Prada Mode Osaka and Inujima Project: A Multi-Site Cultural Dialogue Anchored by Architecture and Legacy
Prada has unveiled the twelfth edition of Prada Mode, its traveling cultural series, with a dual-format program spanning Osaka and the nearby island of Inujima. The project centers on the architectural vision of Pritzker Prize–winning architect Kazuyo Sejima, deepening Prada’s ongoing dialogue with architecture, art, and site-specific storytelling.
From June 4–7, invited guests participated in both Prada Mode Osaka and a private multi-day Inujima Project preview. Prada Mode Osaka is now open to the public through June 15.
In Inujima — a small island in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea with a layered history of copper smelting, industrial decline, and cultural revitalization — Prada and Sejima unveiled a new permanent pavilion at Inujima Life Garden. Designed by Sejima and donated by Prada, the pavilion expands on nearly two decades of her work transforming the island into an architectural and ecological site of global interest, part of the Benesse Art Site Naoshima project.
Since 2008, Sejima has shaped Inujima’s evolving built environment through phases of residential renovation, gallery creation, and community engagement, including the Art House Project, launched with the opening of F-Art House in 2010. The new pavilion adds another architectural chapter to the island’s future.
In Osaka, Prada Mode Osaka presented an exhibition dedicated to Sejima’s Inujima projects alongside a series of curated talks, workshops, screenings, and performances that engaged with wider questions of architecture, urbanism, and creative process. The program included:
- Talks featuring architect Tadao Ando on architecture and urban development; and Liu Jiakun and Ryue Nishizawa on urban design in Chengdu and Tokyo.
- A workshop on tsumami-zaiku — the Japanese art of fabric folding — using Prada materials, led by traditional craft artist Tomoko Kimata.
- Film screenings by architectural filmmakers Bêka & Lemoine.
- A sound installation, Abstract Music, by composer Keiichiro Shibuya.
- The presentation of ANDROID MARIA, a newly developed android conceived by Shibuya and team.
- Live performances curated by Craig Richards, including Nik Bärtsch, Reggie Watts, and C.A.R., as well as DJ sets by Yuta Suzuki and Aoki Takamasa.
As with previous Prada Mode editions, the project underscores Prada’s distinctive model for cultural programming — situating global conversations in highly localized contexts, often through multi-year collaborations with artists and architects. By bridging Inujima’s layered history with Osaka’s urban present, Prada Mode’s latest chapter speaks to the power of architecture as a medium for community, memory, and future-building.
