2025

Japan, Indonesia

Tokyo and the Seto Inland Sea region, Japan

Studio Leaders: Nancy Ji & Mitchell Eaton (MSD)

Japan Studio 2025 examines the role of design, architecture and landscape in community sustainability, ecological regeneration, and creative place-making. Students will study the phenomena of the Japanese countryside to seek inspiration and potential while responding to contemporary social and environmental challenges. Japan is one of the first countries to enter into a post-growth society and needs alternative design approaches that acknowledge and work within the limits of growth. We are interested in human-scale design that draws on local and available resources, indigenous knowledge, and local materials. As a multi-disciplinary studio, collaboration will be at the forefront of our design approach. Students will conduct initial research and undertake fieldwork together before working on their project of choice.

Jakarta - Bandung - Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Studio Leaders: Assoc. Prof Amanda Achmadi & Dr Ash Alam (MSD)

STUDIO CO-URBAN examines the various localised innovations and strategies that communities often self-organise to address crises such as climate change, pandemics, and the persistent issue of poverty and resource scarcity in urban areas. The studio will use "comparative urbanism" as a lens, which recognises the diversity of urban experiences of the Global South and stays away from theoretical reductionism. Instead, it learns about urban conditions by closely examining a range of different empirical realities, contrasting yet interdependent socio-spatial practices. Observing three Indonesian cities, students will investigate three major thematic areas: urban settlements, urban nature, and urban infrastructures.

This is a multi-disciplinary studio bringing together students of urban planning, urban design, and architecture from MSD and ITB and UGM of Indonesia. Co-learning and co-design are at the heart of the studio; therefore, students will do initial research and fieldwork in group settings prior to delving into their individual project.