Our Vision on Education -Learning Architecture and Building Science at Yokohama National University
The training in architecture that Yokohama National University offers is famous for its roots in Japan’s first and, at the time, only thorough program to train architects, which began in 1924 when a department of architecture was founded at the Yokohama Institute of Technology (later Yokohama National University). The head of that department, Nakamura Junpei, was a member of the Japan Art Academy and was designated a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government; he had studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, earning France’s DPLG qualification in architecture. Under his leadership, the department continued providing training in architecture in terms of art and culture even during the war. Nakamura Junpei continued to teach there until 1950, after the institute became part of Yokohama National University.
Thus, that quarter-of-a-century tradition of design education then lived on in the architecture classrooms at Yokohama National University. That tradition is why the university’s faculty includes members whose achievements in architectural design are internationally recognized. The university is also known for having trained many talented individuals now making signal contributions in the world of architecture. The study of architecture covers a vast territory. Closely related to disciplines concerned with the world of ideas, such as aesthetics and philosophy, and those concerned with human behavior such as history, sociology, and psychology, it also spans spatial design and its relation to the human body, the management of vast urban and environmental spaces, the sciences of such intangible phenomena as sound, heat, and light, and the engineering behind building material objects on the earth. Architecture is the study of the world we live in and our culture itself.
The Architecture Education Program at Yokohama National University covers these vast and diverse disciplines in a balanced manner in terms of four loosely correlated fields: Architectural Theory (AT), Urban Environment (UE) , Structural Engineering (SE), and Architectural Design (AD). The Architecture Education Program navigates the vast scholarly seas of architecture by maintaining dynamic connections between AT, UE, and SE, with the studio process, which is mainly focused on AD, serving as the overall guide.
Entrance requirements: A 21st century Leonardo da Vinci. – creativity, proactivity, curiosity, dynamism
The 20th century saw the advent and realization of a long series of innovative concepts in architecture and city planning. The new century in which we live is one that will also see unprecedented change. Particularly in the advanced industrialized nations, we confront social issues that included stagnant economies, extreme aging of populations, and shrinking birthrates. In Japan, we are nearing a phase of natural decline in population. In contrast, in newly developed and developing countries, economic growth and the structural transformation of industry are driving dramatic population growth. From a global perspective, the population explosion continues. In addition, the threat of food shortages, we face increasingly severe and interconnected environmental issues, including the destruction of forests, pollution, and global warming.
The Architecture and Building Science Education Program looks for individuals concerned about social change and global issues, free thinkers with rich imaginations unfettered by conventional value systems, with an interest in using their talents to create new structures and build new cities. Leonardo da Vinci, the quintessential Renaissance man, is our model. Not just a painter and sculptor, he was active in a broad range of fields, including both architecture and civil engineering, an inventor and a thinker of prodigious scope. Architecture and Building Science Education Program is for individuals with the ability to move both head and hand, with a curiosity that extends from ideas and art to the design of architectural structures, cities, and environmental spaces, engineers as well as artist. We are looking for the 21st century’s Leonardos.
Entrance examinations
The Architecture and Building Science Education Program is one of four education programs making up the Architecture, Infrastructure, Ocean Engineering and Ecosystem Science Department of the School of Engineering Science at Yokohama National University. Entrance to the Architecture and Building Science Education Program requires either a general, admissions office (AO), or transfer entrance examination. For details of current application requirements, application procedures, selection criteria, number of students accepted, and examination schedules, please consult the university website.