In the presence of people from Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd and Taiyo Kogyo Corporation, students received criticism from Mr. Sakurai (NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD) on the first day. In the comment, Mr. Sakurai impressed students saying, ‘When you work on the design examine the plan based on your experience. It is also important, however, to examine it in a manner as if you had not experienced it. When you always keep these points, especially the latter, in mind you will be able to accumulate a lot of treasure in your pocket.’

On Day 2, Mr. Mamoru Kawaguchi who is a leading global expert on structural design said, ‘The most important point in planning a station house is to know the function of the station and the needs of the people who use it. On top of that you must also create a structure which keeps the interest of people for a long time and has a big visual impact. To this end please study on as many models as possible in order to create an appropriate and rational design. By doing so you will come to understand that what is beautiful at a glance is proved to be structurally reasonable.”

On the second day, after the critique cession, Mr. Kawaguchi and students had a time for question-and-answer. It was impressive that one of the students who had his work reviewed in the Day 1 critique was eager enough to have taken his model piece to be looked at by Mr. Kawaguchi.