Japan's first Faculty of Architecture established to meet the demands of architectural education

　To complete a single building, information on tens of thousands to nearly millions of parts is required, but at traditional construction sites, this information was managed using large amounts of drawings and documents. This was a huge burden on the field. However, in recent years, the Japanese construction industry has introduced digital tools such as BIM (Building Information Modeling), which centrally manages information from design to construction, maintenance, and demolition using 3D models on computers. Various simulations can now be performed more easily than before.

　While construction sites are changing, there is still a shortage of human resources to support industrial DX, and there is an urgent need to develop management personnel who can cross fields such as urban planning, engineering, and design and lead DX in the entire construction industry. . Against this backdrop of the current situation in the construction industry, Kogakuin University's Faculty of Architecture has started digital education.

　The Faculty of Architecture of Kogakuin University was separated from the Faculty of Engineering in 21 in order to respond to various modern social demands for architectural education as the social needs for architecture and cities changed as we entered the 2011st century. This is a faculty that was founded in the form of Established as Japan's first School of Architecture, our School goes beyond the framework of engineering and deepens its specialization while acquiring the basics of a wide range of fields such as the humanities, social sciences, and arts. By drawing out and developing each student's abilities in the process, the purpose of the department is to cultivate human resources who can appropriately judge the challenges of the coming new era and play a leadership role.

　Its characteristics include:
(1) Introducing not only the perspective of producers and suppliers but also the perspective of users
(2) Comprehensive education that meets social needs
(3) Specialized education tailored to the wide range of interests of students and the diversity of society
(4) Acceptance of test takers from diverse backgrounds
(5) Developing diverse human resources and diversifying career paths after graduation
(6) Detailed educational program
(7) Responding to qualifications as one of the goals of education

　Based on the above seven points, we aim to become university students with strong roots and roots, by gaining a variety of experience points while learning in three departments and 3 fields.

Developing DX management human resources with the latest equipment and a structured curriculum

　One of the major features of Japan's only advanced digital education launched at Kogakuin University's Faculty of Architecture is the "Digital Twin Lab," which was established in the fall of 2022. ``Digital twin'' is the reproduction of something exactly the same as the real thing in digital space, creating twins of the real and digital, and our lab was born based on this word. The following three state-of-the-art facilities have been built on campus as facilities for students to learn practical digital technology in classes and laboratories.

　The first facility is the ``Collaboration Studio'' installed in the academic information center ``Kute no Izumi'' on the second floor of the Shinjuku campus. Here, a huge display measuring approximately 2m in height x 28m in width is placed on one wall, making it possible to project and check the BIM model on a real scale. The second facility is the ``Digital Fabrication Studio'' installed at both the Shinjuku and Hachioji campuses. A digital XNUMXD printer and a large laser cutter have been installed here, creating an environment where you can recreate complex shapes that would be difficult to reproduce by hand and create new model expressions. The third piece of equipment is the ``Sensing + Monitoring Lab,'' a seismometer installed on the Shinjuku Campus, a XNUMX-story skyscraper. Portable environmental sensors monitor and visualize indoor temperature, air flow, and light, and are used to create indoor environments that are comfortable for people to spend time in.

　Additionally, in parallel with the establishment of the Digital Twin Lab, the aim is to develop DX management personnel who will lead construction sites by establishing a structured curriculum from the first year to graduate school.

　As for the specific content of the curriculum, in order to first acquire digital knowledge, students acquire basic cross-disciplinary knowledge from the first year. After understanding the overall picture of DX in the construction industry, students increase their specialization as they progress through the grades. From the third year onwards, the focus is not only on acquiring more specialized skills and practical learning by making full use of the skills learned, but also allowing students to take classes in other departments within the faculty. You will be able to acquire digital technology without being restricted by.

　Furthermore, in the fourth year and beyond the master's program, students conduct a variety of research while making use of the skills and knowledge they have learned so far. “Simulation experiments using 4D models and structural collapse experiments using digital fabrication” (Department of Architecture/Architectural Structures/Yamashita Laboratory), “Development of methods for numerically simulating seismic motion for hypothetical earthquakes” (Department of Urban Development/Safety and Security) / Hisada Laboratory), where you can engage in cutting-edge research that utilizes digital technology in a variety of fields, from structures to urban development, design, and disaster prevention.

　Through these pioneering efforts, Kogakuin University's Faculty of Architecture is considering entering into the development of programs that include government-promoted recurrent education and on-site digitization support in the future, and is working to promote DX in the architectural industry. It is hoped that it will produce human resources who can take the initiative further.