Tile Land Japan - It's been quite a while since i've been to Japan. And i was kind of missing out on reporting on that properly. Sorry for that. :) The ones of you who follow me on instagram: http://instagram.com/mp85ch/ will have a better understanding of all the amazing events, people and buildings i've encountered. And since it wouldn't make much sense to post them here again, just hop over and have a look there.
I had a great time following up with my friends from Studio Mumbai that i met while working in India. The first week i've spent with my friend Shoichi in Tokyo, where he showed me in and around town. What an incredible city. The next month i was more or less working with Wataru in Osaka. I could take part in three projects and could head over to Shodoshima Island where i started an amazing Tour d'Art for a few days and saw some of Tadao Ando's probably best work. Amazing Stuff. My last week i travelled back to Tokyo over Takayama, where i met Takumi and saw the beautiful Japanese Alps. Back in Tokyo i met up with Chiaki, Parva and Rakesh. Former clients of the Studio. In these 6 weeks i've seen almost everything in wanted. Unfortunately i wasn't able to travel the west to meet Yoshihiko, Nozomi and Amo. But i'll definitely do that the next time i come to this beautiful country. Can't wait to go back there. I thank everybody that i met there. You've made this trip incredible! Thanks.
You may wonder why i put these tile images up here on tumblr. This is something that was very fascinating to me. Before i went to Japan i had this romantic view on how it might be. And in Studio Ghibli and most Ninja or Samurai movies one get's to see these beautiful wooden houses. :) I was hoping to see some of them while being there. Unfortunately, most of them are gone. The only ones left were the ones in Open air museums.Instead, i saw all these brick builidngs everywhere. In the cities, in the outskirts and in most villages as well.. Only when i looked again i saw that most of these buildings were actually out of wood and just tiled! It's quite interesting. Tiles wherever see. In all kinds of coloures and shapes. Well, mostly earth tones were used. Very humble looking buildings. Simplyfied speaking (yes i know, it's very much simplyfied) i'd say there were two main building expressions: calm and screaming. The calm buildings are represented by those tiled buildings. Humble. Plain. Simple and very introverted. One can hardly see signs of life in these areas. It's like a ghost town. Almost no people in sight. And the small, mirroring windows are mostly closed. Live happens inside, but it's not visible from the outside. I felt that is very much Japanese. Older Japanese. And there is the screaming architecture that is trying to make a statement. Loud. Attention seeking. With lots of coloures, shapes and decorations. Districts like Shinjuku, Shibuya or Harajuku. With the neonsigns, Advertisements and Music that become part of the environment. Also Japanese. Like young Japanese people. That part i was aware of. But not the former one.
Therefore i dedicate this blog to those tiles. And they are easily cleaned as well. :)