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I live in a 35-year-old house, two-storied wooden,
but there is something wrong with opening and closing
of fixtures and so on.
This house was designed by late my father. Only
wall of bath room on the first floor was plastered,
for some reason. I should say that he selected this
material only for humid rooms. But there is no way
to know it at this point.
The vinyl wallpaper of toilet
on the second floor began to unstuck. And that
the tile and metal portion of lighting gathered
rust and mold. But plaster wall is as yet no sign
of corrode and remains new-built shape.
It's an indisputable fact that plaster wall has
effect of humidity conditioning and I think it
also has antimicrobial function.
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In March 2006, the Y residence which was completed
in Nishigamo, Kyoto. The entrance door transferred
it from a house in Kobe where Mrs. Y lived since
childhood. Because the dismantling of the house
in Kobe and new construction of this house occurred
at the same time by chance, transference was enabled
and carried it in a construction site by wagon car
of Mrs. Y driving. The new life has started by opening
the door that Mrs. Y used for 20 several years and
it has never changed such as the way to open the
lock and the door and the weight it was. Mrs. Y
seems to feel that she is back home every time she
unlocks the door |
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I was present at setting up the
framework of Mr. N's house in Hayama-machi. In the
case of a conventional wooden construction method,
the carpenter usually build main structure materials
of the whole building, and by case, during day,
they go so far as make the base sheet of a roof.
Dramatic scene where the whole aspect of a building
appears suddenly is a Japanese peculiar scene which
is different from a stone building. As hoisting
HEIGUSHI which is said to the landmark when God
comes down to the land, and we pray for safety completion
of the building by sprinkling sacred Sake, Salt
and Rice onto the columns in all corners , and appreciate
the construction worker. At this Mr. N's house,
all of the family wrote their name to the mainstay
in memory of setting up the framework. Till this
mainstay is covered in finishing materials from
now on, the carpenters always watch this letters"Thank
you for all of you". |
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I went to Mongolia as a trip to
collecting butterflies in the end of June, 2005.
Air of the grassy plain is limitlessly dry, and
the far-off mountain range and the outline of clouds
floating in the sky are seen clearly like a picture
of surrealism. Only a road of the sand and an electric
wire which continues straight without a limit were
the things which guaranteed my identity alone, but
when I was standing alone on the dried grassy plain,
I fell into a mysterious illusion that my body becomes
small and finally only the spirit is floating. |
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I stayed in this GERU for 5 days during my 7 days
in this trip.The prefabricated tent of diameter
with 4.8m and a 2.4m height seemed superior house
which matched the climate of Mongolia very much.
The two main props are put on the surface of the
ground without settling in the earth, and the waterproof
cloth made by leather is done an anchor with the
rope tied with a weight, and it makes possible not
to need digging the ground. There is only one doorway
in southern side which allowed you going in and
out with a stoop. The inside is wide unexpectedly,
in the midmost there are firewood stove and a table,
and as standard furniture, there are four beds around
there. It is a space settled down very much. People
turn over the hem of the cover of the surrounding
and let dry air in in the daytime, and close it
at night not to miss warmth. It is ultimate mobile
house which trimmed wastes off taking a long time. |
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A picture has an autograph, a car
has an emblem, and a cloth has a tag, but a building
can't be known who made it only by giving a look.
Therefore I attached a tablet which carved a seal
of completion year, architect and name of constructor
into the buildings position where is not outstanding
and also can be seen from anyone. There is not generally
any of the effectiveness of advertising, but I would
attach it at own expense to have a new understanding
of a social responsibility. |
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As for the Western tableware,
they are various things such as knife, fork, spoon,
knife for meat, fish use, but a pair of chopsticks
is enough for Japanese food. It may be said that
it is representative instrument of a healthy food
tool. This is a pair of wooden chopsticks that
I bought at a long-established chopsticks store
of Kyoto when I was alone taking up my job in
Kobe in 1986. I think it's made by nandina. Even
though I used it every day during 20 years, it
became familiar and moisturizing with hands instead
of being broken or being split. I think that will
be usable till I die. I am proud of such a Japanese
culture. When I am with such a strong thought,
the house becomes to comfortably and also will
give you long use unexpectedly.
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Every time when Christmas season come, it put on
mind of a cassette tape of my friend JT who was
a classmate graduated from Tokyo University of Fine
Arts and Music, flute department. When we met and
requested to design his house in December, 1988,
he gave me a tape that was recorded over 10 tunes
he wrote and played. While listening these tunes
which was filled a lot of love to his family, I
used to sketch in many papers to come up to his
thought. As the house was finally completed, when
JT and I made a preliminary inspection of the house
at the night of the day before the moving, only
a grand piano was carried to the deserted music
room earlier. And suddenly he played the piano and
sang for me having stood. It was "Let it be"
of the Beatles. I sat down and listened, but the
echo went by the stairwell through the whole house.
When he finished playing it, he said. "Tera-san,
it resounds well". For me who designed it,
it was words of the best appreciation. |
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When I walked around Shakujii park near my home
in early fall, and I looked up incidentally I found
the sky in the shape of a crack among a dense trees
of zelkova. Though each tree pays attention to each
other, it seems to spread its branches into the
sky as far as possible. I cannot consider that the
strong tree try to occupy the weak tree when I watch
the crack where this exquisite width continued.
I felt that the theory of evolution of British Darwin
"The weak man is reduced, and the strong man
stays and evolves" was a mistake intuitively.
The natural world seems to be more generous and
tolerant than we consider. Otherwise diversity cannot
be able to coexist. I wish borders become such "crack",
too. |
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We made a model scale of 1/200-1/100.
Depending on cases, plural forms are made with a
stage of basic design. And I also make the model
of 1/100-1/50 in which was expressed more details
in the inside in compared with the original design
that was made up. In addition, sometime after the
construction has started, I make partially models
of 1/20-1/10 for deliberation. I make many sketches
or drawings and check up them considerably. But
when we make models, we realize something that was
not clear, or new ideas occurred to me. So the design
becomes more complete one. And we explain and talk
with client by using these models, it is no doubt
about a model can easier being understood than lots
of drawings. Once, we tried to describe it a three-dimensional
picture by using computer. But considering the time
for input and its effects, though it because of
the absence of technology, I found out that making
models manually is far more effective. |
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Everybody seems to have some memory
of a house in which they used to lived in. Someone's
memory is a cold and smooth feeling of a floor of
a passageway. Others are a sing of crickets that
was heard in a half dark bathroom in a night of
autumn or a semi-transparent light bulb cover hanging
down in a Japanese style room. Like them, people
might have various memories. When old house demolished,
we look for something that probably can be reuse
for the new house. On the contrary, it is not save
construction costs, if anything, it takes more costs
considering the time for taking and furnishing it.
However, like a living thing life can be pass to
next generation through DNA, I would like to leave
something that can be remember as a memory of the
old house, at least one thing. As in the entrance
of a house in Nagura, Ishigaki (built in 2002),
it holds an old fashioned lump shade that the house
owner Mrs. U used to use for over 50 years at a
house in Suginami-eifuku-cho, went over the sea,
and now it is turned on the light again.
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At end of the summer in 1988, when a client, Mr.
& Mrs. K and I stood on the construction site,
a breeze blew into leaves of an old KOBUSHI tree
stood on the south corner. We decided to leave only
this tree. But when the construction has started,
lots of the thick trunk was cut, as we worried if
it might be dead. But at the next spring, we were
glad to have seen the tree bloomed white flowers
beautifully. The day after K family moved into the
house, 3 of Japanese radish was on the porch which
make Mrs. K wonder. It was a greeting gift from
a farmer who has farm near the house. The gift included
the neighbours' appreciation for leaving the tree
as she has been looking since she was a child. It's
already 17 years has past since the house built,
this year also the tree bloomed beautifully. |
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Almost people have a ceremony of
purifying a building when they build a house or
building. Commonly, people ask the chief priest
of the shrine of the local Shinto deity to come
and pray. But it doesn't matter whether Christian
style or Buddhism style. The point is the owners'
heart. In Shinto system, set up an altar and pray
for the god to come down from the sky, then give
a feast to pray, "We build a house on your
ground. Please get on well with us". It's a
kind of ceremony of information and reception of
God presence. A Buddhism ceremony that I had experienced
in Ishigaki-island, Okinawa had almost same motive,
it was a big hearted southern country ceremony mixed
Shinto and Buddhism under the symbiosis thought.
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When I went to a house in Asaka during interior
finish work, carpenters were writing their names
on the back of a board that just before hang. If
you said that it was a graffiti, that would be the
end of it, but they must wanted to leave their names
out of a pride to the work that they did. On a stainless
steel board, we inscribed a name of all the people
engaged in construction not to mention a family
of owner in the order of the Japanese syllabary.
We installed it in the foundation of the house where
can be seen from the street with all a feeling of
thanks to a construction worker. In a big building,
a magnificent laying cornerstone board made from
granite is fitted in the first floor entrance, it
became a wonderful laying a cornerstone board equally
as well as big buildings' one. Later on, we also
installed similar laying a cornerstone board at
a house of Zushi. |
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At a house in Chiba, when the construction
site had became nearly finish, I couldn't decide
what I chose as a pressing board of a glass door
of the first floor drawing room. There is not a
fit one even if I watch companies catalogue. The
door is the part which is touched first in the building,
I had been looking for a wooden things as gentle
material, neither plastic nor metal, but there was
no one can be came up to my satisfaction. I found
a piece of wood around 70cm that cut an alcove post
which was buried in scrap of building material in
the construction site. I decided promptly. I cut
the materials in half and put the glass door between
them. Because it is a part of the excellent alcove
post with bark which is smooth, it is the best quality.
This kind of improvised idea is also one of the
fun at the construction site. |
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[ last update 2002-07-01 ]
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