LivMoodie

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Tokyo

We have now returned to Denmark. The last week in Tokyo we stayed with a friend of Katos. Unfortunately there was no internet, therefore no blogging. I will therefore just update the highlights of our stay in Tokyo.

The hectic cross at Shibuya

The typical Japanese restaurant. You sit in a little booth. Since they live in very small homes, they almost always go out to meet friends. Therefor this setting is a home away from home. Not like the european restaurants where we go out as much for the social part of it.

I love the pots in the streets. Here in front of the Laundromat someone is growing their tomatoes and flowers.

We saw many different types of homes in tokyo. Here the tin box. In Japan they are not so interested in the view, perhaps because it is often not too interesting when you live so close. Almost got a little claustrophobic for me though. When you spend so much time under ground in the metro and stations, and then inside in gigantic shopping malls with no windows and finally back home with frosted glass on the windows.

Small homemade signs on the trees in a street in Tokyo. Wonder what it says.

Delicious sushi. I will miss that.

Really cool art museum on the 45th floor in Shinjuku. I can recommend.

We visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku to view Tokyo from the 45th floor. The 7th tallest building in Japan with 48 stories and 243 m. The tallest being the Tokyo Sky Tree with its 634 m and 32 floors.

Tokyo from above, city as far as the eye can reach.

Here you see the result of very high land prices and taxes. People are forced to sell their land and the city densifies. Houses with just 30cm between them some places.

One of the summer festivals. People gather wearing the Jukata ( Summer kimono) to danse, eat and enjoy themselves. We danced along and had a great night.

The Jukata is for everyone, young as old. Women and men.

Hiromi to the right, who we stayed with in Tokyo, and her friend to the left.

The summer festival lamps glowing in the dark. People in colorful Jukatas dancing to the rhythms of the drums coming from the tower in the center.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Onsen - The public bath

Traditionally men and women shared the same bath. Now they are separated.

The Japanese have this great tradition of public baths. They use the water from the hot underground springs, to create little oases in the cities. When we were in Osaka we visited one, we were told not to miss it. I now understand why. It was great. We came walking down the hot street at 12 pm after a long day at work. The lights from the neon signs were competing in brightness and color, and led my imagination far away from what was waiting us. At first we passed the bath, and were told to go back to the big yellow sign saying Mags ( The name of the complex). Outside were teenagers hanging out or leaving the gaming halls inside. Noise games being played in several levels, all that a teenage kid could want, and in japan everyone enjoys the games. The business man with a cigaret and a beer beside the old lady in her ironed dress next to the teenage boy playing guitar hero. We were sure we were lost, but I am learning that you just never know in Japan. Don't trust your instincts here, they are probably wrong. And so they were.. The guard pointed his finger out the other side of the building. Behind the gaming complex lay a one level wooden house. It did not look of much, no neon lights. We entered well prepared with the rules of the public bath. There are many, and you must be sure to know them. You come well prepared, bringing towels of different sizes for different purposes, your favorite shampoo and soap. First there is a area to shower and get clean, here you sit for at least 15 -20 minutes washing your body from top to toe and toe to top. Don't think I have ever been so clean as after 3 hours of bathing with the Japanese. They have little stools, so they sit down in front of mirrors and wash themselves. It is important to be clean since there is no chlorine in the water.
Then the bath is open to be enjoyed, for 30 kr there are maybe 6 different baths with different temperatures, the are steam baths, hot stones to lie on with hot water running down them. There are salt scrubs, saunas, cold water tubs, and all in a beautiful garden. It was fantastic. You have to visit the Onsen if you ever visit Japan. I think that is the secret behind the japanese living so long.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Naoshima

The island of nature, architecture and contemporary art. Three big art museums are located on the island, all works of the world famous japanese architect Tadao Ando. I was on Naoshima last summer, but I had to come back. I was dying to share the breathtaking sights with Maj. The architecture becomes something more in combination with the island and the art. It it one of my favorite places in the world i think. Biking around the hilly island looking at astonishing art and architecture. I was so happy! Getting out of the city for the second time in two weeks, I was breathing the fresh sea breeze like it was the first time. Flowers, smells from the stoves of the small houses. Colorful insects, flowers, crabs and fish all over the island. Absolutely fantastic.

Public Art Bath- Bathing in a beautiful little house filled with art.

A little guy we met on the street.

A temple gate decorated with stones from the beach

Passing a piece of art. A giant granite ball

Small details like this clay wall decorate the streets of small town.

Or just a simple flower by the entrance beside the soft cloth partly covering the entrance playing in the light breeze.

Peaking into hidden private lush gardens from the narrow streets.

Traditional wooden houses burnt to protect the wood from the strong sun. Here reveling the structure in the wood behind.

Light posts by the temples.

A small well with ice cold water, bubbling up through a nature stone

Art instalation

Sacred words carved in stone

Art house project. One of 6 houses on the island turned into Art house. Displaying different instalitions inside.

Passing flower gardens on our way.

Climbing the hills up and up

The Seto inland sea

Enormous butterflies floating along our way

From the ferry to Naoshima

Exhibition finished

Saturday was the deadline for the exhibition, and as most architects every last minute was used. Model people placed in models and text for everything. The final touchup with flowers, trees and everything made it all come together in a bigger symbiosis. I got permission to post pictures of their exhibition now, since I don't have a lot of Japanese following my blog. So maybe now is the the time to write what this exhibition is all about.

From the beginning

I worked with Kato at COBE Architects in Copenhagen. When I was in Japan last year on a study trip I met Victoria. Kato asked me to come help build models ( That is also what I have been doing at COBE the last couple of years). I think it was probably mostly a joke at first, I was open for the idea. Don't think they thought anyone would travel so far on so short notice. But I thought it would be a great opportunity to see how they work and meet other Japanese architects. So finally after a bit of thought of a unrealistic trip to Japan my Grandfather Gordon Moodie said he would like to sponsor the trip with a plane ticket. Thank you so much, for making it possible.

So the Exhibition...

It is called Under 30 Architects. I might have mentioned that before. So they picked 7 architects under 30. They exhibit ideas for projects or projects that have been built or are going to be built. Which is what Kato and Victoria are exhibiting. In five years or so Lucky House will be built in Denmark. It is an allotment, using parts of the existing house to create a new house. Lucky house divides the functions of the house into individual rooms spread out on the plot connected by facades folding out and creating shelter, terraces, and small gardens. The rooms all have a strong connection to the garden, which has been one of the main ideas through the process. Instead of separating the garden from the house as we usually do, they have tried to combine and connect living and nature. I have mainly been working on making the sketch models for the exhibitions, making furniture and placing trees, assembling and so on. My favorite is the Knitted House. I really like how the house creates a small central garden while making small spaces in the outside garden. Another thing I really like about their project is the idea of breaking down the boundaries between inside and outside. This is also something I worked with in my bachelor project.

Developing the concept of the allotment

After making the Lucky House Kato and Victoria started working on the idea of how to reinvent the allotment. This is what the big foam installation is. The idea of the stacked allotments are displayed in three different scales. The 1:5 is the biggest which creates the exhibition space where they display everything. In the 1: 5 model, one 1:10 and 1:100 model is displayed. Probably it makes more sense when you see the photos. The Lucky house is exhibited in two different scales, the big one in 1:50 and a small one in 1:100. There is a short introduction to what a allotment is. I guess it is a very danish phenomenon. It is a small house in a garden often close to the cities or in the city, uses by people living in apartments with out gardens or just as a retreat. Picked fences, garden trolls, hoisted danish flags the smell of grilled sausages and bare bellies toasting in the sun with a cold beer by its side. Many grow vegetables, and some even move to the little house during the summer period.
Last but not least there are the five sketch models exhibited in 1: 100, to show the process of how they came up with the idea of Lucky House.

It has been really interesting helping with the exhibition, watching everything come together. I met a lot of nice people who came to help. Some Japanese architecture students, some Japanese architects, artist and friends. I even met a Japanese girl who is going to my school for exchange next semester. That was quite a coincidence. A big thank you to my friend Maj who came all the way to Japan to see what I work with and help out. It has been so nice to have her here, to share the experiences with, it would not have been the same without her! Looking forward to showing her some of my favorite spots in Japan. Next stop Naoshima.