An immersive exhibition, 'Built Environment: An Alternative Guide to Japan,' is currently captivating visitors at the Université du Québec à Montréal's (UQAM) Centre de design. This showcase delves into the remarkable adaptability and enduring strength of Japanese architecture and infrastructure, presenting an insightful journey through 80 diverse projects from all 47 prefectures of Japan. The exhibition, which runs until January 25, 2026, aims to provide a fresh perspective on Japan's relationship with its environment and cultural heritage through the lens of its built landscape.
Montreal Hosts 'Built Environment: An Alternative Guide to Japan' Exhibition
From November 20, 2025, to January 25, 2026, the UQAM Centre de design in Montreal, Canada, is home to the compelling exhibition titled “Built Environment: An Alternative Guide to Japan.” Curated by Shunsuke Kurakata, Satoshi Hachima, and Kenjiro Hosaka, this exhibition features a meticulously selected collection of 80 projects. These projects, spanning various scales from innovative buildings to extensive civil engineering works and intricate landscape designs, offer a comprehensive view of Japan's architectural prowess. Visitors can admire the genius of celebrated architects such as Pritzker laureates Shigeru Ban (2014) and Arata Isozaki (2019), Kengo Kuma, Yoshio Taniguchi (known for his work on the Museum of Modern Art in New York), and landscape architect and sculptor Isamu Noguchi.
Organized in collaboration with the Japan Foundation and supported by the Consulate General of Japan in Montreal, this traveling exhibition emphasizes the resilience of Japanese design in confronting the recurrent challenges posed by natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and typhoons, as well as the broader impacts of climate change. Japan, an archipelago characterized by its diverse geography and four distinct seasons, has fostered a unique architectural tradition that intrinsically adapts to extreme environmental conditions. The exhibition’s title, “An Alternative Guide to Japan,” reflects the curators’ intention to transcend conventional tourist guides, instead offering a profound understanding of the nation’s history, culture, and environmental context through its architectural and infrastructural achievements.
The exhibition's layout itself is a work of art, mimicking "A Bird's-Eye View of the Archipelago." The 80 featured projects are presented on origami-inspired structures – folded, angular, and cubic plywood forms – strategically arranged across the main exhibition hall floor. Their placement mirrors the geographical contours of the Japanese archipelago, including its four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Enhancing this immersive experience, video projections bring the designs to life.
Complementing the exhibition, a significant roundtable discussion, "The Resilience of the Built Environment," is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at 2 p.m. at UQAM's Centre de design. This event, co-organized with UQAM's Pôle sur la ville résiliente, a multidisciplinary research group comprising approximately 40 scholars, will explore the concept of resilience within built environments in both Quebec and Japan. The Centre de design, centrally located in downtown Montreal, welcomes visitors with free admission to its expansive 400-square-meter exhibition space.
This exhibition serves as a powerful reminder that architecture is not merely about aesthetics but also about endurance and harmony with nature. As Patrick Evans, Director of UQAM's Centre de design, eloquently states, the projects showcased offer "many inspiring examples that can help us in Quebec rethink our own built environment and its resilience to climate change and natural disasters." Indeed, the millennia-old evolution of Japanese architecture, with its deep-seated ability to withstand and adapt to formidable environmental forces, provides invaluable lessons for a world increasingly grappling with environmental uncertainties. This exhibition fosters a cross-cultural dialogue on sustainable and resilient design practices, encouraging a deeper appreciation for ingenious human adaptation to the planet's dynamic forces.