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Introduction: Friend in Wakayama In
early August, I got a call for the first time in a very long while from a
friend, who runs an architectural design office in Wakayama, a very good
friend of mine. I met him about 10 years ago at a seedy English-conversation cafe in Roppongi and we have managed to keep
in touch ever since. I lost contact with him briefly in
93 when he went to England to study and then in 96 when I also went to
study in England. However, our fate must have been intertwined so
much so that we ran into each other again in London. I am still impressed
how our friendship has lasted this long because of the only two reasons,
being an architect and fond of drinking, that we have in common.
Back to the story: In early August,
this very good friend of mine called and invited me to go to Brazil with him for about 10 days in mid September.
At the moment, I knew what he wanted to tell me -- about the
"Architectural City Workshop," the topic of this story -- because I'd
seen it advertised in an architectural
magazine when I was browsing at a bookstore. It is a study-tour on which
participants go to Brazil, do some research on architectural/city
planning, and present the results in front of the people involved over there.
And, from the architectural
magazine mentioned above, I knew one of the organizers was this friend of mine.
Though I certainly didn't expect him to call to invite me to the tour, he
seemed to be worried about not having enough participants. Trying to
talk me into going no matter what, he baited me with all sorts of alluring
words, and I finally agreed to go since I had no particular reason not
to go, besides it's not that I wasn't interested and I wasn't busy at
work.
What this workshop was
about
The main purpose of the workshop in which I
participated this time is to deepen friendship between Japan and Brazil
through architecture and city planning. Also, gathering information
on architecture and city planning in Brazil is one of the purposes as
well. For there is not much pertinent information available in
Japan, contrary to the general notion that Brazil is far from but close to
Japan and information on Brazil in general is readily available. Perhaps because of this, a portion of expenses for activities in this workshop
was subsidized by Japan Foundation. This workshop was carried out
with the following agenda.
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| 1. |
Discover and extract some vernacular
from the cities to be visited (São Paulo and its nearby
city Embu and a beach resort, Maceió).
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| 2. |
Do not rely on superficial
information found in such materials as guidebooks -- This is
most important. Observe characteristics (on people's
lives, society, topography, and architecture) of the locale,
that are to be felt as you visit the city. If necessary,
study and experience further on your own.
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| 3. |
Express your design (for architecture,
a monument,
etc.), based on the obtained information, in a plan, structure, or
other form. The planned construction site for your design
proposal must be in the premises of the artificially
constructed city of Brasilia. Think of what role your
design expressed for the vernacular gained from a city in Brazil
can play in the artificial city of Brasilia and present your
work to professors of University of Brasilia. |
In this workshop, we,
participants, visited Sao Paulo, Embu, Maceio, and Marechal
Deodoro
to pick out vernaculars. We also visited Brasilia and did research
there to decide prospective construction sites for our design proposals.
Reflection on the
tasks: Refreshing workshop!?
This workshop required us to extract a
vernacular, select a construction site, create a design proposal, and
present our work to the local specialists involved within the seven days
of our stay. Since we'd start from the beginning of a project as it
were, we had to proceed with far more efficiency and concentration than
required in normal circumstances. Besides, we'd have to fly three times
in the country (we even had to take an early flight before six in the
morning), take buses during the day on field studies, walk around to do
research, and sit through lectures by specialists and receptions in the
evening. The schedule allowed us only about a day to draw plans or
construct structures, so we'd all go frantic . . . .!? On the
contrary, once we got ourselves into our tasks, it turned out to be
not so. Strangely we found it fun. Though I stayed up almost
all night preparing with my roommate (one room assigned to two people
during the trip) the night before the presentation, we felt so refreshed
when we were done. I felt not the slightest pain.
Fourteen people
participated in this workshop. They were a group of people of divergent ages
and occupations, with the oldest being a staff member of some organization
in the 50's and the youngest a college student in the 20's. They
were all wonderful people and no one complained no matter how tight our
schedule was. We moved as a group so inevitably things did not
proceed as scheduled. If it were a study for our job, someone
would have been prone to become irritable. However, none of us lost
patience. If someone did, he would probably have been just glared at
by the rest of us.
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What
I gained from this workshop
There was a university professor at an
exchange event with local architects, who voiced a negative opinion on
"architectural/city design conceived of the vernacular" that we
were trying to do. According to him, while old countries like Japan
may respect their own tradition, culture and indigenous characteristics, a
young ones like Brazil do not, so there is no need for vernacular design
or such in Brazil. He later added that we should only
pursue modernism in architecture. In a nutshell, buildings made of
reinforced concrete with dry and "inorganic" designs, like those office
buildings found around Tokyo station for example, would suffice. That is, there is no place for the vernacular in creating design concepts
for architecture.
A professor of University of Brasilia, who
listened to my presentation, also made a similar comment. I had my
eyes on the brownish-colored tiled roof often seen on houses in the
country and selected it as my vernacular. Then, I made a suggestion
to use the roof for those "inorganic" buildings in the
government office area of Brasilia. However, he refused to accept it
because, to him, any tiled roof goes against modernism. He seems to
be another modernism-loving person.
Pardon my biased interpretation but in
Japan's architecture "modernism" was definitely being pursued
once as well until about 20 years ago. Its trace is evident in office buildings
such as those in the business district surrounding Tokyo Station. However, most of Japanese architects today are skeptical of such kind of
architecture that is only concerned about the pursuit of modernism. They are now reappraising traditional architecture that incorporates a lot
of human's natural touch, instead of contemporary architecture assembled
with parts precisely fabricated according to structural calculations.
There are also architects who extol wooden architecture. So this
trend of looking at modernism with doubt has become stronger and the idea
of "post-modernism," after modernism, has already been conceived
in Japan. I think vernacular architecture can be categorized in a
class within this idea.
Patriotism among Brazilian nationals is said
to be strong. However, having got to know, through this workshop,
that there exist architects, more than one in fact, who insist on the
pursuit of modernism, ignoring vernaculars altogether, just because their
country is young, I doubt if they have a grain of patriotism at all.
I believe that vernaculars and patriotism are linked somehow. What,
then, makes up patriotism of Brazilian people?
Encouraged by students
As mentioned above, people from a wide range
of age groups participated in this workshop. I was happy that I
could do things with them but it was especially stimulating and meaningful
to me to work with college students. Looking at their works, there
does not seem to be much order because they tried to put too much
information in them. Yet, I felt power full of youth in their works.
I could sense designs created through indomitable physical strength (and
perseverance) and ideas not constrained by established concepts. I
also felt distinctive energy in the way they tackled their tasks
aggressively without fear of making mistakes.
I am still relatively green in this
international development study business. They made me think I
should act like them with a lot more "fighting spirit." What I need more is the spirit to "fight," not to
"protect." At any rate, they gave me a good dose of
inspiration.
What I learned the
most from the way my friend had changed
Because of the workshop, we were invited to
Japanese Embassy and, to my surprise, the ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary even held a welcome reception for us. I didn't miss
a chance to exchange business cards with him. Well, I have been to
Turkey and the Philippines as a JICA study team member before but never
seen a Japanese ambassador, much less a reception held by one. . . . !?
The reason why we could experience things like this at this workshop is
because the ambassador recognized the activities and services of the
workshop's four planners. My friend is one of them. Thanks to
him, who invited me to the workshop, I could chat with the ambassador.
This friend is two years older than me but I feel he's way ahead of me in
our careers. He went through a lot more hard times in his youth than
I did, beyond comparison. He worked for an architect as if serving
an apprenticeship after college, and then went to England to spend three
years studying as a student. After that he spent two more years
living there to save some money and returned to Japan only about two years
ago. It was last year when he was 34, he opened his own
architectural design office, helping his family's business. Though
he had had a life with no definite prospect, he stood by his own faith
firmly. He stuck to the faith that he would pursue architecture of
his ideal, not turning into a "corporate man." Then, he did in
fact attain the goal. I hear his business is coming along well and
he teaches at a technical school as a part-time lecturer.
As it turned out, I was inspired very much
by meeting him again. I think I can make something of myself, too; I
can still grow. It's got me into thinking that, for that, I am going
to take chances, be more aggressive like the students I met in the
workshop, take on difficult tasks, and even endure pain.
I sure am glad to have participated.
(Trans.:
TS) |
