When I started working in architectural design,
I felt as if I were in the pitch blackness of outer
space, without a single planet in sight. Although
I had studied architecture for two years at a vocational
school and received practical training in the field
over a five-year period at a regular firm, I had
never seriously confronted things like architectural
thought and theory. It was as if there were no “fixed
points” that might serve as stars to help
me decide where and whether or not to proceed into
the dark universe. It was in this mindset that
I began working as an architect.
Though it might seem obvious, an architectural
structure is attached to a piece of land. And in
designing a structure, one must treat all of the “states” that
exist there in an equal manner. I have created
architecture using this basic approach for the
last ten years. One might say that my work involves
searching for “fixed points.” As the
site of my work is Hokkiado, I have repeatedly “constructed
states” based on necessity using “fixed
points” that emerge from a “state” that
is a compulsory or inevitable response, or “fixed
points” that emerge from devising my own approach
in tandem with the use of a regular method. According
to these experiences and repeated activities, I
sometimes alter my way of thinking.
Using a chronological approach in this exhibition,
I hope that the viewer will be able to get a better
sense of the discovery, realization, repetition,
and variation of these “fixed points.” And
although I don’t think my fundamental method will
change much in the years ahead, I hope that the
viewer might also imagine the gradual changes that
might occur in the future.
Jun Igarashi
We are proud to present an exhibition of work
by Jun Igarashi, an architect based in Saroma,
Hokkaido who primarily specializes in residential
design.
While satisfying the prerequisite of coexisting
with the particular natural and climatic features,
and the landscape of Hokkaido, Igarashi’s work
encourages us to reexamine the universal value
of architecture. Transcending individual works,
this is something that has inspired Igarashi’s
architectural thought from the outset while prompting
his continual search for a “state” or “primordial
place of comfort for human beings.”
Houses, or shelters designed to protect the human
body from the bitter cold of winter in Hokkaido,
require some means of dealing with the forbidding
natural environment, which is defined by strong
wind, heavy snowfall, and frozen soil. By making
use of procedures such as the calculation of
windbreak, frost line, and snow load, which are
necessary to technically and legally clear these
natural variables, as elements to enrich a living
space, Igarashi produces amazingly diverse and
comfortable interiors while maintaining the quality
of safety necessary to shut out the exterior
environment. At the same time, by controlling
the flow of air, amount of sunlight, and line
of sight, he creates a unique spatial experience
that surpasses the actual scale of the structure
and appeals to each of the viewer’s five senses.
Take, for example, Igarashi’s debut work, Rectangular
Forest (Tokoro-gun, Hokkaido, 2000), with a
loose sense of zoning created by the arrangement
of columns in a grid pattern; Wind Circle (Kitami,
Hokkaido, 2003), and Rectangle Under Truss
(Tokoro-gun, Hokkaido, 2004), with their three-dimensional
spatial configurations created by carving out
a room in accordance with the frost line; and
Rectangle of Light (Sapporo, Hokkaido, 2007)
and Layered House (Tokoro-gun, Hokkaido, 2008),
with their unique sense of distance created by
layers of light. In these works, spaces are linked
in a loose relationship that gives rise to a
free and diverse “comfortable place.”
Coinciding with his 15th anniversary as an independent
architect, “Jun Igarashi: The Construction
of a State,” Igarashi’s first solo exhibition,
showcases 18 of his most important works from
Rectangular Forest to Small Atelier via a
group of 1/10 scale wooden models. As the viewer
peers into the models, displayed at eye level,
they can experience what it is really like to
be in each place and see how the “state” of
each work is structured. In the courtyard, there
is also a reproduction of an abstract theatre
space called Temporary Playhouse for Osaka Contemporary
Theatre Festival (Osaka, 2005) that is made
out of arced PVC pipes. This exhibition offers
the viewer an opportunity to trace the path that
leads from the beginning of Jun Igarashi’s career
to the present, and to observe the gradual deepening
of the architect’s thought.
With special assistance from
Butsurin Co., Ltd.
Marujirushi Hasegawa Co., Ltd.
Hokkaido Hoxan Co., Ltd.
Osaka Contemporary Performing arts Association (NPO)
Daisuke Hasegawa and Partners
Daiko Electric Co., Ltd.
Sincol Co., Ltd.