AIA Japan - Oil and Water: Climate Urbanism in Houston, Texas with Dr. Nataya Friedan

When: Thursday 12 February 2026 @ 04:30 (Eastern US Time)/ 18:30 (Tokyo time)
Where: ONLINE/ In-Person: Lutron Asuka Co., 1 Chome−1−1 Shin-Aoyama Bldg. West 14F, Minamiaoyama, 東京都 107-0062 Japan

CES Credits: Estimated 1 LU/HSW for AIA members

Description

As climate change disasters worsen across the globe, it is clear that evidence does not necessarily lead to action. Instead, misinformation, conspiracy, and outright lies have created new forms of climate denial and mistrust in science, especially in the United States. This lecture uses ethnography to bring the climate conversation out of the abstract and down to the concrete of Houston, Texas. In the fall of 2019, Houston experienced the fifth 500-year flood in five years by the federal risk designations at the time. Despite scientific consensus and data specific to the Gulf Coast, many leaders in local government as well as the business community were calling the storms “just another wet cycle.” Drawing on eighteen months of fieldwork beginning in 2018, this lecture follows civil servants, activists, politicians, and businesspeople as they grappled with climate change evidence in an oil industry town. In the day-to-day process of planning flood infrastructure, climate denial was a refusal to look backward as much as forward.

This lecture argues that the consequential falsehood determining action in Houston was not “climate change isn’t real” but “fuel is cheap.” This claim, whether in Houston or elsewhere, requires persistent denial of past liabilities as much as future climate impacts. This lecture looks at how these assumptions at the individual and political level play out on the ground and in Houston’s urban form.

AIA Japan Book Talk — Waterfront Regeneration in a Time of Climate Change

When: Friday 5 December 2025 @ 04:30 (Eastern US Time)/ 18:30 (Tokyo time)
Where: LUTRON Asuka Showroom/Office, 1 Chome−1−1 Shin-Aoyama Bldg. West 14F, Minamiaoyama, Tokyo 107-0062 Japan/ ONLINE

CES Credits: TBC

Description

Join AIA Japan for an engaging book talk featuring Raffaele Pernice (The University of New South Wales), George Kurumado (Takenaka Corporation), and Heide Imai (Senshu University) — chapter authors of Waterfront Regeneration in a Time of Climate Change: Recent Japanese and International Experiences (Routledge, 2025).

Moderated by Professor Tetsuya Yaguchi (Waseda University), this session will explore the resilience of the Tokyo waterfront and how global cities are reimagining their waterfronts in response to climate change. Through Japanese and international case studies, the speakers will highlight strategies that balance ecological restoration, disaster risk reduction, and urban livability.

AIA Japan - Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan Revisited: Traditional Japanese Culture as a Means to Modern American Architecture

When: Thursday 27 November 2025 @ 04:30 (Eastern US Time)/ 18:30 (Tokyo time)
Where: Arper Showroom, Tokyo/ ONLINE

Speaker

Kevin Nute, Professor of Architecture, University of Hawai’i, Manoa

Description

Although it has long been accepted that America’s most famous architect was influenced by Japanese culture, the nature of Frank Lloyd Wright’s debt to Japan has remained unclear. Kevin Nute argues that Japan had a more profound impact on Wright’s approach to design and in particular his notion of the organic than has previously been acknowledged. It suggests that the influence of Ernest Fenollosa (1853–1908), the leading American authority on Japanese art at the turn of the 20th century, who also happened to be the cousin of Wright’s first employer in Chicago, the Shingle Style architect Joseph Silsbee (1848–1913), was pivotal in bringing together what would become Wright’s twin passions of Japanese art and the organic whole.

AIA Taipei - International Lecture: KINGDOM Development x Department of Architecture Ming Chuan University

When: Thursday 20 November 2025 @ 06:00 (Eastern US time)/ 19:00 (Taipei Time)
Where: Ming Chuan University, Taipei/ ONLINE CES: Estimated 2 LU/HSW for AIA Members

Speaker

Roberto Bannura, Steven Holl Architects I Partner

Event Description

This lecture, presented by Roberto Bannura of Steven Holl Architects, explores the firm’s distinctive design philosophy and its translation into built works across the world. Through an in-depth presentation of selected projects, Bannura will discuss how conceptual thinking, material experimentation, and spatial experience shape Steven Holl’s architectural language.

The event also highlights the collaboration with KINGDOM Development and Ming Chuan University, reflecting the intersection of professional practice, academic exploration, and development innovation in contemporary architecture.

AIA Japan - Evening Lecture with Kengo Kuma: Back to Nature

When: Thursday 6 November 2025 @ 05:00 (Eastern US Time)/ 19:00 (Tokyo time)
Where: TBC near Ikebukuro Station/ ONLINE

Description

AIA Japan is honored to collaborate with Kengo Kuma & Associates to present a special lecture, “Back to Nature,” by Kengo Kuma, one of Japan’s most internationally acclaimed architects. The event will take place near Ikebukuro Station at an exclusive, architecturally significant cultural property, offering a fitting setting for this dialogue between architecture and nature. Final venue details will be announced shortly. Kuma-san will reflect on the ways architecture can deepen our connection to nature and the spaces we inhabit.

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AIA Sub-Saharan Africa - World Cities Day: People Centred Smart Cities

When: Friday 31 October 2025 @ 12:00 (Eastern US time)/ 18:00 (South Africa time)
Where: ONLINE

Speakers

George Asamani, MD, PMI Sub-Saharan Africa

Innocent Musonda, Founder & Director Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in the Built Environment (CARINBE), University Of Johannesburg

Enahoro Zedomi, Managing Partner, Consultants Collaborative Partnership

Kendall Wilson, Founder & CEO, DigitAIchemy

Norman Moyo, Co-founder & CEO, GridAfrica

Mish-al Booley, Head Individual Competence Unit, City of Cape Town

Ricardo McKlmon, Strategic Manager, Construction Project Management Institute

Moderator

Kimberly Dowdell, Principal HOK

Description

By 2050, Africa’s population is projected to soar from 1.5 to 2.5 billion, with 80% of that growth concentrated in cities. Urbanisation is accelerating rapidly — over 700 million Africans already live in urban areas, a figure expected to double within the next three decades. More than 60 African cities now exceed one million residents, and by mid-century, over 150 cities will reach this milestone, reshaping the continent’s economic, social, and environmental future.

However, urbanisation alone does not guarantee prosperity — projects do. Every bridge, school, transport network, and digital system represents a project that drives employment, fosters enterprise, and strengthens urban economies.

Africa’s next urban transformation must go beyond infrastructure to embrace intelligence, inclusivity, and connection. The vision of People-Centred Smart Cities, the theme of this year’s World Cities Day, calls for cities that combine smart technology with human development — ensuring growth that is not only fast, but fair and inclusive.

Across the continent, cities are beginning to leverage data, digital platforms, and AI to improve services, from traffic management and waste systems to public safety and governance. Yet true smartness lies in people — not just in technology.

Join AIA Sub-Saharan Africa for an inspiring webinar in partnership with The Project Management Institute (PMI SSA), titled People-Centred Smart Cities: Building Africa’s Urban Future Through Projects That Matter. Discover how project management can turn Africa’s urban growth into a sustainable opportunity.

AIA Canada Society - Beyond Net Zero: New Design Imperatives for Vibrant Community Buildings

When: Wednesday 1 October 2025 @ 12:00 (Eastern US Time)
Where: ONLINE
CES: 1.0 LU/HSW for AIA Members

Speakers

Paul Fast, principal of hcma architecture + design

Description

Community recreation facilities are vital social spaces but also among the costliest and most carbon-intensive municipal assets. Architect Paul Fast (hcma architecture + design) will share new imperatives for recreation design, highlighting lessons from the award-winning, all-electric təməsew̓ txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre—the first aquatic centre certified under Canada’s Zero Carbon Building Standard. This case study demonstrates how innovative, holistic design can advance sustainability, health, and community connection.

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Speaker Bio

Paul Fast is a Principal at hcma architecture + design, where he focuses on creating architecture that reconnects people to place through material, form, space, and light. His projects range from small community activations to large-scale recreation centres, including the award-winning təməsew̓ txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre. Paul holds a Master of Architecture from UBC and brings both local and international experience to his work.

AIA Japan - Evolution of Japanese architecture: from Metabolism to Minimalism

When: Saturday 26 July 2025 @ 21:00 (Eastern US Time)/ 10:00 (Japan time)
Where: In-Person (Gensler Tokyo Office)/ ONLINE

Description

Join AIA Japan for a special lecture by Professor Botond Bognar, where he will investigate a spatial genealogy in modern and contemporary Japanese architecture—tracing the evolution from Arata Isozaki’s visionary “City in the Air” to the refined minimalism of SANAA. His lecture will explore how ideas of space and form have transformed across generations of architects, guided by shifting cultural and conceptual frameworks. The lecture will offer a compelling account of how spatial thinking in Japan has navigated between complexity and simplicity, structure and void—ultimately reshaping the architectural landscape.

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Architecture 2030 - Forest Therapy and Biophlic Design: Reconnecting People and Place

When: Friday 25 July 2025 @ 07:00 (Eastern US Time)/ 19:00 (China Standard time)
Where: Online

Speaker:

Nicole Craanen, MFA, NCIDQ, WELL-AP, LEED-Green Associate, ANFT Nature & Forest Therapy Guide; Founder of The Biophilic Design Institute

Description

Biophilic design is more than a strategy—it’s a way of creating spaces that foster comfort, connection, and well-being by nurturing our relationship with the natural world. This session explores how nature immersion practices, specifically forest therapy, can deepen our understanding of biophilic design in meaningful and lasting ways.

Forest therapy is a research-informed practice that supports well-being through intentional, sensory engagement with nature. Rooted in presence and relationship, it invites us to slow down, notice more, and connect with the world around us. These experiences help us recognize how our environments impact how we feel, function, and relate to others—and how we, in turn, shape the environments we inhabit.

In this session, we’ll explore how forest therapy can help designers, educators, and stakeholders not only shift how we perceive space, but also engage in a more reciprocal relationship with nature. We’ll look at how sensory experience can be used as a tool to support well-being, reconnect people to place, and guide more intentional, nature-honoring design decisions. Case studies and examples will demonstrate how experiential learning fosters grounded, responsive, and ecologically mindful approaches to design.

Speaker Bio

Nicole Craanen’s passion for biophilic design is deeply rooted in her connection to nature and her expertise in interior design and human ecology. As the founder and owner of The Biophilic Design Institute, she is committed to transforming our relationship with our environment, guiding architects and designers to integrate our innate connection to nature into core design principles.

Through her certification program, she equips professionals with the tools to apply biophilic design in meaningful and impactful ways. Her roles on advisory boards for Living Future Europe and the WELL Building Standard—along with her journey as a yoga instructor and Nature & Forest Therapy Guide—inform her philosophy of promoting health and well-being while mitigating human impact on the non-human world.

Nicole emphasizes curiosity, deep listening, and collaboration, and is passionate about re-evaluating current design principles, championing a future where human and environmental interdependence is at the forefront of creative innovation. She loves exploring the world with her husband and young daughter (the cat stays home). She has been lucky enough to experience 24 countries, and has been brought to tears during moments of awe in her own backyard.