Pavilion Tokyo 2020 Exhibitor Interview
2.Interview with Architect Akihisa Hirata (Part 2)
2.Interview with Architect Akihisa Hirata (Part 2)
2019/12/6
【Akihisa Hirata regards architecture as part of life-generating activities and incorporate principles of ecology of animals and plants in his design. He uses a unique keyword "karamarishiro" (a margin or room for something to tangle onto.) The concept of "karamarishiro" is clearly embodied in the Art Museum & Library Ota completed in 2016. The structure is composed of five boxes of big and small sizes with rampways wrapped around them. The interiors are intertwined in complex ways, allowing people to walk around and find places to rest as an extension of the city.】
Art Museum & Library, Ota ⓒdaici ano
―― I visited the Art Museum & Library Ota and was quite impressed with the delightful atmosphere. Would you explain to us what you mean by the word "karamarishiro", one of the core ideas of your architecture?
Hirata:
As a boy, I was an "insect expert" and would always spent time observing butterflies flying among flowers with great interest. There are diverse floating domains formed three-dimensionally among tree branches and flowers. These domains are formed naturally around branches and flowers without clearly delineating boundaries and enclosures, and overlap each other to form a complex and continuous space three-dimensionally. My starting point as an architect was a desire to translate conditions like this in architecture.
If you think carefully, the state of "tangling onto something" conforms to the principles of nature. Seaweed grow on bumpy rocks at the bottom of the ocean, and fish lay eggs on seaweed––a rich ecology is generated through a series of multiple "tangling" in this manner. We could probably say that life began as a result of multiple "tangling." If the 20th century architecture was about creating enclosed spaces, I want to create architecture based on different principles. This idea led me to establish the hypothesis that "architecture is about creating karamarishiro." This pavilion is not just about creating a bowl and enclosing an area: it reflects my world view that "karamarishiro" created there allow other things to tangle onto and thus the process of "tangling" continues.
As a boy, I was an "insect expert" and would always spent time observing butterflies flying among flowers with great interest. There are diverse floating domains formed three-dimensionally among tree branches and flowers. These domains are formed naturally around branches and flowers without clearly delineating boundaries and enclosures, and overlap each other to form a complex and continuous space three-dimensionally. My starting point as an architect was a desire to translate conditions like this in architecture.
If you think carefully, the state of "tangling onto something" conforms to the principles of nature. Seaweed grow on bumpy rocks at the bottom of the ocean, and fish lay eggs on seaweed––a rich ecology is generated through a series of multiple "tangling" in this manner. We could probably say that life began as a result of multiple "tangling." If the 20th century architecture was about creating enclosed spaces, I want to create architecture based on different principles. This idea led me to establish the hypothesis that "architecture is about creating karamarishiro." This pavilion is not just about creating a bowl and enclosing an area: it reflects my world view that "karamarishiro" created there allow other things to tangle onto and thus the process of "tangling" continues.
―― In the Art Museum & Library Ota, spaces for specific functions including reading and resting are not clearly divided. But I had an impression that the building allows each visitor to find a place on his/her own using his/her natural instincts.
Hirata:
I think this aspect is very important in architecture. Humans use animal instincts to interpret the surrounding environment and take actions. If architecture until today had focused on human reason, architecture from now on should focus on human actions based on animal instincts. While new knowledge may be easily obtained on the internet, architecture is always perceived through human bodies. Although it is difficult to draw complex spaces of the Art Museum & Library Ota, one can use his/her body to learn locations of books in different categories as he/she repeatedly experience the architecture. It is important that architecture stimulates human instincts.
I think this aspect is very important in architecture. Humans use animal instincts to interpret the surrounding environment and take actions. If architecture until today had focused on human reason, architecture from now on should focus on human actions based on animal instincts. While new knowledge may be easily obtained on the internet, architecture is always perceived through human bodies. Although it is difficult to draw complex spaces of the Art Museum & Library Ota, one can use his/her body to learn locations of books in different categories as he/she repeatedly experience the architecture. It is important that architecture stimulates human instincts.
―― The 1964 Tokyo Olympics was held before you were born. Many architects including Kenzo Tange actively took part in designing the Olympic facilities then. What do you think about the New National Stadium, which is the main venue for the 2020 Olympics?
Hirata:
First of all, I am quite impressed that they are building such a large-scale structure in such a short period of time (the construction of the New National Stadium started in December 2016 and it is scheduled for completion in December 2019.)
First of all, I am quite impressed that they are building such a large-scale structure in such a short period of time (the construction of the New National Stadium started in December 2016 and it is scheduled for completion in December 2019.)
―― Do you think the construction period is short?
Hirata:
Yes, it is extremely short. It was quite amazing how they managed to build so fast. I was quite astonished and impressed by the view of the construction site where many cranes were erected like a forest. It made me realize that the construction of large-scale architecture would always generate such an unusual atmosphere on the site.
Yes, it is extremely short. It was quite amazing how they managed to build so fast. I was quite astonished and impressed by the view of the construction site where many cranes were erected like a forest. It made me realize that the construction of large-scale architecture would always generate such an unusual atmosphere on the site.
―― Many implications were involved in the construction of the New National Stadium, including the cancellation of Zaha Hadid's winning proposal in the first competition.
Hirata:
That's right. The sequence of events probably had a negative impact on the general public's views on the architecture industry, or especially on architects. But I think the real problem for younger architects was that the media solely focused on the issue of the New National Stadium. It seems that everything was surreptitiously decided without discussion or another round of competition, when the society and the architecture industry focused on the New National Stadium and ignored other stadiums and Olympic-related facilities. I think that there must have been be a better way to deal with it. That's why I was happy to hear about this project.
That's right. The sequence of events probably had a negative impact on the general public's views on the architecture industry, or especially on architects. But I think the real problem for younger architects was that the media solely focused on the issue of the New National Stadium. It seems that everything was surreptitiously decided without discussion or another round of competition, when the society and the architecture industry focused on the New National Stadium and ignored other stadiums and Olympic-related facilities. I think that there must have been be a better way to deal with it. That's why I was happy to hear about this project.
【Etsuko Watari, Museum Director of the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art and the organizer of the "Pavilion Tokyo 2020" project, looked back on the 1964 Olympics and said, "I was so excited to see cars speeding along the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressways which had spread across the city of Tokyo. It was like a scene from a science fiction movie." She mentioned, "We want to give today's children the same kind of excitement and expectations for the future. I hope they will remember the strange buildings popped up here and there at the time of the 2020 Olympics.】
Hirata:
Architecture is not remembered for its scale. Architecture that relates to a place in unique ways will remain in people's memories. In this sense, I think it will be a very exciting experience to see many small and unique pavilions pop up here and there in the big city.
Architecture is not remembered for its scale. Architecture that relates to a place in unique ways will remain in people's memories. In this sense, I think it will be a very exciting experience to see many small and unique pavilions pop up here and there in the big city.
―― It will surely give a strong impression on children.
Hirata:
Children react in straightforward ways, so they instantly find the difference between the pavilions and playground equipment and decide which is more fun to play with. That's why we are always concerned about how children react to our architecture. We naturally want to create something that will remain in memories of grown-ups, as well as children, though.
Children react in straightforward ways, so they instantly find the difference between the pavilions and playground equipment and decide which is more fun to play with. That's why we are always concerned about how children react to our architecture. We naturally want to create something that will remain in memories of grown-ups, as well as children, though.
―― For example, people who are familiar with the Art Museum & Library Ota regards the facility as one of the standards for art museums and libraries. I think that people's architectural experiences like that may change towns and cities in the long run.
Hirata:
What people feel with their bodies penetrate into their thoughts. In my case, physical sensations and feelings of the undulated ground and mountains I felt when chasing insects as a child still remain in my body, and they constitute part of the foundation of my thought. After all, I believe that humans are more or less shaped by environments around them including artefacts and nature. That's the reason why we have been proposing architecture that will hopefully help create more "livable" society, while explaining our ideas with simple words. But now that Tokyo is becoming entirely "tsuru-tsuru" (smooth and slippery)...
What people feel with their bodies penetrate into their thoughts. In my case, physical sensations and feelings of the undulated ground and mountains I felt when chasing insects as a child still remain in my body, and they constitute part of the foundation of my thought. After all, I believe that humans are more or less shaped by environments around them including artefacts and nature. That's the reason why we have been proposing architecture that will hopefully help create more "livable" society, while explaining our ideas with simple words. But now that Tokyo is becoming entirely "tsuru-tsuru" (smooth and slippery)...
―― What do you mean by "tsuru-tsuru?"
Hirata:
Well, let's say that "tsuru-tsuru" refers to "easy-to-understand and super-functional architecture designed for a specific purpose." Until recently, there were many strange buildings and places in Tokyo, and they were one of the attractive characteristics of the city. But they are on the verge of disappearance and being replaced by "tsuru-tsuru" buildings. That's why I think that architecture we design should embody a different dimension piercing through mediocre reality–– I suppose it may sound a bit extreme. As for this pavilion, we want to create a kind of mysterious structure that will give people fresh surprises, like "Wow! What is this?!," when they encounter it in the city.
Well, let's say that "tsuru-tsuru" refers to "easy-to-understand and super-functional architecture designed for a specific purpose." Until recently, there were many strange buildings and places in Tokyo, and they were one of the attractive characteristics of the city. But they are on the verge of disappearance and being replaced by "tsuru-tsuru" buildings. That's why I think that architecture we design should embody a different dimension piercing through mediocre reality–– I suppose it may sound a bit extreme. As for this pavilion, we want to create a kind of mysterious structure that will give people fresh surprises, like "Wow! What is this?!," when they encounter it in the city.
（Interview conducted and written by: Akiko Nagata, Editorial Board Member, Arts and Culture Section at the Mainichi Shimbun）
Archives
The second interview features architect Akihisa Hirata, who is highly acclaimed for his remarkable achievements including the Art Museum Library Ota, which was his first major public commission that won him the 2018 Togo Murano Prize. In this interview, Hirata talked about his ideas for the pavilion, the status of ongoing projects, his current interests and more.
In the second part of the interview, Hirata shared his ideas about the pavilion. His views on architecture gradually became clear as he explained ideas behind the Art Museum & Library Ota.
