Living Traditions 2026 Visions of Water: Revitalizing Cities, Landscapes, and Community Life

Join Japan Institute of Portland Japanese Garden at the World Forestry Center (4033 SW Canyon Rd. Portland, OR 97221) in our shared home of Washington Park for the third in-person installment of Living Traditions, a series of focused conversations and talks that explore some of the most iconic facets of Japanese culture. “Visions of Water: Revitalizing Cities, Landscapes, and Community Life” will explore water as a bridge between heritage and innovation. Featuring historic examples such as Kyoto’s sophisticated networks of rivers, canals, and springs alongside contemporary architectural responses shaped by climate, community, and place, this year’s program brings together an insightful panel discussion of global leaders in landscape design, architecture, and urban culture. The luminary speakers featured in the panel discussion include Kathryn Gustafson (Founding Partner at Gustafson + Bowman), Shunsaku Miyagi (Founding Partner at PLACEMEDIA Landscape Architects Collaborative and Visiting Professor in Landscape Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design), and Balázs Bognár (Partner & Executive Vice President at Kengo Kuma & Associates). Aki Nakanishi (Director of Japan Institute & Arlene Schnitzer Curator of Culture, Art, and Education) will moderate this dialogue on how water can help cities and regions imagine a more harmonious future grounded in beauty, ecology, and cultural insight.