LENTO DISCOVERING GUNKAN
Discovering Gunkan was a collective dinner and spatial intervention held on the rooftop of the Gunkan Building, a surviving example of the Japanese Metabolist architecture movement.
Through a six-course menu imagined by chef Paco La Monica as a sensory narration, the event explored the themes of transformation and mutation.
Designer Gala Espel created a suspended setting inspired by notions of adaptability and modularity, while artist Natalie Tsyu introduced sound as a responsive medium, activating the site through sensors and kinetic
elements that translated the building vibrations into acoustic textures.
Rather than fix the Gunkan in time, the project treated the building as a living system, inviting guests to
experience it not as a relic, but as a body still capable of change.
Artist : Natalie Tsyu
Designer: Gala Espel
Chef: Francesco Paco la Monica, Alessio Gorni
Curation: Lucia Filippini, Dominika Demlova
AKIYA - KAZUNORI`S CASE
/Short documentary
In Japan, there are approximately 8 million Akiya (abandoned properties), and according to research by the Nomura Research Institute, this number is expected to rise to 21 million by 2033, reaching 30% of the country’s total housing stock. This phenomenon affects both cities and rural areas but is particularly severe in the countryside, where the combination of demographic decline and migration to major metropolitan areas has left numerous homes empty and in disrepair.
The dichotomy between city and countryside, urbanization and nature has been a constant throughout history, when city walls once served to protect against the external world, seen as dangerous and wild. Today, however, this relationship seems to have reversed: cities are often perceived as hostile, congested environments, while the countryside has become a refuge for many, a space to rediscover a lost sense of balance.
Akiya – The Kazunori’s Case explores this paradox through the eyes of Kazunori Hamana, a Japanese artist living in the Chiba countryside, about 60 km from Tokyo, where he started a renovation project of several ancient Kominka (traditional folk-houses). His goal is to transform them into creative spaces for young artists, providing them with low-cost studios while simultaneously preserving rural architectural heritage.
Hamana’s approach goes beyond a purely philological restoration of vernacular architecture; instead, it follows a cyclical and adaptive method influenced by Japanese culture, where complete reconstruction is often preferred over traditional restoration. His work is distinguished by a sensitive and intentional use of existing materials, enhancing their patina and memory.
Everything is reimagined in a new form: the roof’s wooden planks, blackened by centuries of smoke, become decorative partitions; scrap wood is burned to heat the water for the daily bath.
That evening bath is more than just a ritual, it is a way of inhabiting time, of giving value to what has been discarded, of reversing the relationship between center and periphery. It is not about nostalgia but about rethinking resources, economies, and the way we inhabit space, unafraid to challenge conventional notions of value and beauty.
Akiya – Kazunori’s Case is a short documentary presented at the 19th Architecture Venice Biennale.
Through the perspective of ceramict artist Kazunori Hamana, the film explores the phenomenon of Akiya, Japan’s increasing number of abandoned rural homes, and their potential for creative reuse.
More than a restoration project, Hamana’s work invites a reconsideration of what it means to inhabit space with slowness, with care, reframing the common meaning of value and beauty.
Curation/Direction: Lucia Filippini, Andrea Terceros Barron
Photogrophy direction: Lino Ono
Subject: Kazunori Hamana
LENTO DISCOVERING KOMINKA
Discovering Kominka was a site-specific lunch/exhibition that explored the dialogue between vernacular architecture, contemporary craft, and ecological practices. Hosted by artist Kazunori Hamana in his house/
studio and organic rice fields, the event unfolded through an immersive encounter between art, design, and food.
Painter Sante Visioni used a 200 years old Kominka as a temporary art residence, presenting works inspired by its charred interiors and material history. Chefs Francesco La Monica and Niki Hattori crafted a seasonal sixcourse menu using local produce, foraged ingredients, and natural materials sourced from the Kominka itself.
Designers Tania Utomo and Nils Pyk (Mug Dealer) contributed bespoke ceramic tableware referencing the raw textures of Japanese rural architecture.
Artist : Sante Visioni
Designer: Mug Dealer ( Tania Utomo, Nils Pyk)
Chef: Francesco Paco la Monica, Niki Hattori
Curation: Lucia Filippini