

D1 3x D2 3x D3 3x D4 1x D1 3x D2 3x D3 3x D4 1x

Moku san

65 Above and following page: Module 3 model assembly process and final product

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Regina Pricillia

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Title

Case Studies

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Firstname Lastname

Studio research publication along the monograph of Shigeru Ban’s Zenbo Seinei (Pasona 2022) and a catalogue of Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, Kobe.

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Case Study I

Top and following page: Burst*003 by Jeremy Edmiston and Douglas Gauthier, North Haven, Australia (2005); research pages by Regina Princilla

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SIP Shelf

Ann Tanaka

This project envisions a storage stockpile and community center designed for dual use: supporting everyday life while transforming into vital infrastructure during disasters. Located near the epicenter of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the site underscores the urgency of resilient design in Japan.

Inspired by the Japanese spirit of jishubo (voluntary disaster prevention organizations), the center employs Open Structure Method (OSM) principles to form flexible spaces that function as co-working areas, a café, a retail shop, and storage under normal conditions—and convert into evacuation shelters, volunteer hubs, and emergency clinics during crises. The system uses augmented Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) units to enable rapid deployment and reconfiguration.

These “SIP Shelves” serve as shelving, counters, or seating depending on programmatic need. Grouped into modular clusters, they create a range of spaces from private to communal.

Modules are sized per Evacuation Centre Model Plan guidelines, forming 2m x 4m nooks that accommodate 3–4 people each as temporary shelter. Each cluster is topped with a roof form that responds to the shelving below and references contextual gabled rooflines.

At the Asanokanda site, modules trace a sinuous path along the terrain, connecting main roads to the east and west. Departing from conventional gymnasium-style evacuation centers, this project emphasizes “future reuse” by embedding adaptability and resilience into daily life. It redefines architecture as both infrastructure and community catalyst—ready for crisis, yet grounded in everyday use.

Following page: Model view of the building modules usiSIP panels

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73 Top: Final model disassembly showing the proposed OSM technology of the design

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SIP Shelf

g

f

e

d

b

a

c

e

f

g

a b c d e f g

EPS Insulation Core Block-Spline Joint OSB Interior Panel OSB Exteror Panel Plywood Shelf Supports Shelf Panels

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Ann Tanaka Previous page: Exploded SIP shelf module

Above: Shelf module and nook dimensions

II. Portal

A-1 Cellular (End)

A-2 Cellular

D

E-1 Open

Across: Shelf module and shelf grouping types

SIP Shelf

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I. Standard

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Ann Tanaka

III. Bench

IV. Desk

V. Counter

B

C

E-2 Open (End)

X-1 Corner

79 Across: Floor plan and elevation showing storage

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SIP Shelf

81 Above: Nook transformation “ Normal Times”

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Ann Tanaka Above: Nook transformation “ Emergency Times”

SIP Shelf

83 Above: Translucent isometric showing the differnt grouping modules used to create spaces

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Ann Tanaka Above: Model of one storage module

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Case Study II

Above and following page: Fire Station 67 by Wittman Estes, Rancho Mission Vieijo, CA (2022); research pages by Ann Tanaka

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Case Study III

Top and following page: Fuchsofstrasse Grundschule by Von M Architects, Ludwigsburg, Germany(2023); research pages by Esteban Vanegas

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Gentle Growth: An Expansion Alternative

Esteban Vanegas

In imagining the future of work, the investigation focused on the notion of expansion. As the demands, scale, and capacity of a given business change, so too do its spatial needs. To facilitate the expansion (or contraction) of the physical footprint of a workplace, a single module which can array, bridge, or tessellate with itself in a variety of configurations while remaining cohesive and novel in its form was designed.

The curvature of the module allows it to geometrically nest with others in plan, allowing for the creation of deep, open volumes. Conversely, the module’s subdivisions allow for partitioning into smaller and medium-sized spaces for offices, meeting rooms, or service areas. Modules can be chained to create corridors between volumes, and a light timber waffle structure enables small spans over natural features, such as brooks, for a minimal impact on the site.

Notched light timber framing provides a durable structural system that can be sustainably sourced, while the façade materials provide a clean aesthetic in keeping with the context of Awaji-Shima. The module’s subdivisions enable simple flatpacked transport and easy assembly, and individual modules can be added or removed and recycled over the lifetime of an office.

Following page: Explorative model showing the notching of modules to form diverse combinations of spaces

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Above: Derivation of the curve

Gentle Growth: An Expansion Alternative

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Esteban Vanegas

Gentle Growth: An Expansion Alternative

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Esteban Vanegas Previous page: Exploded axonomteric showing constructiton compoments and skeletal isomteric of the aggregated form

Above: Proposed plans, sections and elevations

Above: Part list of OSM assembly

Gentle Growth: An Expansion Alternative

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Esteban Vanegas Above: Exploded axonometric showing levels and details of construction

Gentle Growth: An Expansion Alternative

97 Above and following page: The indexical quality of the model represents the OSM contruction process

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Esteban Vanegas

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Archival Material

Nicky Rhodes

Awaji, like much of rural Japan, faces steep population decline as people migrate to cities like nearby Osaka, leaving behind a growing number of vacant homes known as akiyas. With little demand and high maintenance costs, many of these buildings sit abandoned and decaying, reinforcing a cycle of exodus. While the government tracks akiyas to encourage reinvestment, often by outside speculators, these empty structures may also represent a hidden abundance of material and cultural heritage, rather than just loss.

Japan has a long tradition of deconstructible architecture, where buildings were designed for multiple lifespans through joinery and pegging. This legacy continues in advanced deconstruction systems that salvage up to 90% of materials, even generating energy in the process. In Awaji’s Asanokanda district, signs of productive life persist, local industry thrives with cement plants, ironworks, and fisheries. Kei trucks and utilitarian materials—corrugated metal, timber, and concrete—reflect a resilient working culture and textured landscape shaped by labor.

The Deconstruction Depot is a mobile, modular system rooted in the reuse of materials from abandoned akiyas across rural Japan. Using the kei truck’s 4x6 ft bed as a standardized “tatami” unit, materials are gathered and delivered to a purpose-built depot dock, designed to the truck’s turning radius.

Inspired by the Toyota Production System, the depot stores reclaimed materials around its perimeter as a living archive.

Inside, a pivot-based modular system transforms them into bespoke furniture, while elevated walkways invite public engagement. The structure itself can be disassembled and relocated, continuing the cycle of thoughtful, place-based reuse.

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Archival Material

101 Above: Configuration massing studies

102

Nicky Rhodes Above: Turning radius of the truck

Archival Material

103 Above: The make-up of each storage module of the building into which the truck inserts itself

104

Nicky Rhodes Above: Material container holding all the dismantled materials from the “akiya”

Archival Material

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106

Nicky Rhodes Top: Aerial view of the model of the Deconstrcution depot

Bottom: Perspectival view showing the spaces where the trucks enter

107 Across: Model showing the design and structural systems that make up that create space

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109

Case Study IV

Top and following page: Diogenes by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Weil Am Rhein, Germany(2011); research pages by Nicky Rhodes

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111

Seasonal Space

Jeya Wilson

For the millions of residents living across the straight in the great agglomeration of Kobe and Osaka, Awaji offers a uniquely desirable recreational destination. The hospitality sector of the island is one of the largest employers of seasonal workers.

As the working population of Awaji flows and ebbs with the seasons, there is a need for a type of space that contracts or expands according to seasonal demand.

This proposal explores the possibility of a large communal facility planned around the twin principles of modular interior reconfiguration, and horizontal expansion. In this proposal, flexibility is king.

The facility expands over time by aggregating clusters of rooms around patios. The function of the rooms adapts to accommodate the variable patterns of occupation. This is done by reconfiguring the partitions between adjacent spaces, or by moving around some of the rooms themselves, thanks to a bespoke system of internal tracks.

Eventually, the facility will reach its optimal size according to use.

Following page: Zoomed-in view of the model

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Missing header

113 Above: Building as a system showing exploded axonometric with roof

114

Jeya Wilson

Above: Floor plans showing operability of spaces in massing and program adjacencies during off-season

Missing header

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116

Jeya Wilson Above: Pivoting and sliding wall technologies

117

Case Study V

Top and following page: “Two Booths at the Salone Del Mobile” by Maio Architects, Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan(2017); research pages by Jeya Wilson

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Title

119 Pasona Nature Lab, visitor cabins under construction March 2025

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Firstname Lastname

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Case Study VI

Top and following page: “On Weaving”

by East Architecture Studio, Almusalla Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia(2025); research pages by Lou Xiao

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123

Lou Xiao Seasoned Frames: OSM-Based Juice & Ice Cream Shop

Set gently into the terraced slopes of Awaji Island, this modular wooden architecture gathers time, wind, and labor beneath its evolving canopy.

Framed in timber joints and tuned to the rhythm of citrus seasons, the structure breathes through shifting apertures and layered eaves.

Neither static shelter nor fixed program, it constitutes a scaffold for seasonal life—a place where work, rest, and weather meet in quiet negotiation.

As the light moves and the frames age, architecture becomes a trace of lived cycles.

Following page: View of the aggregated design

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B C

D

E

F

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Seasoned Frames: OSM-Based Juice & Ice Cream Shop

A

126

Lou Xiao

Rest seats & Vending machines Nature Retreat Zone

Refreshment Lounge

Juice & Souvenir Hub

Previous page: Design logic of the roofs

Top: Programming adjacancies

Above: Type C module assembly procedure

Seasoned Frames: OSM-Based Juice & Ice Cream Shop

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128

Lou Xiao Above: Type F module assembly procedure

129 Above: Side elevation of design proposal

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131

Case Study VII

Above and following page: Study Pavilion TU Braunschweig by Gustav Düsing + Max Hacke, Germany(2022); research pages by Ella Larkin

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133

Patch-Werk

Ella Larkin

This project begins with an analysis of Awaji and its relationship to the fishing community. Historically, Awaji has supported a large portion of Japan’s fishing industry. In particular, Asano was the original location for the creation of the Sashiko Ko Donka—translated as “stitch-small-work coat.” The intricacies of these coats—layering, stitching—became an early tool for analyzing Asano. There was an inherent patchwork quality in the built environment; materials felt stitched and overlaid.

Though these coats are no longer worn, they represent the cultural importance of fishing in Asano. Today, the industry is in decline, affected by climate change and environmental degradation. Located along the Seto Inland Sea, Asano has experienced increased red tides since rapid industrialization in the 1970s— harmful algae blooms that disrupt fish populations. Combined with shifting migration patterns, this has altered the seasonality of fishing.

The Japanese fisherperson has become endangered: from nearly three million a century ago to just 220,000 today—only 3% of whom are under 25. As the industry shrinks, invaluable knowledge is at risk of being lost. Asano’s experience could become essential to fisher communities elsewhere.

This project proposes a living archive that preserves existing knowledge while collecting new information through research. Small modules are deployed that adapt to seasonal needs. Working within a piece-to-whole logic, the modules scale from a 5x5 ft square up to 15 ft. Initially volumetric, the modules were pruned—walls selectively removed—to enable reconfiguration into archives, labs, and living spaces.

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135 Across: Oblique view of the design proposal

136

Patch-Werk

137 Across: Module typolgies and their assembly and transportation

138

Ella Larkin

Patch-Werk

139 Across: Module typolgies and their assembly

140

Ella Larkin

Patch-Werk

141 Above: Assembled roof isometric view

Following page: Exploded axonometric of roof assembly

142

Ella Larkin

Patch-Werk

143 Above: Second floor plan and elevation of design proposal

Following page: View of connections in final model

144

Ella Larkin

145 Across: Model exploration built form and aggregation through OSM

Title

147 Asanokanda, March 2025.

148

Firstname Lastname

149

Case Study VIII

Top and following page: Cabin Anna by Caspar Schols, Location varies(2020); research pages by Keane Chua

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151

Ceremony

Keane Chua

Ceremony explores the dual nature of its Japanese etymology, encompassing both celebratory bliss and ritualistic discipline. This conceptual framework establishes the foundation for reimagining the relationship between pleasure and work in architecture. As the future of work increasingly demands integration between the mundane and the joyful, this project proposes that the boundaries between living, working, and playing must dissolve into productive adjacencies.

The architectural scheme centres on a winery that shares programmatic adjacencies with worker housing and shortstay accommodations for remote workers. These functions are organised along intersecting axes of work and living that run diagonally across the landscape. The winery’s linear arrangement follows the ceremonial sequence of wine production, running parallel to visitor circulation and tasting spaces. This processional logic transforms functional necessity into spatial ritual, where production becomes performance and work becomes celebration. The adjacency between production and consumption spaces reinforces the idea that work and pleasure can coexist harmoniously.

Constructed using the OSM method of construction, the form of the single module emerges from the lofting of gable and shed profiles — typological forms that represent house and work, rest and production, respectively. These modules repeat and combine in various permutations, embodying ceremony through ritualisation and repetition while maintaining operational flexibility. The exterior surfaces achieve material differentiation through reflection rather than projection, creating a flush facade where matte timber, transparent glass, and reflective steel borders distinguish program through subtle material dialogue that undercuts formal hierarchy.

152

Missing header

153

154

Keane Chua Previous page: View of system aggregation to create a campus of spatial variety

Top and bottom: Model exploration through massing combinations

Missing header

155 Above: Diagram showing the logic of the OSM construction

156

Keane Chua Above: Assembly procedure of the individual unit

Missing header

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158

Keane Chua

Missing header

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160

Keane Chua

Missing header

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162

Keane Chua

Missing header

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164

Keane Chua

Missing header

165 Above: Exploded axonomteric showing the joinery and construction process

166

Keane Chua Following page: View of the final model showing the different layers incorporated to create this module

Title

167 Pasona Nature Lab, North Awaji

168

Firstname Lastname

169

Case Study IX

Top and following page: Shotgun House by Alejandro Soffia, Cachagua, Chile(2017); research pages by Elise Hsu

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171

Compounds

Elise Hsu

The design concept draws inspiration from architectural typologies commonly found in Japan’s agricultural production system, such as the main house, auxiliary buildings, and small sheds.

These structures are typically organized according to functional hierarchies, forming a layered spatial logic of primary, secondary, and extended spaces.

The spatial system is broadly divided into two categories: the main structure and extendable modules. Both are based on a standardized unit width of 2.44 meters, derived from the dimension of SIP panels. The main structure comprises 11 panel units, totaling 26.84 meters in length, with recessed joints at the 4th and 8th panels to accommodate plug-in modules.

The extension system consists of three types: (1) a vertical connector module with the same width and height as the main structure (2.44 meters); (2) plug-in type 1, featuring an eaved roof and composed of seven panels (17.08 meters); and (3) plug-in type 2, with a gable roof and made of six panels (14.64 meters). Plug-in types 1 and 2 may serve as corridors, storage rooms, or semi-outdoor workspaces. These are not limited to fixed lengths and may be scaled or used independently depending on programmatic needs.

This flexible spatial logic supports a range of programs, including studios, hostels, shops, and community centers.

Depending on frequency, scale, and privacy requirements, modules can function independently or be integrated into a larger composite structure. Adaptive connection mechanisms allow for configurations that support work, dwelling, and public interaction, while accommodating varied user groups and site conditions.

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Missing header

173 Above: Axonometric of Type 02 configuration

174

Elise Hsu Above: Axonometric of Type 03 configuration

Missing header

175 Above: Isometric views that show the interior and exterior sides of Module A

基礎 Foundation 砕石_Crush Stone (900x900mm, t=60mm)

02

コンクリート平台_Concrete Foundation Platform (900x900mm, t=60mm)

03

コンクリート柱平台_Concrete Footing Platform (750x750mm, t=200mm)

04

コンクリート基礎フーチング_Concrete Foundation Footing (750^2mm, t=200mm)

05

基礎床_Foundation Bed (d=125mm)

06

コンクリート基礎梁_Concrete Foundation Beam (d=300mm)

07

根太_Floor Joist (75x150mm)

08

土台_Foudnation Sill (150x150mm)

09

構造用合板_Structural Plywood Deck (t=50mm)

10

木床仕上げ_Wood Flooring Finishing (t=25mm)

結構 Structure 11

スライド構造のベース部_Slotting Track Base

12

スライド構造の接合部_Slotting Track Connection

13

ブロックスプライン接合_Block-Spline Joint

14

SIP パネル_SIP Panel (Ground Floor h=3600mm)

15

1 階方立て_Ground Floor Opening Mullion

16

1 階ガラス_Ground Floor OpeningGlass

17

スライド構造のベース部_Slotting Track Base (H-Shape)

18

木板外部カバー_Exterior Wood Covering

19

階段_Stairs

20

樑_Beam (6"x4")

21

床樑_Floor Beam (2”x2”)

22

木床仕上げ_Wood Flooring Finishing (t=25mm) + 構造用合板_Structural Plywood Deck (t=50mm)

23

スライド構造の接合部_Slotting Track Connection

24

ブロックスプライン接合_Block-Spline Joint

25

SIP パネル_SIP Panel (First Floor h=2400mm; Gable-Shape Side, highest h=7290mm)

26

2階方立て_First Floor Opening Mullion

27

2階ガラス_Ground Floor OpeningGlass

28

屋根結合部_Ceiling Joint

29

屋根トラス_Ceiling Truss (t=2380mm)

30

屋根 SIP パネル_Ceiling SIP Panel

31

屋根頂接合_Ceiling Top Joint/Stud

Above: Exploded axonometric showing the overall construction materials and assembly of Module A

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Elise Hsu

01

Missing header

177 Above: Plans and elevations of Module A

Step 01

178

Elise Hsu

Use the EPS insulation foam (1584 x 2816 x 150mm).

Step 02 Apply a thin layer of glue on both side of the EPS insulation foam, and paste the OSB wood sheathing pieces together.

Step 03 Joint with the block-spline joint (500 x 3350 x 150mm).

Step 04 Add two wood studs on the bottom and the top of the SIP Panel.

Completion of a typical SIP Panel on the Ground Floor.

(2440 x 3600 x 150mm)

Step 05 Connect with the other SIP Panel with the block-spline joint. (interior side)

Above: Assembly of SIP panels

179

180 Across: Exploded isometric of different types of Module A; ground floor plan to the main building; isometric of the main building

Missing header

181 Above: Axonomteric view of the building massing

182

Elise Hsu

Module 01 Main Building with Two Slots

Module 06 Addition with Plug-In Paired with Module 05

Module 05 Addition with Plug-In Gable with Hatlf Eaves

Module 02 Plug-In Connector

Module 03 Addition with Plug-In Gable with Eaves

Module 04 Addition with Plug-In Paired with Module 03

Above: Plug-in module series

183

Case Study X

Top and following page: “Super New Year” by .patchStudio, Shenzhen(2023); research pages by Ziyang Xiong

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185

AgriLab Village

Soroush Ehsani-Yeganeh

AgriLab Village is a speculative architectural project exploring the revitalization of agricultural knowledge and rural life in Asanokando, Japan. Traditionally, rural Japanese communities practiced occupational pluralism, combining farming with offfarm work. Today, this model is eroding as younger generations migrate to urban centers, threatening the continuity of agricultural expertise. In response, AgriLab Village proposes a new typology: a greenhouse-based experimental hub merging agribusiness, research, and communal living.

At the core of the project are modular greenhouse units that support diverse programs. Beginning with a 10x10-meter greenhouse, strategic subtraction and rotation transform portions of each module to host labs, residences, or communal spaces.

These are aggregated into adaptable clusters, enabling flexible spatial configurations. The construction sequence involves building the greenhouse frame, applying cladding, inserting the secondary program block, and finishing with an inverted roof.

The program includes lab facilities, administrative offices, communal gathering areas, and short-term residences, all embedded within interconnected greenhouse structures. These serve as both spaces for experimentation and daily living. Residents—visitors engaged in agricultural research—are immersed in lab activities, each with access to a private garden within the greenhouse to test and apply knowledge firsthand. This proximity fosters continuous exchange between residents and researchers.

AgriLab Village proposes a model for rural regeneration through architecture that prioritizes knowledge production, community interaction, and agricultural innovation. It serves as a prototype for reclaiming rural relevance.

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187 Across: Model view of the elements of assembly

188

AgriLab Village

189 Above: Design concept

190

Soroush Ehsani-Yeganeh Above: Diagrammatic study of possible assemblies

AgriLab Village

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192

Soroush Ehsani-Yeganeh Previous page: Modules and program

Above: Unit typologies

AgriLab Village

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194

Soroush Ehsani-Yeganeh Previous page: Process diagram showing greenhouse assembly

Above: Model image showing the interaction between the greenhouse and the timber strcuture within

AgriLab Village

195 Above: Model view of individual units to be nested inside the greenhouse shell

Following page: Series of images showing model assembly to represent proof of concept

196

Soroush Ehsani-Yeganeh

197

Case Study XI

Top and following page: “Plywood House” by SMS Arquitectos, Spain(2018); research pages bySoroush Ehsani–Yeganeh

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199

Case Study XII

Above and following page: Oriental Masonic Gardens by Paul Rudolph, New Haven, Connecticut(1968); Research Pages by Zachary Slonsky

200

Title

201 Asanokanda, March 2025.

202

Firstname Lastname

Title

203 Asanokanda, March 2025.

204

Firstname Lastname

Title

205 Asanokanda, March 2025.

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Firstname Lastname

207

Contributors

George L. Legendre George L. Legendre is a London-based architect and educator. He is a Professor in Practice of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and a founding partner of the London-based practice IJP Architects (IJP).

Zenbo Seinei, Awaji. Detail of artwork on display, February 2025.

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Colophon

The Future of Work I: Awaji-Shima Instructors George L. Legendre Report Design Rishita Sen with George L. Legendre Report Editor George L. Legendre with Rishita Sen Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture Sarah Whiting Chair of the Department of Architecture Grace LA Copyright © 2025 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Text and images © 2025 by their authors.

The editors have attempted to acknowledge all sources of images used and apologize for any errors or omissions.

Harvard University Graduate School of Design 48 Quincy Street Cambridge, MA 02138

Acknowledgments Special thanks to Dean Sarah Whiting and Chair Grace La for initiating this multi-year research program –and for giving me the opportunity to return to Japan as principal investigator of the inaugural semester.

Special thanks to Pasona Inc chairman Yasuyuki Nambu for endowing the program through the establishment of the Nambu Family Design Studio Fund. Special thanks to senior directors Makiya Nambu and Keiko Okabayashi for their leadership. We are grateful to directors Sho Fukuda and Leon Yamashita for sharing the work of their respective departments.

Finally we are indebted to staff members Tamoi Fuji, Gabriela Shimakawa, and Owissa Callista for their selfless support on the ground.

At the GSD, many thanks to midterm and final review critics James Dallman, Iman Fayyad, Jenny French, Jon Gregurick, Grace La, Mohsen Mostafavi, Keiko Okabayashi, Riho Sato, Allen Sayegh, Michael Voligny, Sarah Whiting, and Adrian Wong.

Special thanks to FabLab team Rachel Vroman, Minyoung Hong, and Leon Fong for their generous logistical help. Thanks to Teaching Assistant Rishita Sen ’25 for her key role in the design and production of this report. And a special mention for former GSD Assistant Dean for Alumni and Development Michael Voligny for his deep knowledge of Japan, and precious advice in all matters international.

George L. Legendre

gsd.harvard.edu Image Credits The pictures of models included in the Projects section of the report are by the individual contributors. The illustrations of the main essay and the full-bleed image spreads punctuating the report are by principal investigator George L. Legendre.

Studio Report Spring 2025

Students Keane Chua, Soroush Ehsani-Yeganeh, Elise Hsu, Ella Larkin, Regina Pricillia, Nicky Rhodes, Zachary Slonsky, Ann Tanaka, Esteban Vanegas Jr., Jeya Wilson, Lou Xiao, Ziyang Xiong

Harvard GSD Department of Architecture