Yoshihisa Shirai, Guest Professor (Part-time), "SFC: Envisioning the Future"

June 25, 2021

Yoshihisa Shirai, Guest Professor (Part-time), Faculty of Environment and Information Studies

Editor

President and CEO, Aprico International Inc.

Editor-in-Chief, Sustainable Japan Magazine by The Japan Times

Course Taught: Architecture and Media Theory (Spring Semester)

Since entering the workforce, I have met and sometimes worked with many SFC alumni (in various professions such as entrepreneurs, bankers, and creators). My impression has always been that many of them are proactive and not bound by tedious conventions or rules. I had always wondered why this was the case, but after learning about the SFC curriculum and teaching a course myself, I feel I have discovered the secret. I believe the wonderful thing about SFC is the ability to learn across various academic disciplines, supported by the excellence of the faculty, who possess both specialized knowledge and flexible thinking. The students' proactive and engaged attitude toward classes and assignments is also impressive. Perhaps this is part of the campus culture.

After graduating from university, I joined a publishing company and worked as a magazine editor for 23 years. After that, I moved to an operating company under a major shipbuilding group, where as a manager, I was involved in town revitalization centered on architecture and travel businesses for high-net-worth individuals. The biggest turning point in my professional life was being involved in the launch preparations for the magazine *Casa BRUTUS* in 1998. Despite having no specialized experience in architecture or design, I had to create a new lifestyle magazine with a focus on these fields. For the first few years, I desperately read books, met people, and absorbed knowledge and information about architecture. I would go on to edit *Casa BRUTUS* for 19 years, and the "Architecture and Media Theory" course I am now teaching at SFC is a distillation of what I learned, felt, and thought on the front lines of magazine creation. It is not a specialized lecture on architecture, nor is it a simple media theory course. In a way, this course, which envisions the future by traversing various fields, may be quintessentially SFC. As I wrote in the syllabus, the "Architecture and Media Theory" course is structured around the following ideas.

This course aims to cultivate human resources who can play an active role in society by equipping them with the multifaceted and flexible perspectives, standpoints, and outlooks gained through an understanding of architectural culture. This course is structured based on the following concepts.

• “Architecture” exists on a dimension beyond mere “building.”

• This “architecture” is built upon various constraints, including not only artistry but also economics, politics, and law, making it both a key component of culture and a social entity.

• Therefore, “architecture” is a medium through which we can interpret historical and social backgrounds, the ideas of predecessors, and more. We will examine the significance of each architectural work and envision the form and nature of future society from there.

From these perspectives, each lecture will address a specific theme, using architecture to learn about society and culture, foster critical awareness, and cultivate a free sense of creativity and imagination unbound by existing value standards.

For me, having viewed “architecture” from the standpoint of an editor of the magazine medium, architecture and cities felt like a medium in themselves—a kind of textbook, for better or worse, packed with history, culture, ideas, race, and social issues. The aim of this class is to have students think about what they can learn by shedding light on the unknown history and ideas behind “architecture,” and how they would act on that knowledge. The lectures are structured like special features in *Casa BRUTUS*, with themes changing each time, such as “Learning Modern Japanese History through Kenzo Tange: From the End of WWII in 1945 to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” “From UFO Houses to Apple’s New Headquarters: What is the Shape of Future Architecture? (What Happened in 1968?),” “Taro Okamoto and Architecture: What Does the Tower of the Sun Convey? (The End of Modern Thought),” “Why Did Architects Become Japan’s Biggest Export?,” and “Is Town Revitalization Through Architecture Possible?: Setouchi Archi-tourism.” My stance is not to “teach” but to “convey.” This is an attitude I have maintained since my days in magazine creation.

While student life should be a time for both diligent study and enjoyment, today’s students are unfortunately restricted in their activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is my hope that they can at least take something away from this course, and that in the future, after graduating from SFC, they will boldly tackle social challenges and create new, valuable things.

(Profile) Editor. President and CEO, Aprico International Inc. Editor-in-Chief, Sustainable Japan Magazine by The Japan Times. Creative Director, CUUSOO SYSTEM Co., Ltd.

After graduating from university, joined Magazine House, Ltd. Worked on the magazines *POPEYE* and *BRUTUS* before editing *Casa BRUTUS*. Has been involved with *Casa BRUTUS* since its launch preparations in 1998. Special features he has overseen include “Kenzo Tange” and “Tadao Ando,” the series “Sho Sakurai’s Journey to Learn Architecture,” and the book *Hiroshi Sugimoto: The Sense of Space*. Since 2017, has served as an Executive Officer of Setouchi Holdings Inc. and President and CEO of Setouchi Creative & Travel Inc. Involved in tourism businesses for high-net-worth individuals, such as the passenger ship *guntû*.