WORKSHOP// Earth as Surface, Stone as Point-Tangible Gestures in Space-Making through Kyoto Craft-
Dates and Venues
10 September, 11:00–13:00
Introductory Session
Room F, Väre
11 September, 10:00–16:00
Full-Day Hands-on Outdoor Workshop
TestSite
About the Workshop
What happens when Kyoto’s craft knowledge meets Finnish earth and stone?
This two-day workshop explores space-making through two elemental materials: earth and stone. Guided by Kyoto-based craftsmen Ryo Mitani, a master plasterer known for expressive three-dimensional earthen walls, and Yukiteru Hirai, a landscape and masonry artisan. Participants will work with local Finnish soil and stone to investigate how material, placement, texture, and touch shape spatial experience.
The workshop approaches Kyoto craft not as a fixed tradition to be reproduced, but as a way of reading materials and transforming space through minimal, tangible gestures. Each stone has its own weight, shape, surface, direction, and character. Each soil has its own color, grain, moisture, resistance, and expressive possibility. Through acts such as selecting, binding, placing, moving, applying, and texturing, participants will explore how small gestures can create meaningful spatial effects.
If earth and stone were your design tools, what kind of space would you create?
Participants will create sekimori-ishi — bound stones traditionally used to mark pause, boundary, or transition — and work with tsuchikabe — earthen wall surfaces made from local soil. In this workshop, the stone becomes a point, the earthen wall becomes a surface, and the space between them becomes an active field for tangible experimentation. By translating Kyoto craft through Finnish materials, climate, landscape, and people, the workshop asks how spatial ideas change when they encounter another ecology and culture.
Registration
The workshop is open to participants from art, design, architecture, landscape, interior, product design, HCI, interaction design, and related fields. It offers a shared opportunity to think through the body and materials: to touch, move, adjust, observe, and discuss how space emerges from relationships between people, materials, and place.
Capacity: 15 - (In case the number exceeds, we will select participants by balancing expertise and professional background.)
Registration link: https://forms.gle/tQ59FL1PoBydLiKX7
Fee: Free
Language: English, with Japanese interpretation
Location: Room F, Väre and TestSite
Materials: Provided by the organizers
What to bring for Day 2:
Work clothes, outdoor shoes, snacks/lunch, and weather-appropriate clothing.
Day 2 involves outdoor making with soil, stone, and hand tools. Participants should be prepared for light physical activity and changing weather conditions.
Participants will:
- Experience space-making through earth and stone
- Learn introductory principles of sekimori-ishi and tsuchikabe
- Explore how Kyoto craft practices can be translated through Finnish materials and site conditions
- Develop sensitivity to material individuality, such as stone character and soil texture
- Reflect on how minimal gestures can transform spatial perception
The workshop may produce:
- Bound stone works using Finnish stones
- Collaboratively finished earthen wall surfaces
- Spatial arrangements between stones, walls, and the site
- Documentation through photos, sketches, and participant reflections
- Material for possible future exhibition, publication, or research development
Organized by
Hironori Yoshida
Assistant Professor, Department of Design
www.hy-ma.com
Hosted by Empirica and Design Practice
Ryo Mitani — Master plasterer / earthen wall artisan, Kyoto
Based in Kyoto, Ryo Mitani is a master of sakan (traditional Japanese plastering), a craft registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. With over 30 years of experience, he specializes in Kyokabe—traditional earthen walls crafted from local soil and rice straw. Dedicated to both preserving 400-year-old techniques and exploring new possibilities, Mitani expands earthen wall culture through contemporary art and cultural interaction. He also directs the World Dorodango Association, promoting the Japanese art of polished earth spheres for education and healing.
Yukiteru Hirai — Landscape and masonry artisan, Kyoto
Yukiteru Hirai is the second-generation owner of Ryokki Landscape Co., Ltd. Trained in Kyoto at historic sites including the Katsura and Shugakuin Imperial Villas, he took over his family’s business in 2012. Hirai approaches the garden as an extension of architecture, defining space through his dynamic use of stone. Embracing the philosophy of "Garden as play," he explores new forms born from the collaboration between humans and nature, designing private residences, traditional restaurants, and salons across Japan.