Architecture and eco-friendly

4 months ago, I took a 5 day vacation and went to Yakushima. At Yakushima, my idea about architecture and eco-friendly had dramatically changed.

Yakushima is known for cedar named Yaku-sugi that have stood for over a millennium. And there are many high mountains. I planed 2 days climbing, 1st day to went to Zyoumon-sugi that is oldest Yaku-sugi(7200 years old) and stay in a mountain hut. On the second day I went to Miyanoura-dake(1936m higt) that is the highest mountain in Yakushima.

Unfortunately 1st day was rainy day. I woke up at 4 am and started to clim at 6 am. About 11 am I reached Zyoumon-sugi. In my plan it takes 1 hour form Zyoumon-sugi to the mountain hut. But I lost my way to the hut. Looking back, when I realized that I lost my way, If I coolly checked my map I could back to Zyoumon-sugi less than 2 hours. But I could't. Because this was the my first time to climb. And I climbed alone. So, I panikced. Because of panic I was lost in the more deep woods and finally I had to sleep rough. Fortunately next morning the weather was fine and I managed to came back.

Through this experience I have strongly felt how weak humankind is and how important flat floors and strong roof are for humankind. Living in a city We have no doubt about our surroundings. However, surroundings filled with artificial things like city is only a very small part of the earth and we can't survive without these modern luxuries. When I slept rough, what I really needed was a flat floor to sleep with my legs stretch out and a strong roof to shelter me from the rain. I felt those two things were the beginning of of architecture.

Thinking about my room, there are many kind of equipments, lights, air conditioner, kitchen, shower and so on. This is a far cry from our beginnings. People believed these are the bare necessities of life. But I think these are much more than enough. These days we need to carefully consider the influence humankind has one the earth. We should realize that we can't live comfortably without modern luxuries and reconsider what is really need for our lives.