Earlier this fall, architecture students from Auburn University (USA) visited campus as part of a collaborative program with students from Kyoto Seika University’s Department of Architecture. Led by faculty members from both universities, the students broke into six groups to create “Primitive Hut” structures around campus. While the use of naturally found materials was a primary focus for the project, this year the use of human-made materials was also allowed. In addition, students were asked to envision that Gregor Samsa, the main character from Franz Kafka’s literary classic The Metamorphosis, would be the one to use their structures.

This unique project provided an opportunity for students from both universities to draw on their respective experiences and perspectives to create a diverse array of deeply imaginative structures. We look forward to seeing how the relationships between students and departments from both universities develops in the future.

An in-depth article in Japanese can be found here.