Michelle Huang
Revitalizing abandoned houses in rural Japan into experiments for creativity and collective well-being. Learn more
Michelle is an artist-researcher designing experimental architectures of care: interfaces that support emotional infrastructure, spatial belonging, and collective well-being.
She is the founder & CEO of Akiya Collective, a non-profit and community-driven initiative that revitalizes abandoned houses in rural Japan (akiya) into creative residencies, installations, and spaces to advance human well-being. Akiya Collective also operates a social R&D lab: architecting experiments for changing collective behavior, preserving public goods, and developing new community infrastructure for the 21st century.
Her previous projects include work in genAI x mental health, large-scale art installations, citizen science initiatives, biosensor art, algae-yarn wearables, and other forms of fabrication. Her work has been featured on Business Insider, NPR, Vox Media (Now This), ABC, CNET, The Independent, BBC, and more.
Top Goal
Over the next 12 months, we plan to deepen and scale our initiatives for place-based experimentation. This would include recruiting researchers as part of our core contributors, piloting new social-spatial prototypes, running a creative residency, building physical installations, and developing local partnerships. We’ll continue documenting and open-sourcing our research to seed similar efforts in other rural communities.
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