Yoko Kawai, PhD

Yoko Kawai has taught theories of Japanese architecture and gardens at the Yale School of Architecture since 2010. Her mission is to create “space for well-being” by utilizing the Japanese spatial concepts. She believes that non-dichotomous and nature-oriented spatial concepts of Japan are indispensable, both for the technology-driven cities and architecture and for the well-being of individuals in such environment. She advocates this value through research, education, and design practice. Yoko is principal of Penguin Environmental Design in Hamden, Connecticut. Her firm focuses on incorporating landscape into architecture. In 2016, Dr. Kawai co-founded Mirai Work Space Alliance in New York. There, she and her colleagues bring “Space for Well-Being” to contemporary workplaces.

Prior to joining the faculty at Yale, Yoko taught Japanese architecture and design studios at the New York Institute of Technology and iat St. Agnes University, Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts, and Setsunan University in Japan.