Tezuka Architects Nostalgic Future

Transcription

1 Fuji Kindergarten, Tachikawa, Architects: Tezuka Architects Photo: Katsuhisa Kida (Fototeca) 9 May 28 June 2009 Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main Opening: Fri, 8 May 2009, Media Conference: Thu, 7 May 2009, Guided tours of the exhibition Saturdays and Sundays at Open: Tue - Sun: Wed: Deutsches Architekturmuseum Schaumainkai Frankfurt

2 2 Press release Frankfurt am Main, 7 May 2009 Tezuka Architects Erinnerte Zukunft The Japanese architect couple designs buildings that pay homage to their inhabitants and users the first international exhibition devoted to Takaharu and Yui Tezuka at Deutsche Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt/ Main He always wears blue, she red, their two children mostly green and yellow Takaharu and Yui Tezuka are as modest in their appearance as in their buildings, which Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) is showcasing between May 9 and June 28, 2009 in the first showing of their work outside their home country Japan. The young Tokyo studio, one of the shooting stars of the current Japanese architecture scene, sees architecture as an elementary strategy of defining and removing boundaries. Far removed from changing architectural styles and fashions, simplicity determines their way of thought and designs: Through intensive dialog with their clients and users, their world of perception and their experience, Tezuka Architects develops solutions which seem refreshingly unconventional and yet are firmly anchored in everyday world of their users. Their buildings, which frequently boast large sliding-door fronts, are fitted out in wood, and are sensitive to their location and its climate, call to mind centuries-old Japanese architectural tradition. Together with present-day innovative design and construction technologies they create a vision that is consciously timeless: the future reminds itself, tradition re-invents itself. Tezuka Architects, which was founded in the mid-1990s, first drew attention with its unusual house projects. The Roof House (1999) took the clients unusual customs very seriously and, on a tight budget, consciously moved its social life to a roof with a 10 % incline and no railing several other houses followed which, even given the extremely concentrated Japanese agglomerations still revealed unusually generous space and continuity with the remaining natural exterior. With the Matsunoyama Natural Science Museum (2003) Tezuka Architects succeeded in realizing their first public building project, one which caused a stir far beyond Japan. In winter the snake-like museum, which on the outside is made entirely of Corten steel, is smothered in a blanket of snow up to seven meters high, behind windows up to 40

3 3 centimeters thick the snow exhibits itself and the life in it as if in a romantic landscape painting. The Fuji kindergarten in Tachikawa (2007) took up the idea of the Roof House, experimenting with it for the first time in a public building now used by over 600 tiny inhabitants. The oval roof of the Montessori kindergarten, which at its most extreme is over 180 meters in length and with a slight inward curve takes seriously the children s urge to move and the direction this movement takes the trees (for climbing) integrated in the building and the lack of any fixed spatial classroom division on the ground floor below, the dimensions of which are ideal for children, make clear the extent to which in their architecture Tezuka Architects are concerned with the social utopia of a new open community that excludes nothing and no one. The exhibition on the ground floor of DAM presents the studio s projects in large-format atmospheric photo walls, which draw visitors into the architecture. In addition there are some perspectives on display specially drawn for the exhibition, as well as numerous design and working models documenting the immense importance accorded precise and detailed manual design in the Tezuka studio. In its daily design work it does without CAD technology, using it only in actual construction. There are two special highlights on view in the DAM exhibition: In the museum courtyard there is a 1:20 scale Corten steel model of the Matsunoyama Natural Science Museums weighing 300 kilograms and 4.40 meters in length, which has been part of the DAM collection since Furthermore, on display in the large hall is the large 1:4 scale model of the Woods of Net pavilion project, which was opened only a few days ago in the grounds of the Hakone Open Air Museum. The wooden construction, which consists of 580 individual parts, and in the original of which an elastic jumping set for children has been suspended (by the artist Toshiko Horiuchi Macadam), was erected in DAM together with other small models during a one-week, inter-university workshop with architecture students. Supervised by Takaharu und Yui Tezuka, around 20 students from the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Chair: Prof. Dunkelau), Wiesbaden University of Applied Sciences (Chair: Prof. Müller) and RWTH Aachen University (Chair: Prof. Schmitz) treated the beams using Japanese saws, crowbars and hammers, crafting them into the walk-in structure without any other metal connections. Video documentation (produced

4 4 by ) on show in the exhibition, as well as the workshop newspaper designed by the students and distributed free of charge to visitors, provide information about its genesis and the educational aims of this unique project. Projects shown in the Exhibition

5 5 The following projects are presented on large-format photo walls: -Woods of Net, Hakone Open-Air Museum, Natural Science Museum Kyororo, Matsunoyama, Fuji Kindergarten, Tachikawa, Engawa House, Tokyo, Roof House, Kanagawa, Floating Roof House, Okayama, Atelier in Ushimado, 2006 Other projects are exhibited in design and working models on various scales. Vita Takaharu + Yui Tezuka

6 6 TAKAHARU TEZUKA 1964 geboren born in Tokyo 1987 B.Arch., Musashi Institute of Technology, Tokyo 1990 M.Arch., University of Pennsylvania Richard Rogers Partnership Ltd., London 1994 gründet established Tezuka Architects Assistant Professor, Musashi Institute of Technology 2003 Associate Professor, Musashi Institute of Technology 2005, 06 Visiting Professor, Salzburg Summer Academy 2006 Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley 2009 Professor, Tokyo City University YUI TEZUKA 1969 geboren born in Kanagawa 1992 B.Arch., Musashi Institute of Technology, Tokyo The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College of London 1994 gründet established Tezuka Architects 1999 Visiting Faculty, TOYO University 2001 Visiting Faculty, TOKAI University 2006 Visiting Professor, Salzburg Summer Academy 2006 Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley Imprint Exhibition

7 7 Curator/ Coordination: Paul Andreas Concept: Peter, Cachola Schmal, Takaharu + Yui Tezuka, Paul Andreas Exhibitiondesign: Takaharu + Yui Tezuka, Kai Kasugai, Matthias Neuendorf, Midori Taki (Tezuka Architects) Conversion: Mario Lorenz (deserve) mit Gebrüder Taschke und Inditec mit freundlicher Unterstützung von Okalux Photos: Katsuhisa Kida (Fototeca) Workshop-Models: Studierende der Fakultäten für Architektur der FH Frankfurt, FH Wiesbaden, der TU Darmstadt und der RWTH Aachen unter Leitung von Takaharu + Yui Tezuka (30. April 7. Mai 2009); Assistenz: Dominik Zausinger, Kai Kasugai Mit besonderem Dank an Prof. Wolfgang Dunkelau (FH Frankfurt) und Reinhard Doubrawa (RWTH Aachen) Banner, Poster, Invitation Card: Gardeners, Frankfurt am Main Press and publicity: Paul Andreas, Stefanie Lampe Registrar: Anke Gabriel Translations: Jeremy Gaines Exhibition secretarial team: Pascale Baier, Jeanette Bolz, Inka Plechaty Exhibition realization: Christian Walter, Detlef Wagner-Walter, Enrico Hirsekorn, Pietro Paolo Brunino, Joachim Müller-Rahn, Gerhard Winkler : Japanisches Generalkonsulat Frankfurt am Main, Okalux GmbH, Chuto, Hundegger, Dick Werkzeuge GmbH, Holz Becher Media partner: Detail, Publication

8 8 Takaharu + Yui Tezuka Nostalgic Future Erinnerte Zukunft Edited by: Paul Andreas & Peter Cachola Schmal UIT articles by Taro Igarashi, Joseph Grima & Paul Andreas german/englisch 132 Pages with numerous images Paperback ISBN JOVIS Verlag, Berlin 2009 JOVIS Verlag GmbH, Berlin Kurfürstenstraße 15/16 D Berlin Mueseumsedition: EUR 22.- Book trade edition: EUR 22,- For the duration of the exhibition press images released for printing can be downloaded from our website: Press Office

9 9 Press + PR Deutsches Architekturmuseum Schaumainkai 43 D Frankfurt/ Main Paul Andreas M.A. Tel. +49 (0) Fax +49 (0) [email protected] Stefanie Lampe B.A. Tel. +49 (0) Fax +49 (0) [email protected]