Turning Urban Gaps into Research Outreach Spaces: 'Ki Sci Iki' Project Launched to Connect Research with Public Spaces

Academimic (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo) and Nikken Sekkei Research Institute (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) are launching 'Ki Sci Iki,' a participatory project that opens research results to urban spaces as art and exhibits, aiming to build methods and implementation models for research outreach using urban public spaces. To mark the full-scale launch of this project, we will hold a kickoff event where researchers, architects, urban practitioners, creators, and science communicators will gather. Outreach of results at research institutions has mainly been through academic presentations, paper publications, and press releases, and opportunities for uninterested groups to encounter research by chance are limited. To address these issues, this project focuses on urban spaces. There are many 'gaps' in cities, such as station concourses, common areas of commercial facilities, construction hoardings, and vacant lots, where many people pass by daily but are not fully utilized. By rethinking these spaces as venues for research outreach, we aim to create new hubs for researchers to disseminate information. In 2025, we conducted a pilot project in Sendai, creating accidental contact points between the general public and research through exhibitions using stations and public facilities. Based on these results, we aim to expand to multiple cities, including Tokyo and Osaka, and proceed with building an implementation scheme involving researchers, space providers, and science communicators.