Japanese room exhibition in Berlin
2021年 07月 10日
Japanese roomexhibition in Berlin
~UTSUWA (Japaneseroom) project in Berlin~.
In December, just before I returned toJapan, I talked with them about doing an updated version of the exhibition ofJapanese-style room models that we did in Hamburg last year. After returning toJapan, we continued to meet once a week and entered the "Tag derArchitektur" (Architecture Day), an annual architecture event open to thepublic. In cooperation with the architectural design office NOKU, we were ableto organize a two-day program with a lot of activities, including a Japaneseroom lecture and a workshop every hour, which attracted a lot of people.
The first was a Japanese room modelexhibition and a Japanese room lecture. Eight different models ofJapanese-style rooms with different concepts and designs were displayed andvisitors were asked to judge whether they liked or disliked them by using redand blue stickers. Surprisingly, many people read the explanations carefully,observed the models carefully and participated in the research on Japanesestyle rooms. In a way, it was interesting to understand the taste of peoplefrom other countries.
The course was divided into four themes,which were discussed every hour. Despite my faltering German, the audiencelistened intently to learn more about Japanese rooms. Questions and opinionswere exchanged and the 15-minute course turned into an hour-long course before weknew it. We were surprised at the depth of interest in Japan and the Japanesestyle room, but we also realized that there are still few opportunities toobtain information. It was also an opportunity to feel the variouspossibilities. We hope to continue this course in the future.
The second was a craftsmen's workshop,where visitors competed to cut a thin piece of wood with a Japanese saw, led byGerman and Japanese woodworkers. A lecture on how to use the "pull andcut" Japanese saw was given by connecting the venues in Japan and Berlinvia Zoom. They competed for a few tenths of a millimetre with a Japanese sawthat they had never touched before, and the winner was awarded a certificate.
For this workshop we brought a number ofhigh-quality hand-finished saws from two Japanese manufacturers of hand tools,especially saws from Miki, as well as a number of disposable blade saws, whichare beginning to be distributed in German home improvement stores.
After the exhibition, we gave the saws toone of the best woodworkers in Berlin, whom we met last year, and he asked usto refurbish the Japanese saws that he had been using for a long time. This wasone of the first steps of the "German-Japanese Craftsmen Meets"project, which was one of the "European Challenges", to create aGerman-Japanese network through tools. We contacted the manufacturer andbrought it back.
In addition to the workshops, theGerman-Japanese Craftsmen's Toolbox was also a chance to see each other's handtools. The difference in delicacy and dynamism of the tools was impressive.There were also some rare antique tools, which deepened the interest betweenthe craftsmen. We hope that small things like this will help to connect peopleand information and spread the word.
The third and most difficult task was the unveiling of the UTSUWA project. It was a pleasure to be able to present UTSUWA in real life, the project we had worked so hard on during our two years in Germany. The two co-organisers of the exhibition, NOKU, wanted to install UTSUWA at the exhibition. It was a great idea, but personally I was under a lot of pressure: it was difficult to get together a group of people on a weekday to dismantle, transport and set up the small Berlin-born Japanese room (UTSUWA). As it turned out, the UTSUWA members were away from Berlin on business or on holiday, so there were only three of us, including myself. Despite this, the dismantling took only 20-30 minutes, thanks to the work of Justus, our production leader. Two members of NOKU joined us to set it up, and it was completed in less than an hour by five people without using any tools. We were able to set up easily, which made us wonder why we had worried so much the day before. Our UTSUWA finally saw the light of day after the relaxation of the Corona regulation for the first time in half a year. The members involved and the people who see and hear us have already started to call this box "UTSUWA" without hesitation. One year has passed since the project was formed. We are looking forward to its further development.
It was a pleasure to work with these two guys from NOKU.
To be able to have so many people at the prestigious Mitte in Berlin.
The fact that we were able to hold the exhibition after months of online meetings in spite of the corona disaster.
For me, everything was a miracle once again.
In any case, this exhibition, which took place within a week of my return to Germany, has provided me with a lot of stimulation and learning, and my fantasies for the future have only grown. We would like to continue to deepen and expand the network we have built up over the past two and a half years by taking action little by little.
When I saw the mock-up of the UTSUWA01 prototype, I realized that the joint (verbindung in German means connection, linkage, cooperation, etc.) is a symbol of the UTSUWA members and the German-Japanese artisan exchange. It is a very important "joint".
Rieko Uchida Morizo- Architectural Design Office Berlin & Osaka
【UTSUWA project】http://morizo-archi.com/utsuwa-project-start.htm
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at 2021-07-11 21:59
