Miraisozojuku（Institute for Designing the Future） Project β Village

The Miraisozojuku（Institute for Designing the Future） project was launched in 2007 with the aim to create a residential education and research facility where students, faculty members, and others from within and outside the university, and from all over the world, can live and learn together at SFC in the spirit of hangaku hankyo—learning while teaching, teaching while learning.

As part of the Miraisozojuku（Institute for Designing the Future） project, Student Built Campus (SBC) was established by students, faculty members, and alumni in 2015. Students and faculty members of the SBC Joint Seminar are taking the lead in shaping a new campus in the East Zone, located adjacent to the north side of the existing campus, under the concept of “Creating the Campus of the Future with Our Own Hands.”

All facilities were completed in 2020, the year of SFC’s 30th anniversary, and plans are being made to utilize the residential education and research facility in a variety of ways. However, the SBC project, which considers operation and disassembly, continues without end. It will now tackle new issues such as the creation of fixtures for the facilities and development of the courtyard.

The area of development was thus far called the East Zone. However, upon completion of the facilities, the official name became “β(Beta) Village,” because the Greek letter “β” is associated with unfinished work, such as in the term “beta version.” In line with this change, the buildings have been named β1, β2, β3, β4, β Dome, β Studio, and β Pavilion. Details of the facilities are also available on the SFC official website.

Message

Hiroto Kobayashi

Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance / In Charge of: β1, β２ and DFF-W

SBC (Student Built Campus) was born from thinking about what it means to be a campus that creates the future, and that we should build it ourselves instead of having someone else build it for us. The 2008 global financial crisis struck just as the University-led Miraisozojuku（Institute for Designing the Future） project to expand SFC was underway. As the future of the project was unclear, students decided to take the initiative in building the new campus, and activities began in November 2014. At Keio, all students, faculty members, and alumni are considered to be “students” on equal footing, with the exception of its founder Yukichi Fukuzawa. These “students” are working to create an unprecedented place for their own learning, where they can participate equally and commit to all aspects, from the design and construction of the space to the creation of content such as research, education, and operational programs.

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Hiroto Kobayashi

Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance / In Charge of: β1, β２ and DFF-W

SBC (Student Built Campus) was born from thinking about what it means to be a campus that creates the future, and that we should build it ourselves instead of having someone else build it for us. The 2008 global financial crisis struck just as the University-led Miraisozojuku（Institute for Designing the Future） project to expand SFC was underway. As the future of the project was unclear, students decided to take the initiative in building the new campus, and activities began in November 2014. At Keio, all students, faculty members, and alumni are considered to be “students” on equal footing, with the exception of its founder Yukichi Fukuzawa. These “students” are working to create an unprecedented place for their own learning, where they can participate equally and commit to all aspects, from the design and construction of the space to the creation of content such as research, education, and operational programs.
Shohei Matsukawa

Associate Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies / In Charge of: β4, β Pavilion

The historical backdrop of the spread of PCs and the Internet in the mid-1990s, whereby the previously centralized flow of information became autonomous and distributed, is the very history of SFC (Shonan Fujisawa Campus) itself.The subsequent spread of digital fabrication in the mid-2010s, which similarly drove the flow of commodities to become autonomous and distributed, is also paralleled in the history of SBC (Student Built Campus). While bottom-up manufacturing processes are the ideal, excess leeway in the planning will mean that overall cohesiveness will not emerge. On the other hand, even if we establish a design code in a top-down manner the diversity of the parts which comprise the whole will be lost. As for my role, I feel that the past six years have passed in coordinating with the principal actors in the creation of a system which is neither too loose nor too constrictive, resembling an edge of chaos where disorder and coherence coexist.

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Shohei Matsukawa

Associate Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies / In Charge of: β4, β Pavilion

The historical backdrop of the spread of PCs and the Internet in the mid-1990s, whereby the previously centralized flow of information became autonomous and distributed, is the very history of SFC (Shonan Fujisawa Campus) itself.

The subsequent spread of digital fabrication in the mid-2010s, which similarly drove the flow of commodities to become autonomous and distributed, is also paralleled in the history of SBC (Student Built Campus). While bottom-up manufacturing processes are the ideal, excess leeway in the planning will mean that overall cohesiveness will not emerge. On the other hand, even if we establish a design code in a top-down manner the diversity of the parts which comprise the whole will be lost. As for my role, I feel that the past six years have passed in coordinating with the principal actors in the creation of a system which is neither too loose nor too constrictive, resembling an edge of chaos where disorder and coherence coexist.
Hajime Ishikawa

Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies / In Charge of: Courtyard of β4

One distinctive characteristic of the β Village site is its continuity to the outside. The landscaped greenery surrounding SFC creates a quiet and lush environment, but it cuts off connection to neighboring areas. By contrast, β Village, located on the northern edge of campus, does not have any surrounding greenery to separate it from adjacent residential areas and farmland, giving it potential to become a link to local communities. Another characteristic of β Village is its external space. β Village consists of a variety of experimental buildings, each studied separately in terms of function and construction method. As a result, the open spaces on the site are irregular, and resemble large gaps rather than a well-formed garden. Here, instead of creating a symbolic form that makes a statement, it seems more appropriate to develop the open spaces by utilizing and adding to them little by little. Such a way of creating, which emphasizes adjustment and optimization rather than construction, is a potential model for future landscape design. Through exercises and practical training opportunities with students, I would like to continue to be involved in the development of β Village’s yard spaces.

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Hajime Ishikawa

Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies / In Charge of: Courtyard of β4

One distinctive characteristic of the β Village site is its continuity to the outside. The landscaped greenery surrounding SFC creates a quiet and lush environment, but it cuts off connection to neighboring areas. By contrast, β Village, located on the northern edge of campus, does not have any surrounding greenery to separate it from adjacent residential areas and farmland, giving it potential to become a link to local communities.

Another characteristic of β Village is its external space. β Village consists of a variety of experimental buildings, each studied separately in terms of function and construction method. As a result, the open spaces on the site are irregular, and resemble large gaps rather than a well-formed garden. Here, instead of creating a symbolic form that makes a statement, it seems more appropriate to develop the open spaces by utilizing and adding to them little by little. Such a way of creating, which emphasizes adjustment and optimization rather than construction, is a potential model for future landscape design. Through exercises and practical training opportunities with students, I would like to continue to be involved in the development of β Village’s yard spaces.
Shigeru Ban

Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies / In Charge of: β Dorm and β Studio

After graduating from high school, I first attended SCI-Arc in Los Angeles in order to enter Cooper Union in New York, where foreigners are only allowed as transfer students. The first thing I did there was to build a Fuller Dome. I was impressed by how easily even a student could erect the frame. Since then, I have admired architects, such as B. Fuller and F. Otto, who develop their own structural systems and materials. At SFC, I would like to nurture architects who are not influenced by the trends of the times, such as postmodernism and superficially wood-decorated buildings. In this sense, this SBC project was an excellent opportunity.

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Shigeru Ban

Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies / In Charge of: β Dorm and β Studio

After graduating from high school, I first attended SCI-Arc in Los Angeles in order to enter Cooper Union in New York, where foreigners are only allowed as transfer students. The first thing I did there was to build a Fuller Dome. I was impressed by how easily even a student could erect the frame. Since then, I have admired architects, such as B. Fuller and F. Otto, who develop their own structural systems and materials. At SFC, I would like to nurture architects who are not influenced by the trends of the times, such as postmodernism and superficially wood-decorated buildings. In this sense, this SBC project was an excellent opportunity.