Geoffrey Bawa 03 / A place difficult to stop measuring

The Lunnuganga is Bawa's suburban villa and garden on a vast site that motivated him to become an architect.  Seven buildings are arranged in the rugged field next to waterfront. He started designing the houses from 1948 and continued modifying until 1998. I stayed there for one night and had unique experiences there.

I always take photos and measurements when I visit famous buildings. When I was measuring as I usually do in Lunuganga,  I noticed that it was difficult to stop measuring. Because each building arrayed separately, however, they were strongly connected each other. So once someone started measuring one building,
it would be unavoidable to measure the next buildings

On one place, the bench was gradually changed into stairs, on another place, big outdoor markings on the ground were gradually changed into small interior tiles. There were no clear border between architecture and surroundings and there was a strong organic connection between them.

Bawa's idea about boundary is interesting when it is compared to Japanese traditional architecture. The idea of making a good harmony with surroundings is common to Japan. However, in Japan, there are clear boundaries between buildings and surroundings. I think,in some aspects, designing a beautiful sharp boundary is the key concept of Japanese architecture. In contrast, Bawa's boundaries are vague and elusive, but so attractive.

Moreover, every small detail of the Lunuganga were carefully designed by Bawa. So, when I was walking in the Lunuganga, I felt as if I were walking through Bawa's brain. It was exciting to enjoy Bawa's design or ideas throughout my body however, on the other hand, it was tiring. I felt that his ideas and intentions were everywhere even from natural tree or leaves, it was too much and there were no room to think freely.

Although, there is no doubt that the Lunuganga is the masterpiece. I am convinced that the Lunuganga is the ideal place where architecture and surroundings perfectly mixed designed by only one architect.

At the end, I would introduce statements which was written about the the Lunuganga. This was written by Yukio Futagawa, a photographer who passed away just a year ago. I felt his words captured the essence of Bawa's architecture.

"The site is filled with a diversity of sceneries of such quality that  any view of it is compatible to an artistic work of painting These sceneries are pieced together to make a sequence of moving images that narrates an endless story.

The Lunuganga is "paradise" born out of the passing of time on the earth and the architecture and landscape design that are bound to be incorporated such flow.
Today, this function that the architect has always wished to accomplish here is still alive in a quiet, never-ceasing progress."

Geoffrey Bawa 02 / A symphony with the ocean

In my university days many teachers told us that 

"When you design architecture, you have to make a story. Don't array discrete rooms easily. You have to image what people feel when they walk through your buildings and make stories for the people."

The Lighthouse Hotel perfectly realizes what my teachers were saying.

The Lighthouse Hotel designed by Geoffery Bawa is located in the south part of Sri Lanka. Channa Daswatte who was closely involved with Bawa's project, wrote about the hotel.

"Visiters enter the complex in the cavernous reception lobby at street level and immediately swallowed up a vertical three story drum of space open to the sky through an oculus with a sweeping staircase and balustrade of life size warriors in battle. The distraction of the sculpture takes aways from the 4m climb up to the first floor where the building glare of sea greets the visitor across an expansive verandah lobby. The simple column and beam structure frames a magnificent view of crashing waves, rocks and horizon."

The way from reception lobby to the verandah lobby was so dramatic that it made marvelous a story. I think the plain and dark corridor which connects the staircase to the verandah lobby was the important elements of the story. When I reached the top of the staircase, I saw a small view of the ocean through the corridor. The scene implied the story has moved onto the next chapter and guided me to there. Finally when I was in verandah lobby, there was a great ocean view in front of me. From the entrance to the veranda lobby, I felt like listening to the some kind of symphony as I walk through.  

Bawa used a variety of different types of vertical lines in the hotel. The columns were painted different colors and the walls added vertical lines. Wooden balustrade put some accent on the scene. I felt these vertical lines made some type of rhythm. The rhythm gave guests harmonious sounds and made good harmony with the environment as if it was a living part of nature itself.

If exteriors could take modern light music as an analogy, interior would taken traditional soft music. The room which was consisted of  white walls, was very quiet. The light through thick walls shined soft light into the room. The window made special ocean view only for guests. Bawa have could designed the room for enjoying ocean views.  The bed was leveled the same heigh as the desks, so the guests could see a beautiful ocean from their bed. I thought the Lighthouse Hotel was a symphony playing solemn music with the ocean.

Geoffrey Bawa 01 / Blend architecture with the surroundings

Two months ago I went to Sri Lanka and visited eight buildings designed by Geoffrey Bawa. I arrived at the Airport (Bandaranaike International Airport) in the middle of the night. So,on the first day, I stayed at a hotel near the airport.Next day I moved to the "Cultural Triangle"

 (Sri Lanka’s Cultural triangle is situated in the centre of the island and covers an area which includes the World Heritage cultural sites of the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, the Ancient City of Polonnaruwa, the Ancient City of Sigiriya, the Ancient City of Dambulla and the Sacred City of Kandy.  wikipedia)

I stayed at the Kandalama Hotel designed by Bawa in  the "Cultural Triangle". 

Channa Daswatte who was closely involved with Bawa on the Kandalama Hotel project wrote about the hotel.

 "The building  itself visually disappers into a series of vertical frame and horizontal frames that bring out the best of the views." 

I completely agree with his opinion.

I feel the hotel was designed by a very different process from normal buildings. In many cases, architects design hotel from the exterior. It is almost automatically fixed by cost and building regulations. 

After, architects put guest rooms in the appropriate place in the fixed form 

Then, they decide corridor to efficiently connect each guest room.

However my guess is that Bawa designed the hotel in reverse order. In the design process, what Bawa did first was find the best view points at the site.He made frames to bring out the best view and put guest rooms behind the frames. In the guest rooms, windows were designed not as a  hole in the wall but a frames to bring out the views.

In the Kandalama Hotel, the corridors were designed as not as effective passageways but a enjoyable walking trails in the rainforest. Walking the corridors were interesting. They had many different type of scenes.There were bright corridors like walking in the sky and  dark corridors walking in the cave in other places.The corridors has a sightseeing place, a big sculpture, and small rest stations.

Bawa designed the hotel not influenced by external elements like cost and building regulations, but considering where is the vest view points and how to connect these view points. I guess Bawa didn't design one building, but he carefully put minimum architectural elements to make the most of the site's attractive features 

These days,there are many buildings that have the latest enviromental-frindly features and many companies compete how enviromental-frindly their buildings are. The Kandalama Hotel doesn't have the latest features. I guess energy efficiency for air conditioning is not as good compared to the latest buildings. However I clearly felt closer to nature in the Kandalama hotel than any other luxurious hotel. Bawa attempted to blend the building with the surroundings.

The Kandalama Hotel taught me that 

"There were two aspects in enviromental-frindly features. One was physical capability or efficiency of the building. The other is how comfortable the quests feel being close to the nature. We architect have to care about both aspects."

Komazawa Park House

Two weeks ago, I visited a house called "Komazawa Park House" designed by Mrs. Imamura and Mr. Shinohara.The house was not a newly constructed but a reconstruction.  However,  I felt they dramatically changed the original house. They added a new idea and structure into this house.



The original house was a two storey wooden house with a small garden. Surprisingly, architects divided the original house in two equal parts. In addition, they add a small two storey structure in the garden. There are now three small structures all together.

I think one of the most important aspects of this house were the jointing parts between each of the three structures. Architects designed the jointing parts as a slit covered with glass.  Mr Imamura said that "I tried to put  real soil and real plants on the jointing parts floor. But Mrs. Imamura was against that, because it may have moths in it." Looking from the outside, the house doesn't look like one whole house, but rather three small structures.

Looking into the interrior, they took off the second floor of the center part and made one big room with open ceiling space and a ceiling light.  They treated the center part as a garden and created a very cozy space. In this house people can easily communicate from anywhere through the inner garden space.

Mr. Shinohara showed us  a very interesting slide about the concept of the house. 

There are many different  kinds of forms and walls in the residental district. It is very hard to find unity among the buildings. But if you think about the structures in the slide, the townscape is dramatically changed and there is some kind of unity. This is because every house was made by the same scaled wooden columns and beams. Mr.Shinohara said that "Because of chang the image of residental district in this way, we could think about the house's design more freely. We started designing the house not from surface level but from the structural level. "  I guess they found the hidden unity and tried to enhance that. 

 
The house  was  bright and  cozy.  The architects  had nice  and  happy  personalities and I felt they kept a good relationship. They created good  harmony with the space. We received a  short lexture from Mr. Shinohara when we  visited the house. During the lecture, the most serious student was Mrs. Imamura. I'm looking forward to their next project.

change the situation

Last month I visited the Kait workshop at The Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan by Junya Ishigami Architects. I enjoyed the building very much and I felt Ishigami was different from other architect. 

The building was open to it's surroundings and it was very transparent, but had complex functions. when I look at architecture, I always check relationship between the space and the function. In the Kait workshop, all the function are in one space. So I felt that I wasn't looking at  architecture but walking ion a campus. It was very unique experience.

In many cases, architects start their designs from ambiguous images. At the same time, they study functions, structures, and so on. Some times the designs are changed by functions and some times the functions are changed by designs. To repeat this process many times, architect gradually ajust their design.

I guess Ishigami's first design image was diffirent from other architect images. Many architect first image is the form of buildings. Ishigami's first image doesn't seem to be a form but a situation or scene including human activities. For example five or six young people are chatting in a bright sunlit room or an old man is reading a book in a quiet place and so on.

When many architects try to realize some special form, Ishigami is thinking about what is needed for a scene he imagined. Ishigami tries to realize a scene with minimum structure. 

I remember his words from some lecture. He said that

"if you are in a street, your feeling is different on sunny days or in rainy days. Weather can domantically affect pepple's feeling with small change in temperature or brightness. What I want to do in architecture is match it with the weather, I want to change people's feelings more positively with a samll change in surroundings."

I felt that Ishigami wasn't design a new form but to change the situation.

cozy houses

I wrote about my trip around Karuizawa in previous two articles, on the same trip I visited three houses in Karuizawa area.;Summer House Karuizawa (1933) was designed by Antonin Raymon,The House at Karuizawa (1962) was designed by Junzo Yoshimura and  The Wakita atelier mountain villa(1970) was designed by Junzo Yoshimura.

Each of them were very cozy. I know many cool houses or interesting houses, but I know only a few houses which are snugly warm and comfortable. When I visited those three houses, I felt a sence of familiarity with them  like I had been there many times before. Thinking back, there are three common things among those three cozy houses.

1 Not new 

Those three houses had been constructed at least over 40 years ago. I could find some weathering in many parts of those houses, but I actually like the texture created from enduring the fierce environment.

 2 Not simple 

Those three houses are not simple. The exterior form is compounded by  two or three simple forms. The Interior  is consisted of many different materials,forms and goods. But each different elements make very good harmony. And there are many cozy spots in a small house; bright  widow side desk, warm fire side chair, quiete reading space, and so on. 

3 Not isolated

The three houses have a good harmonious with their surroundings. Looking from the inside to the outside, you can feel a sense of togetherness with the surroundings. 

When I was reading architectural magazines, I noticed that those three things are completely opposite to the latest trends in houses. In architectural magazines, all buildings are new and you can find many simple and eccentric houses.

We architect tend to seek new and photogenic architecture. But on the other hand, the three aspects above, requires us architects to think about other ideas, specifically the rustic qualities, diversity of design and harmonious relationship with its surroundings.

This is difficult to explain through a photo or text, but easy to understand once you are there.

What we really have to do is to seriously think about what is really cozy for our clients.

Two museums in Karuizawa

I wrote about my trip climbing Mt.Asama in a previous article, on the same trip I went to two museums.

One was the  Hiroshi Senju  Museum Karuizawa designed by Japan's leading architect Ryue Nishizawa in 2011 and the other was the Koyama Keizou Museum of Art designed by one of Japan's Modern Masters Togo Murano in 1975. These two museums are separated by over 30 years, but I felt those two museums have very similar ideas. If it was a family, Koyama Keizou Muzeum of Art would be the father of Hiroshi Senju  Museum Karuizawa.

Ryue Nishizawa said:

"I wanted to create a union of a park and space that felt as inviting as a private living room."

I  felt what he said was almost realized in the  Hiroshi Senju  Museum Karuizaw. I  had never visited such a museum before. When I entered the museum I saw a very strange scene. What I saw was that many pictures of waterfalls were laid out at random on a sloped floor. At the same time I  saw alot of greenery in an inner court. The scene was completely different from other museums. I felt the space was not a museum but a park instead. I  walked down along  the angled floor and saw waterfall pictures. I felt like I was a part of flowing water.

 Walking down in the museum, you will reach the bottom. At the bottom, the ceiling was lower than at other points and the end of the floor was rolled back.I guess Mr. Nishizawa attempted to design museum's bottom floor as a place naturally to stop and go back.

After I had the feeling of being water, I felt that I now became a deer.

When you turn back, you will find pictures not about waterfalls but about deer. A series of deer pictures were behind the waterfall pictures that express a story that deer explore from deep forest to downtowns. So, you will go back up with the deer's story.

In many cases, museum and their exhibition have no relationships, but Hiroshi Senju  Museum Karuizawa has strong relationship. I cannot think of Hiroshi Senju's art without this museum, and when I think about this museum, I always remember his art.

This is just my personal opinion,but I feel that Ryue Nishizawa doesn't  like architecture in some aspects.  I guess for many archtects, first step of their design process is to decid the overall form and exterior image. But I guess his process is different. He has some ideal image of people`s behavior or actions, and he attempt to realize those behaviors by minimizing architecture.

After visiting the  Hiroshi Senju  Museum Karuizawa, I visited the Koyama Keizou Muzeum of Art. I felt the idea of flow line was common among these two museums.The Koyama Keizou Muzeum of Art's floor was also sloped and the walls were not straight. If I ever get the chance, I would like to ask Mr. Nishizawa what do you think about  the Koyama Keizou Muzeum of Art.

why do you climb

Two months ago, I climbed Mt.Asama in Nagano prefecture. It was amazing!  I started climbing early in the morning. At the beginning,it was really foggy, but what I saw there was wonderful.  Two or three hours after starting, I watched a cloud running up a steep mountain. I was moved by the beauty of the forms that were created. The spirituality of it all was beyond compare.

 I reached the summit three or four hours later, and the view was breathtaking. The wind howled as a cloud came toward as if to take me away. As it engulfed me I felt a sense of peace and tranquility. This will forever be embedded in my soul.

In 1923 journalist asked famous alpinist George Mallory

― Why do you climb Mt. Everest?

His famous answer was

― Because it is there.

Tried to answers the mysterious question "why do you climb", a few answers are : a good view from the summit, accomplishment or beer after climbing, and so on. But I believe that  George Mallory's answer is on the right track. 

Climbing includes all af the arrangements from preparing at your desk before climbing to washing your shoes after climbing,of course it also include good view and beer. But most importantly the value that you gain cannot be divided amongst others. The experience of one is not the same as others.

No mattere the weather condition or no shops to purchase. I will always climb for the mountain is there waiting for my returen. 

METABOLISM

Last week I went to Roppongi to see an exhibition named " METABOLISM THE CITY OF THE FUTURE" →link！

To paraphrase from the exhibition's websites:

"In the 1960s a group of Japanese architects dreamed of future cities and produced exciting new ideas. The visions of Kurokawa Kisho, Kikutake Kiyonori, Maki Fumihiko, and other architects who had come under the influence of Tange Kenzo gave birth to an architectural movement that was called "Metabolism."

 The name, taken from the biological concept, came from an image of architecture and cities that shared the ability of living organisms to keep growing, reproducing, and transforming in response to their environments. Their ideas were magnificent and surprising, with concepts such as marine cities that spanned Tokyo Bay, and cities connected by highways in the sky where automobiles pass between clusters of high-rise buildings."

The most surprising thing was the amount of original drawings. I saw many drawings of famous projects. Those drawings were not printed out but drawn directly by hand. All lines were very strong and clear and all small parts were drawn precisely. Those drawings were very beautiful to the point where it made me a strong impact on me. I felt their passion to make new architecture. 

→Check！

However, at the same time  I felt some feeling of strangeness. Every project had very new and excentric form but , after looking  more closely, each houses plan was very small and homogenus. I felt Architect who promoted METABOLISM thought all the families conform to the same, simple and robotic lifestyle.

→Check！

METABOLISM was a very big movement, but only a few projects were realized. I think the reason is related to the feeling of strangeness I felt. Looking back, not realized many projects seemed like fortune. Because if they built a bad example METABOLISM couldn't maintain it's influence. Their projects were powerful only on paper or in models, not in the real world.

(Recently Rem Koolhaas wrote a book about METABOLISM. I am interested in what he wrote )

What I saw the in the Tohoku region

Two weeks ago, I went to the Tohoku region to check our company's works.

I have a job concerning the housing industry and from 3.11 I had jointed temporary houseing project team until a month ago.What I saw there was beyond description.

Thirty thousand temporary houses were build in the Tohoku region and we build 1,300 temporary houses. Each houses is about 30m2 which is one kitchen plus two rooms. Its cost is about five million yen. In my job, we had to prepare many kinds of drawings and coordinate between many organizations. We were always demanded quick replies and viable solutions. It was very hard, but we did our best. I was very proud of my company and coworkers than ever before.

During these five months (March-July), we were very busy,sometimes we worked through the night and I couldn't took time off.

So, When I heard the project was ending, I was released and decided to go to the Tohoku region to check our works. I tried to get emotional closure about the disaster by visiting the area. I understood that I had to back my team and start a new production next after going to the Tohoku region.

I visited six places which are located far from the sea to check our temporary houses. Not every houses was built, but many of them were built as was widely predicted. What I saw in the seaside area were beyond description. I can never forget what I saw.

In one place, all houses disappeared. Only a basement was left behind. All around was an absolute silence, broken only by my breathing. I felt I was witnessing the end of the world. In another place, there was a big mountain of rubble. No one walked around. I could only see dump trucks and heavy machineries and hear noise of that. There was covered with dust. In another place the smell was just terrible. I couldn't escape from that.

Before going there, I imagined the reconstruction was going well. But what I saw was far from my expectation. Reconstruction just started and our works were only the first small step for reconstruction. Those scenes made me ashamed for trying to get emotional closure. Five months have past since 3.11, I feel we are beginning to forget the shock. But we never forget the people who are living in Tohoku region, and about the 20,000 people who died or were missing. I decide that I should continue to support the Tohoku region in my way. What can I do ?

Temporary Housing Project

I have a job concern about the housing industry. Our team released a new product two weeks ago. Before the press release, I jointed the new project team. Temporary Housing Project for victim of the earthquake disaster. We are rally busy and we could take only two or three holidays from the start. However It's a very challenging assingment.

There are so many problems such as material shortage, transportation problem, workers shortage. But more a difficult point of this project are decision-making and standardization.

decision-making
Two different associations ask for different orders. One is the Prefecture and the other is the Japan Prefabrication Construction Suppliers and Manufacturers Association (JPCA). Usually JPCA accommodate Prefecture's orders and assist our job to build temporary houses as soon as possible. But in some cases they don't do that and make extra paperwork. We have to ask same questions to both Prefecture and JPCA.

standardization
At least five big companies build temporary houses. It is necessary to decide common rules as to not bring a sence of injustice among victims. But in some cases the rules are to strict. I feel those re becoming barrier of early construction of temporary house.
(I know everyone work hard and like this criticisms are no use, but I can't help myself.)

Trough the project, I've rediscovered my company's power. Everyday we face new problems. Once we solved ,next one is right after that. But our savvy coworkers find brilliant solutions.
The situation is very serious, however I'm happy to work with them. I promise, I will do my best.

The reason why I love traveling

Two months ago, I traveled to France and Greece. It's too short a vacation but I enjoyed my travels very much. During my travels, I visited many great architectural sites and I learned many things from them. I will try to write about my travels.

However before talking about my trip, I would like to talk about an impression I had when I came back to Narita Airport in Japan. I was surprised because everywhere it's so clean and the trains are so punctual, but little bit noisy.


Clean
In Japan,it's so clean everywhere and the clothes which people wear are also clean. I felt everyone wear new clothes. When I came back to Japan, I was a little bit tired and had a big bag which was packed with 10 days worth clothes, so I felt that I'm visitter form a poor country.

Punctual
When I was waiting for a train to my hometown in the airport station, I was surprised the train pulled into the station just a minute before schedule and opened it's doors just 5 seconds before it.
I felt it is too punctual, No one cares about being a few seconds late, at least in France.

I heard someone complaining that Japanese people are always busy and not relaxed. I think the punctuality makes Japanese people busier. In Japan, If you are late, it directly means that you weren't ready. There are no excuses because public transportation is always punctual. If public transportation are not punctual, you always have a good excuse.

Noisy
I said that clothes which people wear were clean, but I felt some cloths didn't fit the owner's character in some cases. A young girl had a very expensive bag, A young boy was wearing pants which were too tight, An old man was wearing a very vivid color jacket. It made me little bit weary.
In the station the staff continually announced situations, "The train is coming" "The train is starting" "The next train is coming" I can't understand the reason why the staff announces everything despite every train is completely on schedule. I tried to remember my travels in quiet but I couldn't.

My travel was only 10 days, but I was awoke many things about my country. Traveling gave me many things not only about foreign countries but also about my country. This is the reason why I love traveling.

How to brush up ideas.

These days Rakuten and Uniquro decided to make English their official language. The news provoked widespread discussion because those companies were very famous growing companies in Japan and many Japanese were not good at English.

Many Japanese have talked about merits and demerits of making English the official language.
I'd like to talk about a merit of learning English that I found.

Last week I had an English lesson, at the lesson we discussed about architecture. My teacher asked me, Which is better for you design the old type buildings like temples or new modern buildings. I instantly answered "new buildings" without giving a reason. After I tried to explain the reason.

It was not easy for me. Because I had never been asked a question like this. However finally I found the reason. While explaining it, I found an answer and a deeper and fundamental question what is design for me. (I will talk about this some other time.)

I was surprised that I found a new and important idea through this conversation. It was a rare case even if it in Japanese. In many cases good ideas come into my mind while I'm alone.
I think there are two reasons. One is the teacher. My teacher asked me with good questions. When I get stuck, she summed up my idea and added new questions to shift my reference.

The other reason is English. It is easy to understand to compare to Japanese.I know many Japanese words and phrases. I remember all words with some scenes, memory, related words. When I am thinking about something in Japanese, my thought is unconsciously influenced by phrases I know.

For example, I had a pet dog named Gin, it means silver in English. When I heard the word silver, I am reminded of my pet, so I like silver accessory and encourage silver medal athlete.

But I have only a few images or memories about English words.
It means that I am not good in English but at the same time I'm completely free from word images like Gin

If language is a tool to frame my idea, It is natural that the tool influences the idea. Different tools make different ideas. I think there are some possibilitied to reach different conclusions using different languages. People who can speak two languages, it means he or she has two ways to brush up ideas. This is the merit I found. What do you think about this ?


Element

Two weeks ago, I went to Shinjuku to see an exhibition featuring Cecil Balmond who is a famous structural engineer.



This exhibition was really good."H_edge" was the best work in this exhibition. He used only two kinds of material :7000 H shaped aluminum plates and 2500m of stainless steel chain. And the structure of the exhibition was surprisingly simple. In many buildings columns, beams, floors and ceilings have different functions and materials. But "H_edge" followed only one structural rule and all the parts used the same two materials. The most surprising point of the exhibition was that : The material used was a cool hard metal, but I felt some kinds of warmth and softness from that.

After the visit, I sat down and thought about the reason why I felt warmth from cool metals and I thought that the beauty of nature was the key point. I think, when people see nature it keeps a consistency and balance to our existence, so people feel the scenery beautiful. I imagine in ancient times people had to be sensitive about the change of seasons and catch a imperceptible signals from nature. By using these signals, people could find the best place to get food. If they misunderstood that information, they wouldn't be able to survive. I guess trough long survival, our eyes have developed a great function to unconsciously find a imperceptible signal that is implied by nature's consistency and balance. Conversely, when we feel something beauty, some kind of consistent nature exists in that.

Looking back at the "H_edge" , the warmth and softness I felt was a bit similar to walking around in the woods and ,I think, the two feature points about "H_edge" (simple materials and a simple structure) is common to wood. The wood makes space, but there are no clear difference between vertical members and horizontal members, it made by only one rule -the growth of the trees.

I understand myself that my writing isn't enough to explain what I felt in the exhibition. I'm still looking for the words to express my feelings. By Mr.Balmond's explanation in the exhibition brochure proved my feelings are similar to his ideas.

"ELEMENT is an expression of the natural world and also of the artificial domain we create with our mind. Nature surrounds us and is considered separate but that great external enters through our eyes as we interrogate the forms, and build interior constructions. Perceptions of force and contours translate into patterns, which abstract further into organisational models and meaning. We see chance and predictability, we make philosophies and rationales - and what cannot be understood is marked by mystery and beauty."

nosebleed with art

Last week, I went to the French Embassy to see an exhibition named "No Man's Land". The new French Embassy building was inaugurated next to the old building and the old building will be demolished in the near future. The exhibition is holding the old building until it gets demolished to encurage many people to visit and create an active cultural exchange.



Over 70 artists from France and Japan are exhibiting many kinds of works.The most interesting point of this exhibition was that all works had some kind of relationship with the old French Embassy building. I could see their works was inspired by the old French embassy building.



Claude Leveque`s work named 鼻血(nosebleed) was one of the most interesting works. What he did was only painted a stair hall red like a nose bleed. It looked purely arbitrary like when other artist`s paint as they like without planning.


But from one point, I could see a simple square red. I think, his idea was very simple and very interesting.

Tower House

In Tokyo, Many people may wonder whether to live in a convenient but small house in the big city or to live in a inconvenient but big house in a suburban area at least once in a lifetime. A house I visited two weeks ago gave me a new point of view about this concern.

The house named Tower House was designed by Tkakamitsu Azuma in 1966 for his own residence.   It was  a six story concrete house built on 20 ㎡ site in the middle of Tokyo.　(20㎡ is as large as 2 cars parking space.) Inside was very small and I felt the building not a house but a big stair hall. But the space was not cramped but very cozy and I enjoyed to stay there.


Rie Azuma who is the daughter of Takamitsu Azuma said that
"Because of this small scale, our family could communicate easily anywhere in this house, at the same time, I learned that it was necessary to care about one another to live comfortably. Of course the scale is very small, but  each floor has a different function and view, so every story is my favorite spot"


She also told me some other interesting stories about this house  and I grew to understand that they have loved their house and carefully maintained it over 40 years. I  don`t  know how the house was when newly constructed, however, I thought  their love made this house cosy.


Many people believe that big house is rich than small house and small house is poor. But, by visiting the Tower house, I learned that it is possible to have a rich house in a very small but inner cities site if I just have the determination to live there and continued to maintain my house.

A gallery tour in Tokyo

Last week I visited some galleries and a museum in Tokyo. In this article, I'll write about a few things that impressed me during the tour.


NEZU MUSEUM : National Treasure Nachi Waterfall and Representations of Nature
This museum designed by Kengo Kuma was reopened one month ago. The building was great. I felt, Kuma succeeded in realizing New Japan Style that makes old traditional form by using modern material. The exhibition was also interesting. Especially 豆青釉印花龍鳳文盤 and 瑠璃地白花木蓮文盤 were really impressive.

GALLERY MA : Kengo Kuma Studies in Organic
Near the NEZU MUSWUM, GALLERY MA held an exhibition featuring Kengo Kuma. He said "I want to escape from the abstract and aspire to the organic." and "we discover a characteristic material and are drawn irresistibly into a journey-like sequence, a process by which that material, after a hard-fought, tortuous struggle, generates a certain whole" . There were many kinds of projects and variety of models in the exhibition. However I couldn't find any common design elements in his design. I felt he was trying to find the specific character of each project and give it most suitable form. I thought this attitude was "organic".

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT : THE OUTLINE
In this exhibition, Naoto Fukasawa who is a very famous industrial designer tried a unique way to introduce his works. He gave each of his products a big picture taken Tamotsu Fujii. Fujii's pictures were very amazing. His pictures showed me new aspect of Fukasawa's product that I never imagined even if the product was really small and had a simple shape.
But I felt there was room for improvement about the organization of the site.
Because we could see a picture and product at the same time. So, how the picture was imaginative, I didn't have room to enjoy it with my imagination.

House and Atelier Bow-Wow

Two weeks ago, I visited a building called "House and Atelier Bow-Wow" designed by Atelier Bow-Wow in Tokyo. The building had its residential area and work space uniquely coexisting under one roof.



The  building  was  four  stories, office on the basement and first floor, residential area on the third and fourth area. The way I've put it may make it seem like a simple building, but between each floor there were a space too big to call staircase landing. And those unique platforms functioned as an entrance, a storage and audio space. With the exception of the bedroom, no floor had  any partitions. So, it seems like the building had eight stories.



This uniquely structured building was also situated on a very unusual location. The site was "L" shaped. The building didn't face the road and it was surrounded by other buildings.  However disregarding  their privacy they designed on the outside walls with big glass windows. From living room I could see the next house's walls very near. I also could see the interesting streetscape from there.  A view from rooftop terrace was more interesting, the building was surrounded by two or three stories houses. And I could see many high buildings : Marunouchi, Akasaka, Roppongi, and Shinjuku beyond the  small houses. On map, The site was in center of Tokyo, nevertheless I felt only this area was left behind the times 

It was very interesting for me to walk up the floors that had different functions and different views. And it remind  me of my elementary school days. I used to love climbing trees and I could see my hometown and find small interesting discovers about roof colors or types of balconies. I felt the same kind of excitement as I was walking up stairs in the building.

After the visit, I sat down and thought about the concept and the design of the building. By coexisting residential area and work space under one roof,  Atelier Bow-Wow realized very unique and exiting house. But this house is a good example of satisfying only one particular group of people who are professional carer minded couples without kids and who have devoted all their time to their careers.

In general, houses are designed only for family members and one using for living. I feel every houses are struggling to maxsimize their private space on their site. I think it makes Japanese streetscapes boring. In many cases, properties are very small in Tokyo and for this reason,houses should be more open not hidden by fences. With this in my mind,  "House and Atelier Bow-Wow" is a great example of utilizing given space not only for privacy but public space. Hopefully, we can apply this concept in the future.

Finally I would like to thank Atelier Bow-Wow and Watari Museum of Contemporary Art who provide this valuable opportunity.


reference
http://www.archdaily.com/5918/house-atelier-atelier-bow-wow/

The ultimate house

Two weeks ago I visited a place called "the ultimate studio apartment".　
The apartment had five studios and each studio was about 30㎡.



There was only one door for restroom in the studio. The rest of the studio was just an open space with no partitions and walls. But unlike ordinary studios, the kitchen and the restroom were carefully situated in the center of the room. And also the wall on the far end had unique windows. The windows next to the central wall stretched from bottom to the top. Those two points helped create spacious atmosphere and the room look bigger than its actual size. Mr. Ogawa who designed the apartment said that was the reason why I named it "the ultimate studio apartment".

I think the building is too unique to be called the ultimate house, and it is not useful for everyone. However, I was very encouraged by visiting the building. I think about house designs in my job, but there are many rules, the construction standard act and in-house rules. So, we often think architecture design very narrowly. But "the ultimate studio apartment" disregarded these rules. It opened my views on approaching ideas from a different angle in designing houses.





No rule is the key phrase. This reminds me of a family in India surviving on a busy roadside in a downtown area. There was no structure but a faucet with running water. I had seen street people in Japan, but India family were different from Japanese cases. In many cases Japanese street people were alone in humble shack on a empty place. I felt the India family were completely free from architectural rules.



I think it is difficult and unfair to compare lifestyle that the Japanese architect suggested and the situation that Indian street family face. However the Indian family also opened my eyes to the role of a house by extreme way.