co+labo
is an Architecture and Urban Design Laboratory at Keio
University, Tokyo. It is based in the Faculty of Science and Technology,
Department of Systems Design Engineering (Keio Yagami Campus, Building 15, 6th
floor)
co+labo is
the name of Laboratory Radović, among Japanese students also known as Rado-ken
(ラド研)
the name co+labo
points at two main aspects of our operation:
co
as
in “collaboration” – we work closely with a
number of
individuals and
institutions in Japan and worldwide with whom we share interest and passion for architectural and
urban design
+ labo
as in “laboratory” - the basic cell of Japanese tertiary education, with ethos of the workshop, where ideas get translated into action
Since 2009, when it was established, co+labo has evolved into a large network of former + current students, members + associates, colleagues + friends, celebrating our plus, the binding, collaborative symbol from our logo, which signifies core values whicbringing us together.
In Vers une achitecture de la jouissance, Henry Lefebvre (the foundational thinker behind the ethos and praxis of co+labo) wrote about "the dignity of bearing the + sign, that of joy, happiness, enjoyment, of sensuality - the sign of life"*, thus bringing together, in a single sentence, many of the key-words which define the aims of our laboratory.
Since 2009, when it was established, co+labo has evolved into a large network of former + current students, members + associates, colleagues + friends, celebrating our plus, the binding, collaborative symbol from our logo, which signifies core values whicbringing us together.
In Vers une achitecture de la jouissance, Henry Lefebvre (the foundational thinker behind the ethos and praxis of co+labo) wrote about "the dignity of bearing the + sign, that of joy, happiness, enjoyment, of sensuality - the sign of life"*, thus bringing together, in a single sentence, many of the key-words which define the aims of our laboratory.
When designing our logo, co+labo co-founder Vuk Radović added another, all-important nuance - the colour of life.
For us, as throughout the Lefebvre's theory of space, "architectural practices are to be conceptualized as transversal, that is to say cutting across ontological categories and contributing to all phases of research, programming, designing, construction, and the continuous appropriation of buildings."**
* Stanek, Łukasz, "Introduction", Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment, University of Minnesota Press, 2014 (p. lix)
** Henri Lefebvre, Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment, University of Minnesota Press, 2014 (p30)
co+laboradović was established at Keio
in 2009 by Professor Darko Radović.
it continued efforts of one of the founding
architecture laboratories at Keio University, that of Kengo Kuma, expanded
new curriculum which includes urban scales, research and design-research
projects and an interdisciplinary PhD programme
co+labo is
involved in education, research and design-research in the fields of
architecture and urban design
co+labo projects focus on
quality of space across scales, and explores how that quality
gets conceived, perceived+lived
co+labo actively explores the critical capacity of cultural otherness; by being a truly cross-cultural environment, with a stranger, the gaijin, 外人 at its helm, through its projects and everyday life, co+labo opens questions related to the topics such as cultural and disciplinary otherness, boundaries, territories, exclusion and inclusion
