Looking At, Looking Through, Looking Back: Glass as an Intervention of Existing Architecture in Japan

About this Travel Course

Course Description

Glass is a material unlike any other. Glass can be reflective, opaque, translucent, or transparent. It can focus, refract, distort, and bounce light. It can also be formed into nearly any shape; it can be bent, stretched, blown, poured, pressed, and sculpted. Japanese machiya style architecture is a form of structure unlike any other. It consists of malleable layers of wood, rice straw, mud, paper, and glass. It channels layers of light through varying mechanisms of transparency, translucency, and opacity. Various rooms can be closed off separately or many rooms can be opened up collectively. Akita City is a city unlike any other in Japan. It is tucked away in the Northwest of the main island of Honshu. It is bordered to the west by the Sea of Japan and to the east, north and south by mountains and forests. Its seclusion brings out some interesting characteristics: distinct local dialect, regional specific festivals and folk culture, amazing quality of rice, traditional crafts, and extremely fresh fish. Because of its seclusion it is not a major tourist destination. 

Students will travel to Akita City, Japan where they will embark on a concentrated studio course that utilizes glass-making to challenge traditional Japanese Architecture. After a brief, pre-trip introduction to glass making techniques in the RISD Glass facilities, the class will first go to Toyama City, nicknamed Japan’s Glass City. Here we will visit the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art, The Toyama Glass Studio, and the Toyama Glass Art Museum designed by famed architect Kengo Kuma. Students will also visit the private glass manufacturing studio of Peter Ivy, owner of Flow Lab. This three-day foray into Toyama will serve as a springboard of inspiration as the class travels to Akita City where they will set up their base location for this course. 

Utilizing the glass facilities of the Akita University of Art, student will set about exploring the possibilities of the medium to act as a barrier (windows/screens), a lens (lighting), a mirror and a sculptural medium. Matsukra Family Residence, now a public site of traditional Japanese architecture, will serve as the installation space. The class will visit this site upon initial arrival to Akita City to conceive of ways glass might act as an intervening element while simultaneously enhancing and challenging the way people might engage with it. In the studio students will cover basic ways of manipulating glass that can quickly yield a variety of unique forms.

By the third week students will be ready to install their intervention of the architecture and will share it through a week-long exhibition open to the public. During the stay in Akita City students will also venture out into neighboring towns to visit specific architectural and cultural sites in an effort to enhance their understanding of local aesthetics 

Eligibility

RISD Students

If your current cumulative GPA is 2.5 or above, you are eligible for registration. If your current cumulative GPA is lower than 2.5, you must first contact the Registrar at registrar@risd.edu to seek exception to this academic policy.

Non-RISD Participants

If you are a college student currently enrolled in another art and design college or institution around the world you are eligible for registration. We will collect a recommendation and support form from your institution within the application.

In order to register for RISD Global Summer Studies, you are expected to have a high level of English (speech, writing, and comprehension) as all coursework and critique is delivered in English, and your current cumulative GPA must be 2.5 or above.

Attendance Policy

Global Summer Studies are three weeks long and take place in June and July. You are required to attend all program activities scheduled during the travel course. RISD Global Summer Studies comply with RISD class attendance policy. In case of unexcused or multiple absences, you may be removed from the course, given a grade of “W" (withdrawal) or a grade of “F” (fail).

Withdrawal Policy

Requesting to withdraw from a RISD off-campus global learning program, including RISD Global Summer Studies, prior to the start of the course is highly discouraged and requires a formal process outlined in the RISD course withdrawal policy. It is not possible for a student to drop a RISD Global Summer Studies travel course via the standard Add/Drop process after it has commenced. In the case of unforeseen and extenuating circumstances (and only after students have spoken with the faculty lead and RISD Global for approval to withdraw from the program), students should be aware that no refund will be issued.

More Info

In order to reserve a seat, a non-refundable deposit of $500 is required at the time of application submittal. Students will submit full payment for the course when all seats are occupied but no later than March 17, 2025. Students that fail to make full payment by their deadline will forfeit their $500 deposit and their seat in the course.

All RISD students and full degree seeking students enrolled at other schools or universities are required to remain in good academic standing in order to participate in Global Summer Studies. A minimum GPA of 2.5 is required for all participants. Failure to remain in good academic standing can lead to removal from the course, either before or during the course.

In cases where summer travel courses do not reach full capacity, the course may be canceled after the last day of registration. As such, all students are advised not to purchase flights for participation in Global Summer Studies courses until the course is confirmed by RISD Global.