Welcoming the West focuses on the history and design of six of Japan’s grand resort hotels: the Nara, the Fujiya, the Nikko Kanaya, the Fuji View, the Biwako, and the Gamagori.

Since opening its shores to the outside world in the late nineteenth century, Japan has sustained an active relationship of cultural exchange with the West. Japan's grand resort hotels, built during the era between the Restoration of the Meiji Emperor in 1868 until the onset of war in the late 1930s, are some of the most engaging and enduring examples of this cross-fertilization.

Author Andrea Leers FAIA, principal and co-founder of Leers Weinzapfel Associates, will share her study of and reflections on the commingling of Japan's architectural traditions and Western hotel influences.

Following Andrea's comments, a reception with light refreshments will take place, and books will be available for purchase.

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This program is in partnership with Boston Society  of Architects/AIA BSA Foundation