MB JAPAN OCTOBER Course Brochure

MOVING BOUNDARIES

HUMAN SCIENCES AND THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE

Japan October 2026

Global Symposium and Course

For more information visit www.movingboundaries.org

Kyoto Seika University

October 12 - 16

Teshima, Naoshima Islands October 17 - 20

ABOUT

The 8th Edition of Moving Boundaries: Human Sciences and the Future of Architecture, in Japan, directed by Tatiana Berger, Architect and Professor, offers a global symposium and intensive course in the interface between disciplines concerned with design of the built environment and scientific disciplines concerned with human perception and behavior. These disciplines include neuroscience, neurophenomenology, cognitive science, environmental psychology, sociology, health sciences and others. The MB Japan symposium and course will run on October 12-16 (Part 1) and 17-20 (Part 2).

Taking place in Kyoto and on the art islands of Teshima and Naoshima, the program combines lectures, masterclasses, discussions, tours, sketching sessions, and cultural immersion experiences.

Placing its emphasis on the human being, Moving Boundaries promotes architecture freed from the obsessions of personal styles, driven by a quest for beauty, a reconciliation with nature, social justice and the common good.

- Alberto Pérez-Gómez

Participants will explore temples, gardens, contemporary architecture, and landscapes, including multiple cultural landmarks designed by Pritzker-Prize winning architect, Tadao Ando, while engaging with local culture, arts, and cuisine.

After five days in Kyoto, the program continues on Teshima Island with an immersive retreat combining lectures, discussions, networking sessions, and field trips, including a visit to Naoshima Island.

Throughout the course, participants will have opportunities to exchange ideas with leading architects, designers, scientists, and health professionals during classes, tours, and social events. Together, we will learn from one another and from the unique environments of Japan, gaining the strength for transforming architectural education and practice the world over.

MOVING BOUNDARIES

HUMAN SCIENCES AND THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE

In its larger aspirations, the Moving Boundaries Collaborative serves as a platform connecting educators, scientists, health professionals, architects, designers, and students across disciplines concerned with the future of the built environment and human wellbeing. The initiative is inspired by the work of such notable architects, historians and critics as Juhani Pallasmaa, Kenneth Frampton, Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Louis Kahn, Alvar Aalto, Carlo Scarpa, Luis Barragan, Balkrishna Doshi, Tadao Ando, Sarah Robinson, Galen Cranz, Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Harry Francis Mallgrave. Their collective legacy encourages a deeply humanistic approach to design — one centered on human flourishing, physical health, and psychological wellbeing. The shift in the role of the architect, designer and urban planner has never been more urgent. We hope that you will join our movement.

WELCOME TO JAPAN

Japan offers a unique opportunity to learn from long-standing traditions of restorative spaces in harmony with nature, and their impact on wellbeing. Moving Boundaries explores the relationship between design, neuroscience, environmental psychology and human experience, bringing together architects, scientists, and researchers to bridge architecture, design, and medicine.

The course builds on previous Moving Boundaries traveling workshops held in Spain and Portugal, Mexico, Italy, and India. It features new faculty members, interactive sessions, embodied learning experiences, and sketching workshops in the city. Participants will explore practical applications of concepts from neuroscience to architecture, lighting, and interior design, while also presenting their own work and receiving feedback.

Lectures will follow a dialogical format pairing architects or designers with scientists to encourage interdisciplinary exchange. The course is open to architecture and design professionals, planners, landscape architects, historians, artists, health professionals, researchers in neuroscience and cognitive science, as well as graduate and postdoctoral students.

Participants will explore how scientific knowledge can inform design methods and strategies while engaging with local culture, identity, and architectural traditions. They will experience tours of temples, shrines, and Zen Gardens. Cultural immersion will include local art and craft experiences, cuisine, meditation, theatre and more. They will also be invited to present during the conference and contribute to the post-conference publication. A Certificate of Completion will be awarded at the end of the program.

COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

Innovative Interdisciplinary Curriculum at the Interface of Human Sciences, Architecture and Design

The Course includes lectures, roundtable discussions and Q&A, architecture tours, workshops, field trips, sketching sessions and social events in two cities. Experts in multiple disciplines collaborate to bring you a cutting-edge interdisciplinary program, curated with a dialogical format to explore the interface of sciences and design.

World-renowned Architects, Scientists and Philosophers Teach Together

Study with some of the most distinguished architects, theorists, philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists in the world. In all, 12 professors and more than 75 participants will join the course. You will have a chance to interact with lecturers not only during lectures and roundtables, but also social events and field trips.

Create Friendships:

Opportunities for Collaboration with Diverse International Cohort

Learn together with participants in multiple disciplines during the course and grow your network for future collaboration. This course is geared to professionals, educators, administrators in higher education, and upper-level graduate students. Participants will be joining the course from more than 35 different countries.

Experience Japan

Experience the city of Kyoto and the islands of Teshima and Naoshima, learn about their cultural heritage, and the landscape and geography of Japan. Visit iconic works of architecture in Teshima and Naoshima, including buildings designed by Tadao Ando, participate in cultural immersive experiences and in unique field trips and architecture/garden tours.

KYOTO

For the first five days, the program will be hosted by Kyoto Seika University. Lodging will be in central Kyoto, allowing participants to engage with the city both through guided activities and individual exploration.

Visits will include temples, shrines and gardens: the Gion District, Eikan-do Temple, Ginkaku-ji Temple, Tofuku-ji Temple, Fushimi Inari Taisha, Tenryu-ji, Myōshin-ji and Ryoan-ji temples, offering a range of experiences from quiet garden spaces to more active urban environments.

Additionally, there will be walks at Fushimi Inari and opportunities to experience the atmosphere of the city in the evening, including shared meals and self organised activities.

Kyoto Seika University, founded in 1968, is a creative-focused institution located in the northern hills of Kyoto. The university is known for its interdisciplinary approach, bringing together art, design, media, and cultural studies within a shared educational framework.

With faculties including Art, Design, Media Creation, Global Culture, and Manga, Kyoto Seika encourages experimentation, critical thinking, and the development of individual creative practices.

As a host venue, the university provides a setting that reflects the program’s focus — where contemporary creative education is closely connected to cultural context, environment, and lived experience.

ART ISLANDS

The art islands of the Seto Inland Sea, including Naoshima and Teshima, represent a unique combination of contemporary art, architecture, and landscape. Over the past decades, these former fishing islands have been transformed through cultural initiatives that support both local communities and their environment.

Art and architecture are carefully integrated into the landscape, creating spaces that invite slow movement, observation, and a more attentive experience of place.

Works of contemporary architecture and landscape design frame views and emphasise light, material, and atmosphere rather than dominate the surroundings.

Across the islands, the focus is not on individual objects, but on the relationship between art, nature, and everyday life, offering an immersive and multisensory experience of space.

For the last 3,5 days lodging will be in several hotels and BnB’s on Teshima Island, near the sea. There will be an all-day field trip, by ferry, on Naoshima Island, where we will visit several museums designed by Tadao Ando.

In addition to studying at the interface of human sciences, design and health (as is the custom at MB), we will also experience local rituals, history, cuisine, arts, craft, nature immersion, and tours throughout the 10-day course, conference and retreat.

9:00

MONDAY October 12

Learning to Design for Health

Kyoto Seika University Check-In

Welcome Speeches

Seika Main Hall

Faculty Introductions

Participants’ Introductions

TUESDAY October 13

Restorative Design

TOURS

Ginkaku-ji Temple

Philosopher’s Path Eikan-do Temple

Guided visits and conversation with Takaya Kurimoto

WEDNESDAY October 14

Bridging Neuroarchitecture Research and Practice

TOURS

Tofuku-ji Temple

Fushimi-nari Taisha Walk

11:00

12:00

TYE FARROW & CLEO VALENTINE From Pathogenesis to Salutogenesis: Rethinking Brain–Body Connection in the Built Environment Walking Group Discussions Participants’ Presentations

12:30 Lunch Break Lunch Break 2:00 3:00 3:45 4:00 4:30 Panel Discussion Q&A

TAKAYA KURIMOTO

The Inner Landscape of the Japanese Mind as Reflected in Japanese Gardens

Welcome Lunch (Complimentary) Kyoto Center

ANJAN CHATTERJEE

The Neuroaesthetics of the Built Environment

UPALI NANDA

SARAH ROBINSON (Remote) Japanese Gardens and Felt Space NATALIA OLSZEWSKA Restorative Design: From Cultural Intuition to Scientific Evidence Tea Break Tea Break

Bridging NeuroArchitecture Research and Practice: Perspectives From Two Decades of Experience at The Intersection

5:00 Group Discussions Participants’ Presentations Participants’ Presentations Group Discussions Group Discussions

6:45 Dinner Dinner Dinner

THURSDAY

9:00 FREE DAY

List of Recommendations Will Be Shared by MB Team

Tenryu-ji Temple Garden Myoshin-ji Temple Ryoan-ji Temple TRAVEL from Kyoto to Teshima Island 11:02 Kyoto Station> 12:20 Okayama Station> 1:25 or 15:25 Uno Port> Ieura Port (Teshima Island)

& RYŌSUKE ŌHASHI The Kyoto School of Philosophy, Architecture and The Space of Mind At the Kamogawa Villa in central Kyoto

TUESDAY October 20

Experiencing Spaces of Tadao Ando

Architectural spaces are not just lifeless stages for our activities. They guide, choreograph, and stimulate actions, interests and moods, or in the negative case, stifle and prohibit them. Even more importantly, they give our everyday experiences of being specific perceptual frames and horizons of understanding.

– Richard Neutra

PART 1. NEUROPHENOMENOLOGY OF PLACE: DESIGN FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Human Sciences and the Future of Architecture and Landscape Design

Location: Kyoto, Japan

MB Global Symposium and Course (5 Days)

October 12-16, 2026

PROGRAM – Neurophenomenology of Place: Design for Health and Wellbeing

Topics:

• Neurophenomenology

• Memory and placemaking

• Mirror neurons and empathy in design

• Restorative places for human health and wellbeing

• Somatic design

• Body-conscious design

• Forest bathing and the 7 Strategies of landscape design for health

• Wayfinding and navigation

• Grounding in nature

• Spiritual architecture and design for the 21st Century - learning from ancient wisdom

• Bridging human sciences and design.

D AY 1. LEARNING TO DESIGN FOR HEALTH

Kyoto Seika University, Japan

Lectures and panel discussions

October 12, 2026

10 AM - 4 PM

Typologies Studied:

Urban Design and Placemaking

Office Design and Healthcare

The first session of Moving Boundaries will focus on evidencebased design for health. Tye Farrow and Cleo Valentine will lecture on salutogenic design, showing projects around the world and telling us about strategies for combining research and practice. Analysis of case studies and a conversation with the audience will follow.

D AY 2. RESTORATIVE DESIGN

Kyoto Seika University, Japan

Lectures and panel discussions

October 13, 2026

3- 6 PM

Typologies Studied: Residential Design, Garden Design

In the second session Sarah Robinson’s lecture will illuminate Japanese spatial concepts and their possible interpretation in contemporary design practice. Natalia Olszewska will present restorative design as a bridge between these spatial traditions and emerging research in neuroscience Together we will explore how environments shape cognitive, affective, and physiological restoration.

D AY 3. BRIDGING NEUROARCHITECTURE

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Kyoto Seika University, Japan

Lectures and panel discussions

October 14, 2026

2 - 5 PM

Typologies Studied: Healthcare + workplaces, Built Environment + Neuro Aesthetics

The third session will focus on bridging neuroarchitecture research and practice: Upali Nanda and Anjan Chatterjee will offer perspectives from decades of experience at the intersection of disciplines. They will offer strategies for design, education and advocacy and they will engage the audience in a discussion about challenges of contemporary cross-disciplinary work.

D AY 5. ARCHITECTURE AND THE STATE OF MIND

Kamogawa Villa, Kyoto, Japan

Lectures and panel discussions

October 16, 2026

2 - 5 PM

The fourth session will be developed at the interface of psychology, philosophy, sociology, architecture, and psychiatry. There is a wisdom to be found in philosophies of ‘nothingness’ such as those developed by the Kyoto School. They invite us to approach architecture not as an exterior structure but as a field of lived relations, and space as something that shapes us as much as we shape it.

PART 2. BETWEEN EAST AND WEST

INTERWEAVING THE SENSES IN

DESIGN

Origins of Embodiment in Japan: Spirituality, Perception and Behaviour in Space

Location: Teshima Island, Naoshima Island, Japan

Part 2 of MB Global Symposium and Course (3.5 Days)

October 17-20, 2026

Topics:

• Embodiment

• Multisensory Perception and Emotion

• Dynamics of Experience

• Philosophy of East and West

• Materiality and Cognitive Health

We will explore how spatial environments shape perception, behavior, emotions, and memory. Through an embodied approach to design, we will explore how architecture can support natural movement and respond to diverse human needs, learning from the masterworks of Tadao Ando.

Visits to gardens and contemporary architecture will highlight architecture as a multisensory experience informed by neuroscience, environmental psychology, phenomenology, and design.

Modern man has no unified worldview. He lives in a double world, at once in his own naturally given environment and in a world created for him by modern natural science, based on the principle of mathematical laws governing nature. It is understandable that thinkers and philosophers have often attempted somehow to overcome [this disunion], yet they have generally gone about this in a way generally meant to eliminate one of the two terms, to logically reduce one to the other, to present one — usually on the basis of causal argument — as a consequence and a component of the other.

– Jan Patočka

D AYS 7-8. DESIGNING TO ALIGN WITH HUMAN BIOLOGY / HUMAN SCIENCES AND THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE

Teshima Island, Japan

Lectures and panel discussions

October 18-19, 2026 10 AM - 1 PM

Typologies Studied: Circadian Rhythms + Restorative Design will be studied for residential design and more

The final session of Moving Boundaries will focus on the role of light and circadian rhythms in the built environment, drawing on groundbreaking research about restorative design, environmental factors and human health, with scientific evidence provided by both professors. Applications in architecture will be discussed.

VISITS

Northern Higashiyama

Eikan-do Temple, Ginkaku-ji Temple

Philosopher’s Path

Southern Higashyama

Tofuku-ji Temple

Fushimi-nari Taisha

Tadao Ando’s Outdoor Art Museum

in Northern Kyoto

West and Northern Kyoto

Tenryu-ji Temple and Garden

Myoshin-ji Temple Complex

Ryoan-ji Temple (15 rocks dry garden)

VISITS

Travel with the group or on your own

from Kyoto, to Okayama and Uno, then to Teshima Island by ferry

Teshima Island

Teshima Museum of Art and Bus

Tour of Selected Sites on the Island

Full day field trip to Naoshima Art Island

Visit museums designed by Tadao Ando

New Art Museum

Chichu Art Museum

Lee Ufan Museum

PROGRAM – Visits in Kyoto

GION DISTRICT

The Gion District is one of the most famous historical neighborhoods in Kyoto, known worldwide as the city’s traditional geisha district. Located in the Higashiyama area on the eastern side of the Kamo River, Gion represents one of the best-preserved examples of traditional Japanese urban culture. Originally established during the Sengoku period (15-16th centuries), Gion developed around the nearby Yasaka Shrine, which attracted large numbers of pilgrims. Inns, restaurants, and teahouses emerged to serve visitors, eventually transforming the area into Kyoto’s premier entertainment district.

Over time, Gion became closely associated with the cultural world of geisha (called “geiko” in Kyoto) and maiko (apprentice geisha). These performers maintain traditional Japanese arts such as dance, music, poetry, and refined hospitality.

Today, Gion remains a living cultural district. While many historic buildings have been converted into restaurants, boutiques, tea houses, the neighborhood preserves traditional wooden townhouses known as machiya, narrow streets, and lantern-lit alleys that

evoke Kyoto’s historical atmosphere.

Gion’s cultural identity is deeply tied to the traditional entertainment culture of Japan. During the 18th century, the district became the largest pleasure and entertainment area in Kyoto. Teahouses called ochaya hosted private banquets where geiko performed dance and music for elite guests including politicians, businessmen, and aristocrats.

One of the most famous tea houses in the district is Ichiriki Chaya, which has operated for more than 300 years and is known for hosting influential figures in Japanese society. Entry to such establishments is typically invitation-only and requires an existing relationship with the house.

Gion is also one of Kyoto’s five historic hanamachi (“flower towns”), districts where geisha culture is preserved. Two of these hanamachi are located in Gion: Gion Kobu and Gion Higashi.

The district is also strongly associated with major cultural festivals and theatrical traditions. Historically it was a center for early kabuki theater, and performances still take place in local theaters.

KURAMA-DERA MONASTERY

See on map

Kurama-dera is a mountain temple located in the forested hills north of Kyoto on Mount Kurama. Surrounded by cedar forests and steep mountain paths, it is considered one of the most atmospheric and spiritual temples in the Kyoto region.

Founded in 770, the temple has long been associated with meditation, mountain spirituality, and esoteric Buddhist traditions. It attracts visitors not only for its architecture but also for the mystical atmosphere created by the surrounding forest landscape.

Unlike the large temples in central Kyoto, Kurama-dera offers a very different experience: a pilgrimage-like journey through nature where the temple complex unfolds gradually as visitors climb the mountain path.

Kurama-dera was established by the Buddhist monk Gantei, who left Nara in search of a remote place to meditate. According to temple tradition, he encountered a white horse that guided him to Mount Kurama, where he had a vision of the deity

Bishamonten, the guardian of the north in Buddhist cosmology. This event led to the founding of the temple.

Originally part of the Tendai school of Buddhism, the temple became independent after World War II and now follows its own spiritual tradition called Kurama-kyō.

The temple’s belief system centers around a divine trinity called Sonten, representing the universal forces of Bishamonten - light and protection, Senju Kannon - compassion and love, Maōson - power and life force.Together these three forces are believed to guide the spiritual evolution of humanity.

Kurama-dera is not a single building but a mountain complex connected by forest paths, stairways, and small shrines. At the top of the mountain stands the main temple hall that overlooks the surrounding valley. Located along the forest path, Yuki Shrine is associated with the Kurama Fire Festival, one of Kyoto’s most dramatic annual celebrations.

GINKAKU-JI TEMPLE

Officially known as Jisho-ji, or the Silver Pavilion, it was originally built by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa in 1482. Modeled after his grandfather’s pavilion, known as the Gold Pavilion, this two-story building has two distinct architectural styles. Originally, the building was to have been covered in silver foil designs, but the work was interrupted by the Ōnin War and was not completed before Ashikaga Yoshimasa’s death. The pavilion served as his place of retirement, and later in life, he became a monk. When Yoshimasa died in 1490, the pavilion was converted into a Zen temple as his final wish. “The present appearance of the structure is understood to be the same as when Yoshimasa himself last saw it. This “unfinished” appearance illustrates one of the aspects of “wabi-sabi” quality.” It is also said that the lacquered finish of the temple walls, reflecting off the silver water of the pond, also supports the name the Silver Pavilion.

See on map More on Ginkaku-ji Temple

more | Official website

This temple housed the extensive art collection he acquired as he collaborated with local artists to form a distinctly Japanese style of visual art, now called Higashiyama Culture, which contributed much of what we associate with Japanese Zen aesthetics today, including the concepts of wabisabi, the Japanese tea ceremony, and ink painting among others. Now the grounds consist of six other buildings, a moss garden, and a unique dry sand garden. The two original buildings that have survived since the founding of the temple are the Silver Pavilion and Togudo, a study that is said to be one of the oldest examples of Shoin architecture, which serves as the historic template for tatami rooms designed today.

EIKAN-DO TEMPLE

on map

Eikan-dō is translated as “View of Eternity Hall” or “Hall of Yōkan” and is also referred to as Zenrinji or the “Temple of the Forest of Zen”. For over 1,100 years, this temple has functioned as a center of learning, is home to 58 national treasures, and is the head temple for the Seizan branch of Japan’s Jōdo-shū (Pure Land) Buddhist sect. Beginning as a villa, the building was donated by Fujiwara no Sekio to the monk Eikan-do, a student of Kobo Daishi, the founder of the temple. Along with the cultural and historic significance as a place of learning, this temple is also known for its beauty, especially in the fall. The grounds now house six buildings connected by covered walkways and stairs, each.

One unique artifact housed here is an unusual statue of the Amida Buddha. This statue, instead of looking straight ahead like other statues seen throughout the city, is looking over its shoulder and is called the Mikaeri Amida. As the story goes, in 1082, during a ritual, the monks were reciting sutras and walking around the statue

when it came to life. It looked over its shoulder and said to one of the monks, “Yōkan, you are slow”. According to some stories, the statue even joined in the ritual dance before turning back into a statue, but retaining its unique posture.

TOFUKU-JI TEMPLE

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Tofuku-ji is a place where architecture, landscape, and daily life are deeply interconnected. Founded in 1236, the temple was conceived to rival the great temples of Nara - Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji - whose names combine to form the temple’s own. Although many of its original structures were destroyed over the centuries, the complex was repeatedly rebuilt according to its initial plans, preserving the spatial organization that defines the temple today.

The site unfolds through a sequence of monumental and intimate spaces that reflect the rhythms of Zen monastic life. The Sanmon gate, rising 22 meters and rebuilt in 1425, remains the largest and oldest gate of its kind in Japan. Beyond it lies the Hondo, or Main Hall, reconstructed in 1934, and nearby stand rare buildings from the Muromachi period, including the meditation hall, belfry, bath and lavatory. Together, these structures form a rare ensemble that illustrates how architecture once organized both spiritual practice and everyday life.

Landscape plays an equally important role in shaping the experience of Tofuku-ji. A deep ravine filled with maple trees runs through the center of the temple grounds, crossed by wooden bridges that frame views of the changing seasons. The Tsutenkyo bridge, a covered walkway spanning the valley, offers a spectacular view - particularly in autumn when the maples turn vivid shades of red. Around the Hojo, the former abbot’s quarters, a remarkable set of gardens designed in 1939 by landscape architect Mirei Shigemori brings together tradition and modernity. Drawing on the techniques of classical Zen dry landscape gardens, Shigemori arranged sand, stones, moss and geometric patterns into four distinct compositions surrounding the building. Some gardens follow traditional forms, while others introduce bold modernist ideas such as checkerboard patterns and abstract stone arrangements. Together they create a landscape that reflects both continuity and renewal, demonstrating how historic spaces can evolve while remaining deeply connected to their cultural origins.

Read more | Official website | Mirei Shigemori: Modernizing the Japanese Garden

video | Walking Around Tofuku-ji Temple

FUSHIMI INARI TAISHA WALK

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At the foot of Mount Inari in southern Kyoto stands Fushimi Inari Taisha, one of Japan’s most recognizable sacred landscapes. Founded in 711 and dedicated to Inari, the deity associated with rice, agriculture, prosperity and success in business, the shrine is the head of thousands of Inari shrines across the country. The complex extends from the base of the mountain into a network of forest trails that climb the slopes of Mount Inari, reaching 233 meters above sea level. The spatial experience of the shrine unfolds gradually. At the entrance stands the two-story Romon gate, followed by the main hall where visitors offer prayers. Beyond these buildings, the architecture begins to merge with the landscape. Paths ascend the mountain through smaller shrines, stone altars, and quiet forest clearings, creating a sequence of spaces that invites slow movement and reflection.

The most distinctive feature of the site is the series of vermilion torii gates that form corridors along the mountain paths. Known as the Senbon

Torii - “thousands of torii gates” - these structures create a continuous architectural passage that guides visitors onto the mountain. Approximately ten thousand gates line the trails across the shrine grounds, many of them donated by individuals and businesses as offerings to the deity. The names of donors and the dates of dedication are inscribed on the back of each gate.

As the path climbs higher, the density of gates gradually thins and the mountain landscape becomes more visible. Smaller shrines, rock altars, and resting places appear along the way, while views over Kyoto open from points such as the Yotsutsuji intersection halfway up the mountain. Throughout the grounds, statues of foxes - considered messengers of Inari - stand beside the paths and shrine buildings.

Together, the gates, trails, and shrines form an environment where architecture is not confined to a single building but unfolds across the mountain, guiding visitors through a sequence of spaces that connect ritual, landscape, and human presence.

TENRYU-JI TEMPLE AND GARDEN

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Located at the western foothills of Kyoto in Arashiyama, Tenryu-ji Temple lies north of the Katsura River that emerges from the Hozu Gorge where we find the Togetsu-kyo bridge, which means Rising Moon Bridge. Kameyama Park is found west of the temple. This area is known for its deep historical connections to Zen.

Tenryu-ji was established in 1339 by the shogun Ashikaga Takauji in memory of Emperor GoDaigo, with the eminent Zen master Musō Soseki appointed as founding abbot. The temple was officially consecrated in 1345. The temple was rebuilt multiple times due to destructive fires and many restorative efforts and additions have brought the Myoshin-ji Temple to what it is today.

Tenryū-ji’s garden, located behind the Abbot’s Quarters, dates back to the mid-14th century.

Designed by the Musō Soseki, Tenryū-ji’s founder, the garden centers around the Sōgen Pond and skillfully employs the scenery of the surrounding mountains in a method called shakkei (“borrowed landscape”) to give it an

added sense of depth. On the far bank of the pond is an arrangement of large stones representing the Dragon Gate Falls on the Yellow River in China. Legend says that any carp able to jump these falls transforms into a dragon, which in Zen has come to symbolize the attainment of enlightenment and the realization of buddhahood. Depending on the season the visitor can also enjoy cherry blossoms, azaleas, and autumn maple colors.

On the eastern boundary of the temple grounds lie two gates: Chokushi Gate and Middle Gate, from which the path to the temple itself leads west. Generally, Zen temple grounds are designed so that they face the south, with major buildings aligned along the north-south axis. Tenryu-ji’s layout is an exception to this principle. Sub-temples line both sides of the path, which leads to the lecture hall. There are numerous buildings behind the lecture hall, such as large abbey, the small abbey, the kitchen, the meditation hall, and Tahō-den hall, however, each of these is a modern reconstruction.

on Tenryu-ji Temple

Read more | Official website | Tenryu Temple and Garden: The Evolution of a Religious Landscape in Medieval Japan

Watch video | Tenryu-ji Temple Walk

MYOSHIN-JI TEMPLE

Myōshin-ji (Temple of the Enlightened Mind), along with its 46 subtemples, is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan, and serves as the head temple of the associated branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. Most zen temples in Japan also have a mountain name. Myōshin-ji’s mountain name is Shōbōzan, that is, “Mountain of the True Dharma”. Originally, the temple grounds belonged to the emperor Hanazono, however, in 1342, he became a monk and donated the palace to found the temple. Unfortunately, most buildings were destroyed in the Onin war in 1467, but have been restored throughout the centuries. The gardens in particular are a nationally designated place of scenic beauty and an historic site. The complex is quite sprawling, and features a number of winding paths flanked by high walls, so it is easy to become disoriented when walking the grounds. As is usual in Japanese temple construction, the main buildings are located on the axis that extends north from the south gate in the southwest quadrant of the complex.

See on map More on Myōshin-ji Temple

There is a main north-south path connecting the north gate and the south gate, which starts parallel to the main buildings, and continues north, through a slight curve, and ends at the north gate. There is also an east-west path leading east from the main buildings (starting in the west at the sub-temple Tenju-in, passing between the hattō and butsuden, then ending in the east, after a curve, at the subtemple Tōrin-in). In addition to the direct northsouth path, there is a longer path that proceeds east from the north gate, winds past Keishun-in, and then terminates just south of Daishin-in. In addition to these main routes, there are a number of side paths which are all lined with sub-temples, generally each with a single entrance.

Walking through the paths of the temple leads you pass countless small sub-temples in their own walled areas, some open to the public with their own treasures and lovely points, and others kept private or only open for special ceremonies. Despite its somewhat austere exterior, the interior of Myōshin-ji’s halls are covered in gorgeous artwork and steeped in history just waiting to be explored by a Zen enthusiast.

RYOAN-JI TEMPLE

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Ryoan-ji, the zen temple of the Dragon of Peace, located northwest of Kyoto. The garden of the Ryoan-ji temple is one of the greatest examples of kare-sansui (“dry landscape” or rock gardens) and a Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The first temple, the Daiju-in, and the still existing large pond were built in the 11th century by Fujiwara Saneyoshi. In 1450, the Ryoan-ji zen temple was founded by Hosokawa Katsumoto. The temple was destroyed in the Onin War but was rebuilt in 1488 by his son. This is the burial place of many emperors.

The origins of the garden remain unclear and unknown and first descriptions of the garden are noted around the 1600’s and described as a composition of nine big stones laid out to represent Tiger Cubs Crossing the Water.

The garden is a rectangle of 2,670 square feet) with fifteen stones of different sizes, carefully composed in five groups; one group of five stones, two groups of three, and two groups

of two stones. The stones are surrounded by white gravel, which is carefully raked each day by the monks. The only vegetation in the garden is some moss around the stones.

The garden is meant to be viewed from a seated position on the veranda of the hōjō, the residence of the abbot of the monastery. The stones are placed so that the entire composition cannot be seen at once from the veranda.

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Placing its emphasis on the human being, Moving Boundaries promotes architecture freed from the obsessions of personal styles, driven by a quest for beauty, a reconciliation with nature, social justice and the common good.

– Alberto Pérez-Gómez

Moving Boundaries was the most impressive and enjoyable conference that I ever attended, in terms of both content and ambiance.

– Juhani Pallasmaa

There are a few moments in one’s life that rise to the level of unforgettable experiences. Marriage is one, the birth of a child another. Two weeks ago, I returned from a conference of architects, scientists, planners, medical professionals, and psychologists that will remain one of the truly profound experiences of my life.

The knowledge and passion of the presenters, coupled with their deep excitement for sharing their insights were part of the true spirit of the conference: discovery, optimism and contribution to humanity.

Meeting and interacting with a group of spectacular international scholars who demonstrated the highest level of expertise in their areas (and beyond!) was a special treat for all participants.

– the speakers and the participants of Moving Boundaries 2022-2025

Despite our suspicions, architecture has been and must continue to be built upon love. I will endeavour to show how this foundation possesses its own rationality, one that the built environment will not follow if it is based on premises drawn from normative disciplines or abstract logical systems.

– Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Built upon Love

Tatiana A. Berger

Architect, Professor, Consultant Founder and Director of MB, Porto, Portugal and San Diego, USA movingboundaries.org/ abouttatiana

Tatiana Berger is an architect, urban designer, educator, and founder of the Moving Boundaries Collaborative. Trained at Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley, she has practiced architecture for more than three decades across Europe and the United States. Her professional experience includes collaborations with internationally recognized architects and engineering teams, including Richard Meier, Álvaro Siza, BaumschlagerEberle, and ILF Engineers. Berger’s work spans architecture, urban design, and landscape design, with projects realized in Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, China, Russia, and the United States. Her work has been published in international architectural journals and presented in exhibitions in Europe and North America.

Berger’s current work focuses on research, education, and collaboration at the intersection of architecture, human sciences, and sensory experience in the built environment. As founder and director of the Moving Boundaries Collaborative, she develops international educational programs and conferences devoted to human-centered design. She has taught architecture and urbanism at the NewSchool of Architecture & Design in San Diego and the Boston Architectural College, and serves on the Advisory Council of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture.

‘Positioning architecture as both a biological and cultural interface, this lecture argues for a shift in practice from mitigating negative outcomes to intentionally designing for human flourishing.’

Tye Farrow

Architect, Sr.Partner, Farrow Partners Architects

Author, Toronto, Canada

From Pathogenesis to Salutogenesis: Rethinking the Brain–Body Connection in the Built Environment

Monday, October 12

farrowpartners.ca

Working at the intersection of architecture and neuroscience, Tye Farrow is a world-recognized pioneer tackling how what we create either gives or cause health. With awardwinning projects around the globe that enact salutogenic design - design that actively incites health - he is the first Canadian architect to have earned a Master of Neuroscience Applied to Architecture (University of Venice Iuav)

In his first, best selling book, published by University of Toronto Press, titled Constructing Health: How the Built Environment Enhances Your Mind’s Health, Tye explores the relationship between placemaking, mind health, and human performance, at the intersection of neuroscience and architecture.

‘This lecture explores how architectural environments shape stress, health, and human potential.’

Cleo Valentine

PhD, Neuroscientist, Researcher Cambridge University and HKS Architects From Pathogenesis to Salutogenesis: Rethinking the Brain–Body Connection in the Built Environment

Monday, October 12

cleovalentine.io

Cleo Valentine is a researcher and lecturer working at the intersection of architecture, computational neuroscience, bioethics, and public health. She is an Affiliate Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Cambridge, where she completed her PhD in architectural neuroimmunology, investigating how visual exposure to architectural form influences allostatic activity and neurophysiological stress. Cleo serves as Senior Design Researcher in Neuroarchitecture at HKS and Senior Research and Innovation Lead at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, maintaining active collaborations with Harvard University, MIT, and University College London.

‘The scenery of a Japanese garden functions as a psychological catalyst, asking the observer to see beyond the surface. ’

Takaya Kurimoto

Landscape Architect, Japanese Garden Designer, Connecticut, USA

pedarch.com/author/takaya/page/2/

The Inner Landscape of the Japanese Mind as Reflected in Japanese Gardens Monday, October 12

Takaya Kurimoto is a Japanese garden designer and a registered landscape architect in the United States. He explores the ways in which Japanese gardens contribute to people who need mindfulness and healing. He began studying the philosophy and history of Japanese gardens early in his career at Kyoto University in Japan and later earned a Master of Landscape Architecture from Cornell University.

As a principal of Penguin Environmental Design (PED), Takaya focuses on residential and small-scale landscape projects. His first Japanese garden project was a set of stone gardens for the “Tea Culture of Japan” exhibition held at the Yale Art Gallery (2009).

‘This study suggests how the timehonored principles honed and practiced particularly in Japanese stroll gardens can enrich and revitalize contemporary design practice.’

Sarah Robinson

Architect, Author, Philosopher Co-Producer of Film “What Design Can Do” Faculty at NAAD, Pavia, Italy

Japanese Gardens and Felt Space Tuesday, October 13 (remote)

srarchitect.com

Sarah Robinson is an architect, writer and educator whose practice is based in Pavia, Italy. Her writing and research is concerned with the many ways that the built environment shapes body, mind and culture.

Her books, Nesting: Body, Dwelling Mind (William Stout, 2011), Mind in Architecture: Neuroscience, Embodiment and the Future of Design with Juhani Pallasmaa (MIT, 2015) and Architecture is a Verb, (Routledge, 2021) are among the first works to engage the dialogue between architecture and the cognitive sciences.Holding degrees in both philosophy and architecture, she was the founding president of the Frank Lloyd Wright school of architecture board of governors.

‘This lecture examines restorative design as an interface between cultural spatial practices and the emerging scientific understanding of human-environment interaction.’

Natalia Olszewska

Dr. Co-Founder, Impronta, Author

Professor NAAD, Neuroscientist

natalia-olszewska.com

Restorative Design: From Cultural Intuition to Scientific Evidence

Tuesday, October 13

Dr. Natalia Olszewska is a physician and co-founder of IMPRONTA, an interdisciplinary research and consulting studio operating at the intersection of human sciences, design, and health. Her work explores how insights from the human sciences can inform design strategies that foster health, cognition, and emotional wellbeing in the built environment.

Trained in medicine and neuroscience across leading European institutions she brings a rare integrative perspective to design. She has contributed to projects for global organizations such as Arup, Google, and Skanska, bridging research and practice across diverse contexts.

‘If we wish to design environments to foster human flourishing then it behooves us to take seriously human neuroscience and psychology. ’

Anjan Chatterjee

Ph.D. Author, Professor of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine

neuroaesthetics.med.upenn.edu

The Neuroaesthetics of the Built Environment

Wednesday, October 14

Anjan Chatterjee, MD, FAAN, is Professor of Neurology, Psychology, and Architecture and the founding director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. He is a member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Center for Neuroscience and Society at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Chatterjee’s clinical practice focuses on patients with cognitive disorders.His research addresses questions about neuroaesthetics, spatial cognition, language, and neuroethics. He wrote The Aesthetic Brain: How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art. He was awarded the Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology.

‘I will speak about how neuroarchitecture and neuroaesthetics allow us to go a level deeper to understand the why, and articulate how design innovation depends on research rigor.’

Upali Nanda

Ph.D. Architect, Professor, Global Sector Director Innovation, HKS Architects

Bridging Neuro-Architecture Research and Practice: Perspectives From Two Decades of Experience at The Intersection

Wednesday, October 14

Dr. Upali Nanda is a Partner and Executive Vice President at HKS. Asthe firm’s Global Sector Director, Innovation, she oversees HKS’ Cities & Communities practice and its Advisory, Research, and Sustainable Design services.

www.hksinc.com/people/upalinanda/

Based in Detroit, Upali has extensive experience leading research projects in design practice with a focus on the impact of design on human health and perception. She was executive director of Center for Advanced Design Research and Evaluation, or CADRE, the research arm of HKS, for 10 years and teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Practice at the Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning at University of Michigan.

‘There is a wisdom to be found in philosophies of nothingness such as those developed by the Kyoto School. They invite us to approach architecture not as an exterior structure but as a field of lived relations.’

David Dorenbaum

Professor, Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems University of Toronto, Canada

The Kyoto School of Philosophy, Architecture, and the Space of Mind Friday, October 16

psychiatry.utoronto.ca/faculty/ david-dorenbaum

David Dorenbaum, MD, is a psychoanalyst, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, a member of the International Psychoanalytic Association and the Lacan Clinical Forum at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His essays appear in various publications that have resulted from collaborations with artists and museums. He is a regular contributor to the newspaper El País. His most recent essay appears in the book Kings Road Mona Kuhn (Steidl, 2021). This project is the result of a collaboration with photographer Mona Kuhn, and the Department of History of Art and Architecture at UC Santa Barbara.

‘[...] architecture becomes more than a physical structure: it becomes the place where the real, the imaginary, and the symbolic intersect, where desire leaves traces and thresholds acquire meaning.’

Ryōsuke Ōhashi

PhD, Philosopher, Former Professor of Philosophy, Kyoto, Japan

bloomsbury.com/us/author/ ryosuke-ohashi/

The Kyoto School of Philosophy, Architecture, and the space of Mind Friday, October 16

Ōhashi was born in 1944 in Kyoto, the son of a mathematics professor. From 1965 to 1969, he studied philosophy at Kyoto State University and from 1969 to 1973 at LudwigMaximilians University in Munich, where he graduated with honors with a thesis on “Ecstasy and Abandonment in Schelling and Heidegger.” In 1983, he was the first Japanese to receive his habilitation from Julius-Maximilians University in Würzburg, where numerous philosophical dialogues connected him with Heinrich Rombach. As a professor of philosophy, Ōhashi taught at the Shiga Medical School in Ōtsu from 1975 to 1985, and at Kyoto Technical University from 1985 to 2003.

‘Every human being shares a fundamental aspiration—to perform at their best physically, mentally, and emotionally, across every stage of life.’

Satchin Panda

Neuroscientist

ANFA Board Member, Salk Institute, La Jolla, USA

Designing the Built Environment to Align with Human Biology

Sunday, October 18

www.salk.edu/scientist/ satchidananda-panda/

Satchidananda (Satchin) Panda, PhD is a Professor at the Salk Institute in California, where his research focuses on the circadian regulation of behavior, physiology and metabolism in model organisms and in humans. Dr. Panda discovered a blue-light sensing cell type in the retina entrains our master circadian clock, affects mood, and regulates the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Recently, he discovered that maintaining a daily feedingfasting cycle – popularly known as time-restricted feeding (TRF) – can prevent and reverse metabolic diseases. Dr. Panda has received the Julie Martin Mid-Career Award in Aging Research.

FACULTY

Architecture’s value lies in its capacity to orient human existence and to foster meaningful dwelling.

– Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Built upon Love

SUPPORTING FACULTY

Almost everyone in the world experiences built space on a daily basis… we all share at least a vague sense that the way such settings are designed exerts an influence on how we think and what we do.

–

Colin Ellard, Places of the Heart: The Psychogeography of Everyday Life

We do not experience architecture as a series of abstract visual forms, but through our bodies and our senses. It is through this embodied engagement that architecture acquires meaning, shaping how we feel, think, and act within a space.

– Harry Francis Mallgrave, The Architect’s Brain: Neuroscience, Creativity, and Architecture

PARTNERS AND ALLIANCES

Moving Boundaries has erased boundaries for me, increasing the reality of a community of interest and commitment to making lives better.

This course was life-changing. It created an incredible sense of community and belonging. A group of talented people came together in two cities, passionate and determined to revolutionize the way architecture is created.

What an inspiring two weeks! Congratulations on putting together an information-packed and fun course. There is nothing better than seeing old friends, making new ones, while sharing knowledge and endless possibilities for future activities.

This course validated the need to bring architecture back to a humancentered practice. I leave it with a network of outstanding faculty and participants with whom to share common interests and knowledge that will inspire and support me in my future work.

Moving Boundaries was an incredible opportunity to attend lectures by scientists, architects and authors whom I have always treasured. Listening to them present their work, that I had read before so many times, brought many unexpected insights - indeed a remarkable experience!

– the speakers and the participants of Moving Boundaries 2022-2025

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