Yuji Kishimoto, AIA

Professor Emeritus of Architecture

Contact
School of Architecture
Office: Lee 2-143
Phone: 864-656-1496
Email: yuji@clemson.edu

Education
M.Ed., University of Massachusetts; M.Arch., Harvard University; B.Arch., Wadesa University

Inter-cultural communication is important not only for international activity but also for people in the same nation. All expressions are meant to be understood. The built environment is the expression of culture and civilization, and any creative art is an expression of the artist who wishes to be understood. Commonsense, Collaboration and Creativity (3Cs) are the basis for allowing me to be meaningful in all of my collaborative activities.

Having received a BArch from Waseda University and an MArch from Harvard University, I studied architectural education in the form of How to Teach Architecture to Lay People at the University of Massachusetts. In Philadelphia, Louis Kahn taught me how to re-organize learned thoughts in my own terms, so that I could communicate them with others. My clients believe that they are my partners in designing their homes. In my 38 years of teaching, the best lesson has been in making my students also my partners (collaborators).

Just as in my teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design, Deerfield Academy, University of Hawaii and Virginia Tech, I have thoroughly enjoyed the partnership with students at Clemson University for 24 years.

The extension of the experience in partnering with my students has provided me the opportunity to assist in creating exchange programs between Clemson University and institutions in Japan, such as the University of Tokyo, Hiroshima University, the University of Fukui, Chukyo University and Nagoya University of Foreign Studies. As the ACSA's International Liaison Committee Chair, I had more opportunities to connect ACSA and AIA with Japanese equivalent organizations for partnership relations. I have applied the same "partnership" with the State of South Carolina's economic development activities as with industries from Japan.

My music (classical guitar) and paintings (mainly oil) have been the resources and outlet of my creativity as well as methods of expressions. I try to use the beauty of commonsense in my art and strongly wish it to be understood by my audience. I believe that my audience is my partner. I must add that 3Cs have been used also in my hard marathon training in everyday life.