Eikei University of Hiroshima (EUH) holds “Evening Lounge” as part of its support for students’ competency and career development. We were honored to have Mr. WELCH.

Date & Time	Friday, July. 25, 2025, 5:10pm – 6:50pm
Participation	EUH students, faculty, staff, and visitors from outside the university
Title of Lecture	“Caught in a loop”
Speaker	Co-founder, The Red Dot School Architect, Certain Measures Researcher, Harvard Graduate School of Design Instructor, University of Tokyo Mr. WELCH Ortega Bryan

Mr. WELCH spoke about “Caught in a loop,” an example that sheds light on the various cycles inherent in our lives.

He studied education at U.C. Berkeley and earned a degree in architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD). His work spans the globe, where he has co-founded K-12 schools, learning centers, and summer programs in both the United States and internationally. His research explores transformative possibilities in the “in-between” spaces—between formal and informal learning, institutions and communities, and work and play.

Currently, he is a designer at Certain Measures, a researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and an instructor at the University of Tokyo. Alongside Mr. KONO, he also co-directs The Red Dot School, a design and architecture institution located on Sagi Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.

Mr. WELCH opened his talk with the storybook “Stone Soup”, using the tale as a metaphor for collective creativity. He drew attention to the invisible loops that exist between opposites—”City and Countryside”, “Death and Regeneration”, “Wakefulness, Dreaming and Sleeping”. These loops reveal themselves through relationships between vacant houses, local residents, and the transmission of skills and stories. The encounter with Mr. KONO, who co-founded The Red Dot School, also began through an introduction by an acquaintance, and it was this serendipitous loop that led to the establishment of the architecture school on Sagi Island.

This project on Sagi Island brings together participants from around the world with diverse backgrounds, and techniques and history are being passed down from the island’s residents to the younger generation. This was described as a moving moment where culture and aspirations create a positive cycle. Additionally, the perspective of examining vacant houses by questioning the “existence” of life within buildings—whether they are “asleep,” “dead,” “awake,” or “capable of regeneration”—was highly intriguing. The project on Sagi Island represents an attempt to discover new value even in the “afterlife” of architecture, symbolizing the hope that locally rooted learning spaces will open up to the world.

Mr. WELCH’s enthusiasm was evident, and participants actively asked questions. After the lecture, he stayed behind for Round-table discussion, which blossomed into lively conversation with the participants.

The students who attended the lecture expressed their admiration.

“The lecture topic was very interesting, and I think it can be applied to many fields.”

“It was a very lively and interesting presentation.”

Thank you very much, Mr. WELCH, for your valuable insights.