International symposium: ”Building within Planetary Boundaries”

The international symposium ”Building within Planetary Boundaries – Scales and Practices of Sustainable Development” will take place from 23rd to 26th of April 2025, at Osaka. The event will gather German, French, and Japanese experts and stakeholder in sustainable building design to discuss scales and practices applicable in different building cultures. The symposium will be followed by the opening of the exhibition ”Material Flows”.  

Program 

Day 1 (23 April 2025) Strategies for a climate-neutral building stock,  
Venue: Umeda South Hall, Osaka, organized by BBSR, Germany and BRI + NILIM, Japan  

German / Japanese 

9:30 am Opening / Welcome address 

Prof. Takuo DOME (Director of SSI, Osaka University),   
Prof. Axel SOWA (RWTH Aachen University),  
Melanie SAXINGER, Consul General of Germany, Osaka 

9:50 Introduction / Einführung: 
Dr. Takao SAWACHI (BRI)  
Dr. Hidekazu YAMASHITA (NILIM)  
Dr. Robert KALTENBRUNNER (BBSR)  

10:30 Keynote : Discourse on the scales of sustainable development 
Prof. Thomas AUER (Technical University Munich) 
Prof. Toshiharu IKAGA (IBECS)  

11:30 Panel discussion 

12:15 Lunch Break 

13:15 Session 1 – Ressource efficiency  

Session chair : Prof. Dr. Michael PRYTULA (University of Applied Sciences Potsdam) 
Mr. Claus ASAM (BBSR) 
Prof. Eike ROSWAG-KLINGE (Technical University Berlin) 
Dr. Naoko TSUCHIYA (NILIM) 
Prof. Yosuke KOMIYAMA (Kyoto University) 

14:45 Session 2 – Eco-Balance and Lifecycle Assessment 

Session chair : Masato MIYATA (NILIM) 
Dr. Tanja BROCKMANN (BBSR), 
Prof. Thomas LÜTZKENDORF (KIT, Karlsruhe), 
Prof. Takayuki ISOBE (Musashino University), 
Mr. Katsumi NIWA (General manager, Nikken Sekkei) 

16:15 Session 3 – Applied Eco-Balance and Best-Practice  

Session chair : Masato KANEDA (chief executive, 4ds Int. GmbH) 
Mr. Nicolas KERZ (BBSR), 
Dr. Shotaro YAGI (BRI), 
Mr. Sho ITO (Design Department, Obayashi Corporation) 

17:30 Closing remarks / foresight on next conference days 
Dr. Takao SAWACHI + Dr. Robert KALTENBRUNNER  

18:00 Keynote Lecture Christian TSCHERSICH (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture),  
Architect German Pavilion, Osaka 2025 

18:30 Networking  

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Day 2 (24 April 2025) organized by RWTH Aachen and BBSR will serve as a networking day for 
delegates and speakers of the symposium.  
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Day 3 (25  April 2025) Scales and Practices of Sustainable Architecture  
Venue: Osaka University Nakanoshima Center, organized by RWTH Aachen University  

English  

9:30 Opening / Welcome address: 
Prof. Axel SOWA + Dr. Murielle HLADIK 
Attaché Culturel, Ambassade de France au Japon (tbc), Institut Français (tbc)  

10:00 Session 4 – Matter in perspective: Strategies for Recycling and Re-use  
Session chair: Dr. Murielle HLADIK 
Prof. Dr. Linda HILDEBRAND (RWTH Aachen University and Concular, Berlin) 
Ms. Helga KÜHNHENRICH (BBSR)  
Prof. Akio YASUMORI (Chiba University) 
Prof. Nobuhiro CHIJIWA (Institute of Science Tokyo) 

Panel discussion   

12:30 Lunch Break

14:00 Session 5 – Urban restructuring and transformations  

Session chair : Prof. Axel SOWA (RWTH Aachen University) 
Prof. Shin AIBA, (Metropolitan University Tokyo) 
Mr. Shigenori UOYA (Architect, Kyoto) 
Ms. Sonia VU (Architect, Encore heureux, Paris) 
Prof. Markus BADER, (University of the Arts, UdK Berlin / raumlabor, Berlin) 
Mr. Toshikatsu IENARI (Dot architects, Osaka)   
Milena KARANESHEVA & Mischa WITZMANN (KARAWITZ Architects, Paris)  

17:00 Coffee-Tea break  

18:00 Evening Keynote lecture: Louisa Hutton, Architect, Sauerbruch Hutton, Berlin  

Day 4 (26 April 2025) Urban Landscapes of Tomorrow 

Venue: Osaka University Nakanoshima Center, organized by RWTH Aachen University 

English  

9:00 Welcome address:  Dr. Murielle HLADIK 

9:30 Session 6 – Urban ecology: Thinking the interface between architecture and nature  

Session chair: Prof. Oussouby SACKO (Seika University Kyoto) 
Prof. Sébastien MAROT, (Ecole d’architecture de Paris-Est) 
Prof. Emi TAKEYAMA (Kyoto University) 
Prof. Dr. Michael PRYTULA (FH Potsdam)  
Prof. Yuji HARA (Wakayama University) 

Panel discussion Q+A  

12:30 Lunch Break  

14:00 Session 7 –  Caring Cities: Promoting civic engagement and social cohesion  
                              under conditions of de-growth  

Session chair: Prof. Axel Sowa 
Dr. Wilhelm KLAUSER (Initial Design, Berlin) 
Prof. Oussouby SACKO, (Seika University, Kyoto) 
Prof. OKABE, (Tokyo University) 
Ass.-Prof. Shiena HIRAO (Institute of Science Tokyo, Tsukamoto Lab) 

16:30 Coffee Break / Tea 

17:00 Final Panel discussion  

17:30 Closing remarks by Prof. Axel SOWA + Dr. Murielle HLADIK (RWTH Aachen University) 

19:00  – Opening of the Exhibition ”Material Flows” 
Venue: Chidori Bunka, Kita-Kagaya, Osaka 

After the closing session of the symposium the evening event will take place in the district Kita-Kagaya of Osaka. At Chidori Bunka, the local culture center, we will open the exhibition ”Material Flows”. The show will be on display from 26 April to 30 June 2025. Visitors will find an intro-duction to recent research in sustainable architecture design and newly developed building components made from organic or recycled matter. During the exhibition a workshop for local school children will be offered. Adults can join guided tours through the exhibition and the district of Kita-Kagaya to learn more about the challenges of the ecological transformations at the scales of material, architectural design and urban neighborhoods. 

Curators: Prof. Axel Sowa, Dr. Murielle Hladik  
with Marius Helten, Saori Toyoshima (Spatial Design), Frédéric Schnee (Editing)  

The symposium, the exhibition and its side program have been initiated by Professor Axel SOWA  
and Dr. Murielle HLADIK, Chair of architectural theory at RWTH Aachen University