Architecture of Relations

Yuki Hyakuda / Maki Onishi / Takao Ofuji

We invite you to reflect on the possibilities suggested by the phrase “Architecture of Relations.”

Architecture is at once an autonomous entity and a construct situated within a network of relations—across the city, the surrounding environment, time and history, and the lives of those who inhabit it. Within each of these overlapping frameworks, architecture produces multiple and shifting meanings. In the contemporary moment, it may be less a question of pursuing an isolated architectural ideal than of understanding architecture through the relational fields in which it is embedded.

■Across Scales Ludwig Mies van der Rohe remarked that architecture begins when two bricks are carefully laid together. If so, might we also consider that a city begins when two buildings are carefully positioned within an environment?A building generates an interior world; yet, from the perspective of a larger context, it remains a fragment. Architecture may thus be understood as a point of convergence where the order of the interior and the order of the city intersect.How might one articulate a continuity of order that extends from the scale of material assemblies to that of the city?

■Universal and Singular Orders The façade of the Parthenon is often described as being governed by proportional systems in which every element—from the number of columns to their dimensions—is derived from a common rule. The diameter of the column base functions as a fundamental unit, with all parts determined as integer multiples,producing a coherent and harmonious whole. Proportion, in this sense, constitutes a universal order, independent of scale.At the same time, the actual dimensions of the façade can be understood as emerging in relation to the specific conditions of the Acropolis. By engaging both universality and singularity, architecture may establish a condition in which it is continuous with its environment while also maintaining a certain intensity of form.

■Meaning Through Relations Even the notion of “family” lacks a fixed definition; its composition and meaning shift according to time, custom, and interpretation. Similarly, the concept of welfare varies depending on how we define the scope of mutual support. In this way, the meanings associated with architecture are not given, but continuously redefined through relationships. Architecture may thus be understood as a field in which meanings are actively produced and renegotiated.

From the perspectives of scale, order, and meaning, we invite you to explore what “Architecture of Relations” can become.

■Design Brief

・The site is open, but must be specific and real, not hypothetical.

・Analyze the site across multiple scales, considering both physical and historical dimensions, and 　articulate its structure.

・The proposal should extend beyond a single building and engage the surrounding urban and communal context.

・The program is open, but should not be conceived as a self-contained function within the building alone.

■References

・Keiichi Morita, On Architecture . Kodansha, 2025.

・Tomoya Masuda, Landscapes of House and Garden: A Spatial Study of the Japanese House . Nakanishiya Publishing, 1999.

・Fumimoto Kato, A First Introduction to Category Theory . Kodansha, 2017.

・Maki Onishi + Yuki Hyakuda, Architecture, a place to be Loved .: TOTO Publishing, 2024.