OPEN AIR LAB is a "field museum" located in the Tokyo West Campus of Teikyo University of Science, with the philosophy of "coexistence with nature."
This museum is not like a traditional "museum" where there is a magnificent building and valuable items are quietly displayed in it.
The collections inside are wisdom, knowledge, and information rather than things, and the activities of the students and faculty members themselves.

Uenohara City, Yamanashi Prefecture, where the Tokyo West Campus is located, is on the prefectural border between Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Yamanashi Prefecture.
The location is rich with nature, such as the Katsura River and Sagami River, which originate from Lake Yamanaka, one of the Five Lakes of Fuji, and is surrounded by mountains and forests with a rich ecosystem.
Even though it is surrounded by nature, there is convenient transportation from the city center,
such as a JR Chuo Line station and the Chuo Expressway interchange. Therefore, quite a large number of students gather there and various activities are carried out every day.
This blessed "field" and the "activities" of students and faculty members are the properties of the OPEN AIR LAB, and form "what we want to exhibit," so to speak.

The museum is also characterized by the establishment of systems such as "certified projects" and "registered organizations".
Activities related to "coexistence with nature" conducted by individual students and groups will be certified by the museum after examination, and they will be able to use the facilities and equipment of the museum.
We also support regular education such as practical training on "coexistence with nature" and museum curation education.

"Bricola" is located on the 1st floor of the Experimental Research Building.
"Bricolage" is a term used by anthropologist and philosopher Lévi-Strauss to describe the fundamental wisdom of human beings. In a nutshell, it is the wisdom "to make do with what we have at hand".
For example, when we have to spend the night unexpectedly in the woods, or in the event of a sudden accident or disaster, we try to make do with the things we have at hand and/or the natural things that are around us.

And, in fact, we have the ability to figure it out somehow. It is impossible to be completely prepared for an uncertain and unpredictable future, and it is also useful knowledge in an era of increasing uncertainty.
Since we wanted to cherish this wisdom, we named the symbolic space of OPEN AIR LAB "Bricola". In addition to various practical training and workshops, individuals can use it freely for student group meetings, collaborative work, and discussions with faculty members.