Commoning the City
DipArch Thesis
Year: 2025
Kyoto Institute of Technology/
Glasgow School of Art
Kyoto is a city in constant dialogue with its past and present. Once the historic capital of Japan, the city’s morphology is confronted with balancing the scales between tradition and innovation.
In an era of hyper-capitalism and continual urban transformation, Japan’s built environment has been shaped by a speculative property market and the rise of ‘scrap and build’ culture, where buildings are often discarded after just a few decades. This approach has not only led to vast abandonment of building stock and material waste but has also eroded the communal and spatial traditions that once defined Japanese urban life.
At the core of this thesis is the synthesis between three research drivers:
This body of work proposes a radical re-engagement with the material and social dimensions of architecture through acts of reclaiming and circulating discarded building materials. Rather than viewing demolition waste as mere refuse, this thesis investigates how these materials can become community assets, imbued with new value through collective action. The process of repair and construction itself is framed as an ‘act of commoning’ - a tool for rebuilding not only physical objects but also social relationships.
By examining alternative material economies, collaborative construction practices and community-led interventions, this thesis seeks to explore how Japan’s discarded architecture can be transformed into vessels of civic engagement. The goal sets to re-democratise the material environment - shifting agency away from top-down speculative development and back into the hands of local communities. This, in turn, has the potential to encourage political reform by challenging current models of property ownership, urban renewal, and construction culture.
Through a synthesis of spatial theory, material reuse strategies, and socio-political activism, this thesis ultimately argues for an architecture that resists the disposability of contemporary urbanism and instead fosters lasting social and environmental resilience.
DipArch Thesis
Year: 2025
Kyoto Institute of Technology/
Glasgow School of Art
Kyoto is a city in constant dialogue with its past and present. Once the historic capital of Japan, the city’s morphology is confronted with balancing the scales between tradition and innovation.
In an era of hyper-capitalism and continual urban transformation, Japan’s built environment has been shaped by a speculative property market and the rise of ‘scrap and build’ culture, where buildings are often discarded after just a few decades. This approach has not only led to vast abandonment of building stock and material waste but has also eroded the communal and spatial traditions that once defined Japanese urban life.
At the core of this thesis is the synthesis between three research drivers:
- The historic ‘Neighbourhood Community Townhouse’ model as a typological framework for civic activation and as a convivial tool.
- The extensive nature of scrap and build culture prevalent in contemporary Japanese construction practices.
- ‘Ba’ – A Japanese spatial theory emphasising collective experience and the exchange of tacit knowledge.
This body of work proposes a radical re-engagement with the material and social dimensions of architecture through acts of reclaiming and circulating discarded building materials. Rather than viewing demolition waste as mere refuse, this thesis investigates how these materials can become community assets, imbued with new value through collective action. The process of repair and construction itself is framed as an ‘act of commoning’ - a tool for rebuilding not only physical objects but also social relationships.
By examining alternative material economies, collaborative construction practices and community-led interventions, this thesis seeks to explore how Japan’s discarded architecture can be transformed into vessels of civic engagement. The goal sets to re-democratise the material environment - shifting agency away from top-down speculative development and back into the hands of local communities. This, in turn, has the potential to encourage political reform by challenging current models of property ownership, urban renewal, and construction culture.
Through a synthesis of spatial theory, material reuse strategies, and socio-political activism, this thesis ultimately argues for an architecture that resists the disposability of contemporary urbanism and instead fosters lasting social and environmental resilience.
都市のコモニング
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