For traditional carpenters looking at the wood joints of the machiya, old wooden houses and temples must be like heaven. And ‘fortunately’ most of the houses and temples are burned down or rebuilt. So this technique is still alive and passed to future generations. I attended a meeting for people Lees verder
For years I’ve been interesting in what people take with them when they have to leave, what kind of immaterial things like memories, thoughts, images, smells are important for people’s memory and future. I made cupboards and suitcases for them. Although people in Japan try to keep their rooms empty, Lees verder
What is beauty? Should art be beautiful? Last week during the presentation of Alex de Wolf’s work (one of the participants in this AIR project) we had an interesting discussion about beauty and art. He showed a temple surrounded by electricity wires. He painted exactly the image he saw in Lees verder
One of the nicknames for the machiya is ‘eel beds’ (unagi no nedoko) Taxes in Kyoto were paid according to the plot’s width. So most of the houses have a small front and are deep to the back. This explains this nickname. But Japanese also have a concept for creating Lees verder
‘Perfection is not achieved when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.’ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Although written by the french writer of ‘Le petit prince’, this is truly an eastern point of view. What Japanese people appreciate as perfection or beauty is Lees verder
Taking off your shoes is not very common in the west. At home I take of my shoes in the evening, but not during daytime. But here in Kyoto it’s an ungoing activity. – entering the house/temple -> take off my shoes, – go in the garden -> put slippers Lees verder
After one month in Kyoto my sensibility for impulses on the street is unfortunately decreasing. Part of it because I start to get used to the colors, smells, images, feelings. And part of it because now I want to arrive at a certain place for an appointment. The wandering around Lees verder
Today I saw in the National Museum of Modern Art this building made out of cardboard and wood. A teahouse with tokonoma inside presented at the entrance of the museum. Here you had to bow even deeper than at the House of Joke (see yesterday’s blog) to get inside. Students Lees verder
Two weeks ago I made a questionnaire about living and working in the machiya. I tried to cover several different field of social behavior, cultural habits, use, challenges, moods. I want to make a manuel with the qualities of the machiya for future generations (in Japan and abroad). When I Lees verder
For the second workshop I would ask people to make a bag out of the fabric. In Japan this is a real art like origami, but not widely spread outside the country. Furoshiki (bath spread) is used for wrapping presents or carrying objects in a square of cloth. It’s nice Lees verder