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perfeggso · 4 years

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Noir (yutae)

Week II pt. 2

Tokyo – fall of 1983: Nakamoto Yuta is quickly rising in the ranks of one of Japan’s most notorious yakuza families, and he’s poised to climb even further if he can stop himself from being ruined by the pretty Korean boy who’s shown up out of nowhere.

Glossary of Japanese words

Characters: Yuta x Taeyong + NCT ensemble, Twice J-line (for funsies)

Genres: Gang!AU, angst, smut, fluff, 1980s!AU

Warnings: graphic violence, swearing, minor character death, alcohol use, mentions of drugs, period-typical homophobia, xenophobia, BDSM

Rating: 18+

Length: 4k (will progressively get way longer)

Yuta had a problem: he couldn’t keep his mind off of Taeyong. He had immediately been taken in by the contrast between the new recruit’s wide eyes and soft expressions and his sharp features and rough background. However, over the course of a little over a week, Yuta had only found himself slipping farther into dangerous territory that made him question his decision to help Taeyong out by taking him on as a partner. He questioned himself when Taeyong’s shirts would ride up and expose the soft skin of his lower stomach, or when Yuta would catch his subordinate zoning out with his fingers running over his lips. These moments sometimes made Yuta feel like a creep, but it was nothing compared to the way most men he grew up with treated women. Also, he had at least a sneaking suspicion his little infatuation might be reciprocated from the way Taeyong would flush easily at any praise from Yuta, for example, or the few times when Yuta thought he heard a hitch in Taeyong’s breathing when Yuta addressed him seriously or got into his personal space.

Yuta had always needed to be careful – his closest friends among the Inagawa-kai knew he liked men and could not have cared less, but being gay was so stigmatized amongst the yakuza and in Japanese society in general that any inkling of Yuta’s secret had to be vigorously guarded to avoid disaster. That’s why Hirai Goro had decided years earlier that at twenty-five, Yuta would, for the protection of the family, marry his daughter Momo. Momo was his best friend since adolescence and was as uninterested in men as Yuta was in women. It was an ideal arrangement, but one that had to be carefully managed. That wedding would be in a year. In the meantime, Yuta had learned to be careful with his encounters, stay in queer-friendly spaces away from work, and read small cues from potential partners since nothing would ever be clearly spelled out for him. He was rarely wrong, and he thought he would be right again about Taeyong too.

“Yuta-san?” Jaehyun’s voice on the other side of the door rattled Yuta out of another Taeyong-induced stupor and he remembered that he was in his office, leaning over his wooden desk with the Miyazaki file disassembled in front of him. Even if Yuta hadn’t recognized that warm voice, it could only have been Jaehyun who, as an unofficial member of the operation without a defined position, was one of the few people who didn’t have to address Yuta by his title.

“Douzo, Jaehyun-kun.” The door slid open and in walked Yuta’s guest, wearing a pinstripe suit and letting his dark hair fall softly over his forehead. Unlike most of Yuta’s acquaintances, Jaehyun had neither tattoos nor visible scars or disfigurements. If it weren’t for his parentage, Yuta figured that Jaehyun would have been an innocent and upstanding member of society. In fact, Yuta wondered why he didn’t stay as far away from his father’s line of work as humanly possible, for his own sake. But, if Jaehyun did do that then Yuta would be losing the benefit of one of his keenest minds. Besides, Yuta knew that Jaehyun was branded as suspicious in the outside world by default just by being a conspicuously wealthy zainichi boy, so he might as well lean into it.

“You look busy,” Jaehyun observed with a smile.

Yuta smiled back and pushed some papers to the far side of his desk, closer to Jaehyun. “That’s because I’ve been working on something. What are your thoughts on this?”

Jaehyun sat on the desk – something the average enlisted man would not be permitted to do – and scanned his eyes over what appeared to be paperwork from several banks in Thailand.

“Looks like he’s got offshore accounts,” said Jaehyun, obviously.

“Bingo!”

“Are they illegal?”

Yuta smiled and hummed to himself in satisfaction. “Those banks are all under current investigation by Interpol for money laundering. One case has been proven. And Miyazaki might be a key player.”

“Congratulations, Shategashira ,” said Jaehyun, pushing himself off the desk, letting out a small laugh once standing.

“What’s so funny?” Yuta challenged.

“Nothing, really,” said Jaehyun. He knew he could get away with saying whatever he wanted. “But Yuta-san, you launder money all the time.”

“I know that very well, Jaehyun,” explained Yuta, knowing the mild defiance from his friend was nothing serious. “But it’s expected from people like us.” Jaehyun scowled slightly, Yuta assumed, at his implication in whatever dirty business the Inagawa-kai did. “For someone like Miyazaki it’s – it’s a career-ending – no, life ending event since he’ll probably have to go to jail for a year or so and never be hired again. His reputation will be ruined. This information could tank Mitsubishi’s stocks for a while too. He’s supposed to be a reputable businessman, not a gangster.”

“My dad always says that companies are just like gangs;” offered Jaehyun, “the salaryman is just a glorified foot-soldier with a less interesting life and their bosses probably have more blood on their hands than they realize.”

Yuta pulled out a cigarette from the pack in his pocket, placed it in his mouth, and then offered the pack to Jaehyun with the raise of an eyebrow. Jaehyun took one and as he spoke, Yuta lit their cigarettes.

“That’s why I always listen to your father, Jaehyun, and why you should too,” said Yuta, pausing to take a drag. “Gwang-suk is the most insightful bastard in this whole operation.”

Jaehyun’s face curled into a thoughtful smile. “I’ll keep that in mind. By the way, I know you have proof that these banks are crooked, and that Miyazaki has money in them, but what’s your direct evidence of his wrongdoing?”

“Ah,” Yuta remarked, letting a tumble of smoke fall from his lips. “That is forthcoming, if you have time to wait a few minutes.”

“Sure.”

After another drag on his cigarette, Jaehyun seemed about to begin a new conversation, his expression contorting into one of active thought, but at that moment, a succinct series of knocks rang out on the other side of the door. Yuta put his crossed legs up on his desk and leaned back in his leather chair.

“ Douzo.”

With that, Doyoung, who was wearing slacks, a sweater vest, and an upmarket wristwatch, opened the door with a thin stack of papers under his arm. His eyes went wide when he saw the cloud of smoke rendering the room in soft focus. Still, he steeled himself and managed a salute and a greeting of “Shategashira!”

“At ease.”

Doyoung seemed to sigh in relief and wasted no time fanning the space directly before his face and hurrying to the one small outward-facing window in the room to open it.

“My god, you two, this is absurd! How do you breathe?” Even in disgust, Doyoung’s voice was measured. To most, the thin, almost delicate, and usually soft-spoken man would have been difficult to pinpoint as a member of the yakuza – especially if he was covering his tattoos which he kept more minimal than most of his friends. Nevertheless, his intelligence had always been an asset to the family and any doubt of his intensity would be assuaged the minute he lost his temper, or alternately, came at you coolly with a Sten Gun. Around those close to him though, Doyoung’s vibe was still more nagging grandmother than anything.

“Doyoung,” began Yuta, “tell me you found something good.”

Doyoung made his way back to the desk on the other side of the room, holding his stack of papers up in one hand. “Tell me you two won’t keel over from lung cancer before I show it to you.” And with this jest, he let the papers drop to the desk with a smack . Yuta took one more drag and extinguished his cigarette, partially to appease Doyoung and partially to free his hands.

“All I found was the record of recent wirings, invoices, and transfers for his accounts between Japan and Thailand,” explained Doyoung as Yuta began digging into the papers with Jaehyun sitting in observation. “It appears that he’s been embezzling money from the company under the guise of a bunch of contractors and business expenses that don’t exist as far as I can tell. He’s transferred a lot of it, via some of these banks in Thailand, to a specific woman. You’ll see her information in the paperwork there. Sometimes she uses different names, but I have reason to believe it’s all one person and that her name is Minatozaki Sana.”

“A mistress, perhaps,” speculated Jaehyun, and Yuta let out a hum of agreement.

Doyoung nodded. “That would make sense. I’ll keep on the trail from here and see what else I find; how conclusive the connections are, etc.”

“Good work, Hosa ," Yuta praised. "You’re dismissed if you need to be anywhere. Do you?”

Doyoung shrugged, planting himself in one of the molded wood chairs across from Yuta and Jaehyun followed suit. “I’m going on patrol with Johnny in an hour but I’m meeting him here. Might take a bit of a break. By the way, where’s Taeyong?”

Yuta had to stop a smile from overtaking his expression at the mention of his partner. “I don’t need his help and he’d been working so hard, so I gave him some time to himself. He could be practicing shooting, taking a walk, going to the conbini around the corner, I have no way of knowing.”

Jaehyun spluttered, for what reason Yuta could only imagine. He sat forward in his chair, trying to look serious. “Oi, what is this? The little prince finds something amusing, does he?”

Jaehyun held his outstretched palm in front of his face and shook his head. Yuta was a very intimidating person by most standards and was famous for his wit, but even he had moments of insecurity that his friends could exploit for entertainment. That is, until they got their asses beat for disrespecting a superior.

“No, I promise you, Yuta-san, it’s nothing really. I’m sorry. I was just surprised because in the last, what? Almost-week that he’s been with you, you two have been pretty inseparable. And whenever he isn’t with you, you’re yelling ‘where’s Taeyong? Someone find him now!’” Jaehyun started to laugh harder at his own impression. Next to him, Doyoung adjusted his sleeve, watching, and in his calmly matter-of-fact manner stated, “we’re not idiots, Shategashira . We can tell when you’re distracted, and we can usually guess why. Jaehyun and I think you have it bad for Taeyong. We even bet on it with Taeil.”

Yuta found himself in a bit of a shock. Him? Distracted? Was he that obvious about it?

Yuta pawed weakly at a piece of ash and flicked it into his ashtray, but he couldn’t help himself from smirking just a tiny bit.

“Fuck off,” he practically whispered.

“You don’t deny it,” Doyoung observed, and now it was Jaehyun smirking, ready to watch a confession unfold.

The haze still left in the room seemed like protection from the outside world, and Yuta felt his chest filling with boldness. He didn’t have anything to hide from his friends, anyway. He only cursed the timing. Now was not the time for lust nor – god forbid – for romance.

Yuta bit his thumb nail and sighed. “That’s because you’re not wrong,” he admitted.

Jaehyun and Doyoung exchanged tittering smiles in response.

“Yeah, go ahead and celebrate your victory,” said Yuta, nearly rolling his eyes and allowing his friends to relax and high five each other.

It felt nice to get it off his chest officially, but Yuta also felt a heaviness in his gut as a result of the conversation. What if this was nothing more than a brief infatuation and he was jumping the gun by talking about it? What if Taeyong wasn’t interested? How was he even supposed to go about acting on anything? He was busy and needed to focus and he tried to avoid hooking up with coworkers. Fuck it , he thought, he was already distracted . Yuta finally raised his eyes to meet the gaze of his two friends across from him. Despite their satisfied smiles he still felt the tight, dead-end sensation of a prisoner.

“You should tell him, Shategashira , if you don’t mind my advice,” said Doyoung.

“I should, hm?” Yuta puzzled. “And how do you propose I do that?”

***

Taeyong’s sleeping face was yet another distraction. He and Yuta had been sitting in the front of Yuta’s black 1982 Corolla for a couple of hours and it was already approaching three A.M. Yuta knew Taeyong hadn’t had a completely easy time adjusting to his new life and was hardly sleeping even when he had time to, so when Taeyong’s eyes took on a telltale droopiness an hour ago and their target had yet to come around, Yuta had allowed Taeyong the option to nod off. It was good for Yuta too, as it gave him the opportunity to gather his thoughts about the sleeping angel next to him. Maybe Ms. Minatozaki wasn’t coming home that night at all – or maybe she was already asleep and Yuta had gotten bad intel. Maybe Yuta, who was growing tired himself, could allow himself a moment of weakness and drink in the image of the man beside him. Still, if the lead was correct and Minatozaki was going to be home soon, he didn’t want to miss her just because he was smitten with a boy he barely knew.

Yuta allowed himself one more moment to take in Taeyong’s serene face, admiring the flicker in his dark lashes, the slope of his sharp jaw into his smooth neck – interrupted only by the press of his Adam’s apple against the skin. Yuta’s gaze fell on the pitted scar that dug its way like a crater into the flesh next to Taeyong’s right eye. Yuta had wondered where it came from but never wanted to pry. Taeyong’s earring twinkled as it caught the reflection of a streetlight.

Yuta couldn’t stop thinking of his earlier conversation with Jaehyun and Doyoung. He felt almost laid bare by it, and he didn’t know why. His friends already knew Yuta liked men and he trusted them enough to know they would never challenge his authority. But still, telling them this felt different somehow. Perhaps it was because Taeyong was someone who they, too, were getting to know personally; so they could make an offhand comment by accident or worse, pass judgement in ways they never could on Yuta’s anonymous hookups. Perhaps it was because Yuta felt like he was on the edge of losing control at a time when he needed as much control as possible. Perhaps it was because he knew nothing good could come from giving into his desires. Any impropriety could be used against him or Taeyong after all, and he needed to maintain his position in the Inagawa-kai and help Taeyong in the process. Still, the more time he spent around Taeyong, the more Yuta was sure he wanted to do unspeakable things to him. At least if Taeyong wasn’t interested, he could go from distracted to morose, and the latter state would be a marginal improvement for his ability to focus.

Yuta had asked how Jaehyun and Doyoung would suggest he approach Taeyong with his attraction. Jaehyun councelled him to treat the situation as if it were a heteronormative one: as if Yuta were confident and straight and there were no stakes in the interaction. Besides, said Jaehyun, if you think he’s interested then all those things might as well be true. Doyoung, on the other hand, decided to play devil’s advocate and suggest that Yuta confront Taeyong with the information that he knows Taeyong is gay (which, again, he didn’t). Once he had Taeyong scared and talking, only then should he reveal his true intentions. Obviously, neither tactic was a viable option, so Yuta found himself left to his own devices once more.

Yuta sensed motion in his peripheral vision and jolted to attention, watching as a young woman scurried down the sidewalk and up the stairs of the small house he and Taeyong were staking out.

“Oi! Taeyong!” Yuta yelled, hitting his partner in the arm and waking him, wondering to himself if the violence of the action wasn’t partially a means of relieving some pent-up sexual aggression.

Taeyong raised his eyebrows and looked around, bleary. “Right there! It’s her.” Taeyong followed Yuta’s outstretched finger and noticed the woman just in time to see her finish turning her key in the lock and slip inside.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, realizing what was going on. “Should we go knock on the door or something?”

As they spoke, a few orange lights illuminated the windows of the house. Yuta shook his head. “No, it’s too late at night and she’d be suspicious. She’s likely already in a sensitive situation being a millionaire’s mistress. Besides, we’re only here to confirm her location for when we come back before the meeting. We want to give her as little time as possible that should could use to inform the Yamaguchi-gumi if it goes wrong.”

“So, mission accomplished?”

Yuta grinned his signature grin; wide and almost unhinged under bright eyes. “Mission accomplished.”

Taeyong nodded, seeming to suppress a shiver, and turned his head to the house which had returned to its dark quiet. “I still don’t understand why we can’t just go around to some neighbors to confirm her identity.”

Yuta tutted, hoping maybe to provoke a clearer reaction from Taeyong. “Too risky,” he explained. “If we do that what will happen? They’ll all tell her the next time they see her that the yakuza were asking about her. We have her I.D. photo; it’s all under control.”

Taeyong nodded, a contemplative pout settling on his face and sending Yuta’s blood rushing.

“ Shategashira ,” he began, “why’d you take me on this recon mission with you if you were just gonna let me sleep?”

Yuta shrugged. “It looks good for you if you can prove you accompanied me. Good for your case so you can gain more freedom.” Yuta cleared his throat. “Can I drive you home, Taeyong?”

Yuta thought he saw a hint of pink bloom on Taeyong’s cheeks, but it dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. Taeyong nodded, eyes gluing to the floor mats.

“Thank you, Shategashira . But if it’s too out of the way –”

“Nonsense,” interrupted Yuta. “Just tell me where I’m going.”

The dark, tree-lined reprieve of Ms. Minatozaki’s neighborhood eventually opened up into the neon jungle which consisted most of the city.

“Take a right up ahead,” Taeyong directed.

Yuta took the turn and soon the car was rolling by a street famous for its adult businesses. A love hotel here, a strip club there. Taeyong made a sound in his throat.

“What is it?” asked Yuta.

“I was just figuring that the girl we were watching for and her Mitsubishi man probably meet up in places like this.”

Yuta wondered what Taeyong was getting at. “You’re probably not wrong,” he said. “Though I’d imagine they do it in nicer parts of town.”

“It’s kind of despicable, no?” Taeyong asked, seemingly to himself, head leaning sleepily against the window. “These guys get power and then suddenly they can do whatever they want. Lie to their wives, launder money, you know? Keep left.” Taeyong paused as Yuta followed his direction silently, allowing him to finish his thought.

“I can’t really imagine you guys doing that, with your samurai code of honor and all that.”

Yuta chuckled. This boy either had Stockholm Syndrome or was purposefully trying to get some kind of result out of his musings. “Taeyong, you forget we’re career criminals. Adultery is the tamest thing some yakuza get up to.”

Taeyong smirked, making Yuta surer the other man was playing him to some end. His tired brain felt suddenly electrified.

“Whatever,” said Taeyong. “Just promise you won’t cheat on Momo with some other woman. I’d lose all respect for you. I’m the tall apartment on the right up there, by the way.”

Yuta’s whole body went stiff. This boy . He decided to be honest with Taeyong – at least to the extent that he could still backtrack at any moment.

“That shouldn’t be difficult for me, Taeyong,” he said, pulling over to the curb. “I don’t think about women all that much. Haven’t been with many, either.”

Taeyong didn’t move to get out of the car. Yuta waited in anticipation, feeling both relieved and like he’d dug himself into a hole. He watched how Taeyong’s face roiled in thought, expressions materializing and evaporating as quickly as bubbles in a simmering pot.

Taeyong sighed, finally speaking. “Well have you been with any men, then? Do you think about men?”

Now it was Yuta’s turn to sigh. What had he done? This was so dangerous. The hopeful look on Taeyong’s face egged him on, but what if it was all a trap? What if Taeyong’s entire appearance in Yuta’s life was a setup to ensnare him? He’d barely known him for two weeks. Yuta could kill people but he couldn’t make a decision in this moment. What did Doyoung say about confidence, again? Fuck it.

“I – yes, Taeyong, as a matter of fact, yes.” Yuta looked straight ahead over the steering wheel, feeling like his center of gravity was stuck somewhere in the seat below him and praying to anything at all for Taeyong to just get out of the car. Instead, he felt the other man inch minutely closer.

“Do you…do you think about me?”

Shit . Yuta was not equipped for this. He was used to spaces where he could be clearer on the rules of engagement – where his work wasn’t so wrapped up in his sexual impulses. He dared a glance at Taeyong, who’s eyes were blown out in anticipation. Yes , Yuta thought. God, he wanted to say yes, but he had some sorting to do in his own mind before he could. He gripped the steering wheel and steeled his face and voice.

“I don’t think it would do either of us any good for me to answer that question,” he said lowly, and Taeyong drew back. The look of shame on Taeyong’s face immediately made Yuta want to recant; he was digging himself into a bigger hole.

“I’m trying to protect you, Taeyong, and I think this is the best way to do that,” he tried to clarify. “I hope you understand. I appreciate you accompanying me today, but I need you to go inside now so I can go home. Please.”

Taeyong nodded and turned to open the door with minimal movement, as if trying to take up less space. Once outside the car he leaned over and said, voice distant with formal intonation, “Good night and good work today, Shategashira . Thank you for helping me. I understand, and your secret is safe with me. Excuse me.”

Yuta watched Taeyong bow and hurry to the front door of his building, disappearing within. Yuta couldn’t remember the last time he felt this shit, but he kept playing it over and he could envision no clean ending to the scenarios where he and Taeyong gave in to each other. Yuta started to drive back the way he came, turning the radio on to avoid slipping into the murk of his mind and having an accident or something. No , he assured himself, you did the right thing . It would have to be this way between them; it was for the best.

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architectnews · 4 years

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Tokyo Architecture News: Buildings Designs

Tokyo Architecture News 2020, Japanese Building, Construction Design, Architect, Property Updates

Tokyo Architecture News

Contemporary Japanese Architectural Developments: New Built Environment Updates

post updated 6 Oct 2020

Tokyo Architectural News

Tokyo Building News – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

Tokyo Architecture Designs – chronological list

6 Oct 2020 Metsä Pavilion opens in Tokyo – a showcase of elegant design and fast offsite construction with wooden elements

The elegant Metsä Pavilion highlights innovative architecture based on industrially manufactured wooden elements. The pavilion was built fast and is now ready to host events organised by Business Finland and Finnish businesses. During the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the Metsä Pavilion will serve as a home base for the Finnish national teams. Using Metsä Wood’s Kerto LVL as the main material made the construction fast, light and green.

photo courtesy of architects

The official opening of the Metsä pavilion, located on the grounds of Finnish embassy in Tokyo, will be held on 6 October. The Pavilion stays open until the end of 2021, hosting various events organised by Finnish companies and organisations. The Metsä Pavilion is Business Finland’s project with Metsä Group as the main partner.

“We are happy that many companies have decided to bring their events to the Metsä Pavilion, where wood meets nature scenery on the walls, world-class audio, and design furniture – all from Finland”, says Petri Tulensalo, Head of Sports Cluster at Business Finland.

Industrially efficient wood construction

The Metsä Pavilion is a showcase of how to construct a stylish building quickly and efficiently by using standard elements. The Pavilion was designed by renowned Finnish architectural office Helin & Co. Architects. The designs for all the elements used in the Pavilion are freely available on Metsä Wood’s Open Source Wood platform.

“We value the freedom of the architects and engineers to design in an aesthetically pleasing way. With our Open Source Wood Initiative we want to enable them with a variety of options”, explains Jussi Björman, Director, Business Development, Constructionat Metsä Wood.

The Metsä Pavilion makes the benefits of using prefabricated Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber) elements apparent. The elements were manufactured by a Finnish company, Timberpoint. The production of all the wooden columns, beams, and elements took only seven weeks at the factory.

The assembly of the Pavilion at the construction site was quick. It took only ten days, thanks to the lightweight wooden elements. Additionally, the great workability of Kerto LVL brought rapidness to the process. Puurakentajat was responsible for the construction.

The connections of the Metsä Pavilion are designed so that the building can be disassembled and assembled again at a new location.

Sustainably from Finnish forests

The raw materials for the Kerto LVL used in the Metsä Pavilion comes from sustainably managed Finnish forests where the forests grow more than they are used. Every part of each tree is used in the best possible way, therefore almost nothing goes to waste. By-products like sawdust and bark are utilised, for example, as bioenergy in the production of Kerto LVL.

As with all wood products, Kerto LVL stores carbon throughout the whole lifespan of the buildings built with it.

An end-result to be proud of

The Metsä Pavilion has met the expectations of Business Finland and Metsä Wood. The pavilion is proof that stylish buildings can be constructed efficiently from prefabricated wooden elements. “Historically, the pavilion is one of the biggest investments Business Finland has made in the Japanese market. It is also a great way to contribute to the success of the games, and the Japanese really respect it”, says Tulensalo from Business Finland.

5 Oct 2020 RK Flat RK Flat, Tokyo Apartment Interior

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2 Aug 2019 Angelo Mangiarotti – La Tettonica dell’Assemblaggi, Italian Cultural Institute, 2-1-30 Kudanminami, Chiyoda-ku Design: tomomi kito architect & associates photo courtesy of Vistosi Angelo Mangiarotti Exhibition This great exhibition is a tribute to the work and the thought of Angelo Mangiarotti, architect, sculptor and designer.

12 Jan 2019 Furusaki Tokyo Office, Nakano-ku Design: Hiroyuki Niwa with Yuki Imafuku photographer: Hiroyuki Hori Furusaki Tokyo Office Building

12 Sep 2018 Tokyo Parking Tower Competition

10 May 2018 Tatsumi Apartment House Design: Hiroyuki Ito Architects photo © Makoto Yhoshida RIBA Awards for International Excellence 2018 A minimal residence in Japan, this house is a direct response to the needs of a fast-paced and dynamic population. There is a compelling logic to the use of a limited amount of space that resolves difficulties and creates comfort and calm.

Toho Gakuen School of Music Design: NIKKEN SEKKEI photo © Harunori Noda This virtuoso piece of architecture has an august almost village like quality with its independent teaching spaces, clever accouustic treatments and neat communal spaces. It adroitly allows for flexibility, adaptation and improvisation by its students whilst retaining an order and formality.

7 May 2018 Musashino Art University Museum & Library Building

3 May 2018 Ota Art Museum & Library, Gunma Prefecture Architects: akihisa hirata architecture office photo : Daici Ano Ota Art Museum & Library Building Ota City has a population of about 220,000 people, and the number of users of the station exceeds 10,000 people in a day. But few people walk in front of the station, shopping streets are quiet. To pioneer breakthroughs for such a situation prevailing throughout Japan, it is the purpose of construction to bring life back in front of Ota Station.

30 Apr 2018 Archasm Tokyo Anti Library Competition

18 Feb 2018 The Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo

2 Jan 2018 Green Triangle – Aoyama 346, Minamiaoyama, Minato Design: Ryuichi Sasaki + Rieko Okumura/ Sasaki Architecture photo © Koichi Torimura Green Triangle – Aoyama 346 in Tokyo A three-story office and retail complex in the Minami Aoyama area.

20 Nov 2017 House for Four Generations Design: tomomi kito architect & associates photograph : Satoshi Shigeta House for Four Generations This is an interior renovation project of an existing two-story timber structure house in Tokyo which was built approximately 40 years ago. The clients, a young couple and the wife’s parents, were already living here before the renovation.

13 Nov 2017 Giant Bubble Installation Design: studio ENESS photograph : Larissa LP Giant Bubble Installation Mori Art Museum Design recently selected installation design studio ENESS to send their giant Bubble sculpture from Melbourne to Tokyo, Japan. The audience was encouraged to “please touch” the pulsating six meter-wide sculpture, which responded to human touch and closeness with light and sound.

7 Nov 2017 R・torso・C Residence Architects: Atelier TEKUTO photo : Jérémie Souteyrat、SOBAJIMA, Toshihiro R・torso・C Residence in Tokyo This house is located in the center of Tokyo, on a site area of mere 66 sqm. The clients are a married couple both working in the field of chemistry, sharing a passion for architecture and art.

Tokyo Houses – recent contemporary properties in the Japanese capital city

31 Jul 2017 Yoyogi National Gymnasium Design: Architect Kenzo Tange Photo courtesy Japan Sport Council Yoyogi National Gymnasium When Japan was preparing to host the first-ever Olympic Games in Asia in the early 1960s, the state commissioned eventual Pritzker Prize-winning architect Kenzo Tange to build a pivotal venue for the event. Tange responded with the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, two elegant concrete and steel buildings that gained immediate international recognition as masterpieces of modern architecture when their doors opened in 1964.

9 Jun 2017 Perrotin Art Gallery, 6-6-9 Roppongi, Minato-ku Architect: Andre Fu photography: Nacas, courtesy of Perrotin Tokyo Perrotin Art Gallery Building Following openings in Paris, Hong Kong, New York and Seoul, contemporary art gallery Perrotin, founded in 1989 by Emmanuel Perrotin, opened its newest gallery in Tokyo on June 7th with a solo exhibition bringing together a collection of recent paintings by 97 year old Pierre Soulages.

20 May 2017 Tropical Forest Timber at New National Stadium Tokyo Design: Kengo Kuma & Associates image courtesy of architects New National Stadium Tokyo Timber Investigation required as use of plywood likely linked to tropical forest destruction and human rights abuses found at construction site of new Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Ironically the building uses a lot of wood so it can fit into the wooden context, but thereby destroying woods in Borneo, in what appears to be an unssustainable way.

Vertical Cemetery in Tokyo

Indigo Waterfall Tokushima LED Art Festival, Japan

Terrazza Shirokane Restaurant in Tokyo

Next Tokyo Mile High Skyscraper by KPF

New National Stadium Tokyo Designs

Futako Tamagawa Masterplan

New National Stadium Tokyo

New National Stadium of Japan in Tokyo

Tallest buildings in Japan

Tokyo Music Centre Competition

More Tokyo Architecture News online soon

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Buildings in the Japanese Capital City

Tokyo Architecture Designs – chronological list

Tokyo Buildings : news + major projects

Tokyo Architects Offices

Tokyo Building Designs

Tokyo Houses

TBWAHakuhodo offices Design: Klein Dytham architecture Tokyo offices

Japanese Architecture – key buildings + design projects

Tokyo Architect : Practice Listings

Tokyo Store Buildings

Tokyo Building Developments

Buildings / photos for the Tokyo Buildings News – Japanese Architecture page welcome

Website: Architecture

The post Tokyo Architecture News: Buildings Designs appeared first on e-architect.

#e-architect

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3dsrendercom · 4 years

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Tokujin Yoshioka shares three-step template for emergency face shields

Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka has created a quick and easy face shield for healthcare workers fighting Covid-19, which attaches to the wearer's glasses. Yoshioka's template design can be used to create a face shield in three simple steps from a clear sheet of PET or PVC plastic. Printed on an A3 piece of paper, the template can be placed over the top of a clear sheet of plastic and used as a guideline for cutting around the edge of the shape. The user can then make cuts into the plastic sheet over the two small lines indicated towards the top of the template on opposite sides. The two temple arms of the wearer's glasses can then be slotted into these incisions, leaving the glasses protected by the shield as they sit behind it on the user's face.

"I am grateful to the brave and dedicated healthcare workers for fighting the contagious disease," said Yoshioka. "I'd like to share my quick and simple face shield idea for emergency situation with shortage of medical supplies," he added. "I hope this can be of any help to healthcare workers."

Yoshioka joins a host of designers and architects also creating pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to help replenish the shortages brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. US physician and epidemiologist Michael Edmond has recommended that everyone should try and wear a face shield. "I believe that if every person wore a face shield when out of their home, we would bend the curve faster and return to normal life sooner," he told Dezeen. Architecture studio Foster + Partners has designed a laser-cut face shield that can be manufactured quickly and disassembled, sanitised and reused after wearing. Nike has also created face shields and lenses for air-purifying respirators with materials from its footwear, while Apple has shared its design for face shields made from three pieces: the face shield, a forehead strap and a silicone strap.

Yoshioka's template can be downloaded for free using the following link. The template includes three different shield sizes: a large size with a height of 250 millimetres (mm) and a width of 265 mm, a medium size of 215 mm by 265 mm, or a smaller size of 200 mm by 265 mm. The designer's studio has also shared an instruction video showing how to assemble the face shield on its Instagram, Twitter and YouTube channels. One of Yoshioka's most recent designs was for the 2020 Olympic torch, which he designed to resemble Japan's traditional cherry blossom flower. The games, however, have been postponed until next year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Set to begin in Tokyo on 24 July, the Olympics will now take place "no later than summer 2021". The post Tokujin Yoshioka shares three-step template for emergency face shields appeared first on Dezeen. Source link Read the full article

#archdaily #architektur #decor #furniture #photography #sky

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sinangoral2017-blog · 7 years

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[07.01.17] it seems a bit strange to wrap up my last couple of days in japan with a dissection of yesterday’s visit to typeone and spoon, but trust me - i think it’ll all make sense. even if you’re bored by ‘car culture,’ my hope is that if you read this entry, you can gain an appreciation for something that is considered as one of the many staples of japan’s nationalistic pride.

i’ve explored incredible architecture in tokyo and osaka. i’ve studied farming techniques in odawara and tottori. i’ve witnessed japan’s craze with electronics, anime, music, and video games in akihabara. and, of course, i’ve eaten the strangest foods throughout the whole country. still, one unexplored realm that was staring me in the face remained - japan’s precedent-setting tuner and automotive culture. ultimately, the impact that automotive magnates like toyota, subaru, datsun (nissan), and honda had on the world through design strategies and economic competition is something that i wanted to soak up before i left.

those of you who know me well likely are aware of my interests in automotive design and mechanics. i’ve always been a tinkerer, taking the utmost solace in working on my 1967 chevy c10 pickup truck. i also, for a while, seriously invested my time into motorcycles, all to satisfy what seemed to be a growing obsession with motor related things. at the helm of this obsession, for numerous reasons, was a fan-boy obsession with the history and work of the honda motor company.

the birth of honda is an incredible one, rich with stories of war complications, clashing nationalistic ideals, and redemption. though i won’t go into it, if you’re interested, you can learn more, here. in many ways, it’s this impressive story which had paved such a promising future for the company. it is also the catalyst of my obsession with honda’s racing heritage, history, and its overall ethos. honda, like so many of the other big-name japanese automotive companies, echoes the same japanese discipline that i’ve been citing in my previous posts, but at a greater scale and over a longer time.

with this nationalistic respect towards honda (and others) comes an equal appreciation of their tuner companies. just as how mercedes benz signs over tuning rights to AMG, chevrolet trusts callaway, and subraru works intimately with STI, honda’s racing name relies on spoon. spoon, which deals with the design of various aftermarket parts, depends on the mechanics and fabricators at typeone for installing. in this way, a complicated, albeit communicative relationship is formed between honda, spoon, and typeone, and thus all are on a national spotlight.

as it turns out, my visit to typeone and spoon had just occurred after the world famous automotive journalists at jalopnik wrote an article on their own summer visit. seeing what they saw, and what they didn’t, for that matter, was extremely thrilling. when considering that spoon and typeone are almost hidden with their modest street fronts and minimal signage, the fact that they output such exciting and precedent setting work is surprising.

the clinical cleanliness of the shop is overwhelming. i’ve never seen a metal fabrication station so clean. the sheen given off by the clean and polished floor is akin to the reflectivity of still water. i apologetically glanced at the two mechanics in the shop as i squeaked past them in my sandles, but neither of them seemed to care. both were busy at work, attending to the lime green ap2 2005 honda s2000 restoration, only speaking when they needed to. “8!” one would grunt, followed by “10!” it took me a while to realize that, while one mechanic was under the car, he was calling on his other mechanic who was above the car for various socket sizes. they explained to me that they were ‘completely rebuilding the body from the shell on up.” (the s2000 isn’t a traditional body-on-frame vehicle, but rather a more sophisticated and single-piece monocoque. you can imagine, then, the intense hours it takes to reshape any bent or corroded metal, just on the frame, alone.) the owner had purchased the vehicle as an original owner, driven it for close to ten years, sensed nothing wrong, but wanted to be sure the vehicle was pure as per the the purists at typeone. so yes - a stock car, returned to stock. still, the project has taken over 2 months so far. with an incredibly dedicated attitude, the mechanics take their time to be sure that the best thing that they can possibly create is delivered.

along with the cleanliness of the place, the architecture of the shop is worth describing. it’s a two-story complex, where customers drop off their s2000s, civics, and integras on the first floor. a master engine builder works on the vehicles’ motors down here, and is equipped to fully disassemble and rebuild any motor, if need be. a car is then transported above with a hydraulic lift, where all other facets of the vehicle are attended to (suspension, chassis, body, paint, etc). as such, most of the work happens on the second floor, which is also where all of my photographs were taken (with the exception of the s2000 that was for sale on the street).

a pretty neat later model civic hatchback was in the corner of the shop, stripped of all ‘unnecessary luxuries.’ do you like carpeting? unnecessary. sound deadening material? no need. all plastics - even the door trims - were eliminated to save weight. seeing the exposed shift linkage was pretty cool - a stock piece, i was told.

i actually held my breadth when i saw the “holy trinity” (maybe only i call it that) of vehicles - an original 1965 honda s800m coupe, an ap1 2003 honda s2000 race car, and a 2016 honda s660 racing prototype. seeing this evolution of the s-line from old to new was something quite special for me, especially since i am an s2000 owner and geek myself. i had never seen an s660 in person (we can’t even import them into the states if we wanted to), so seeing one right in front of me - let alone a race spec, carbon-fiber adorning car - was just nutty. the s2000 was a cup car that the team have been racing for a couple of seasons. i especially admired all the dents, rust, and loose parts that still embellished the car. noone changes them, apparently, because noone has to. you can tell where certain parts have been spray painted over, and where bondo filler marks remain. so cool - because racecar.

personally, i’m really excited to see what spoon and typeone does with the new civic type r - a highly anticipated and acclaimed return by honda to the ‘r’ sport series. daisuke (my contact there, and also the second daisuke i’ve met in japan) expressed interest in this as well, though he said he cannot comment on it much at the moment.

as i pack my bags and get ready to return to minneapolis for a couple of recovery days before iceland, i can’t help but reflect on my month in this incredible country and be amazed at the diversity in experiences i’ve had. at a basal level, my time at typeone and spoon helped feed my hunger for all-things-honda. more importantly, however, my recent visits helped me better understand why the japanese are so proud of what they do. may it be culture or food, textiles or vehicles - japan is full to the brim with discipline, ability, and pride, and i think that they’re utterly justified. and so, it’s for this reason that i cap off my visit to this enigmatic part of the world with a strange entry on a set of honda tuner companies.

the next time i write, i’ll be in the comfort of my minnesota home and in the company of my brilliant mom who will hopefully be feeding me exuberant amounts of traditional turkish food. she’s a busy woman with work, so wish me luck on that last one.

japan, it has been real. thank you. sayonara!

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micaramel · 4 years

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Artists: Kazuhito Tanaka, Futo Akiyoshi

Venue: KAYOKOYUKI, Tokyo

Exhibition Title: Either / Or

Date: July 4 – August 2, 2020

Click here to view slideshow

Full gallery of images, press release and link available after the jump.

Images:

Images courtesy of KAYOKOYUKI, Tokyo

Press Release:

We are pleased to announce that KAYOKOYUKI will present a group show by Futo Akiyoshi and Kazuhito Tanaka entitled Either / Or. This exhibition consists of a series of works that Akiyoshi and Tanaka have been developing in recent years.

In Futo Akiyoshi’s series, he paints on a series of two-connected canvases, disassembles them when he has completed multiple paintings, and then joins one-half of the canvases with another half to create a new series of two-connected canvases. There, the independence and unity of painting as a subject is torn apart, and the collective and social nature of painting appears. It also becomes a metaphor for human existence in society, and it reflects the relationship between the individual and the individual, and between the individual and society. Kazuhito Tanaka’s PP series is made up of photographs (on the photographic paper) exposed in various colors on top of paintings drawn from the perspective of the history of abstract painting. The composition of this series has been carefully considered over a period of time, while maintaining the medium and process of both “photography” with delicate printing operations and “painting” with improvisational nature, the artist integrates them into a single image and by doing so the artist attempts to have them repeatedly reversing and restoring themselves, simultaneously dismantling each other.

Given the history of their work to date, these series are significant in the sense that they are deconstructing that history themselves.

Akiyoshi has been questioning what makes a painting a painting by applying rules and contingencies, mixing various techniques, visualizing the production process, and emphasizing the materiality of the works. While Tanaka has been focusing on the relationship between painting and photography, he has been experimenting with the possibility of new abstract expression through photography from various angles, and his attitude of recognizing the experience of “looking at a painting” through photography has been consistent for the whole time.

There seems to be an underlying trust in, or a longing for, a modern value system, that makes “painting” pure and independent which already on the verge of being lost. Yet, in their recent series, they have dismantled the completeness and independence of the concept of “one painting” and we can read a willingness to make a breakthrough towards the incomplete, the omnipresent, and the plural. We would like to invite you to discover new horizons of the two artists, who are constantly asking the fundamental questions of what is “painting” and what is “photography”.

FUTO AKIYOSHI

Born in 1977 in Osaka, Japan. Graduated with BA in 2001, with MA in 2003 from Nagoya University of Arts, Japan. Core to Akiyoshi’s painting is the quest about what makes the canvas and paint into a painting. He has been enjoying this quest from the beginning of his career, through manifold of approaches including not only painting but also sculpture, photography and video. Following five representative series of his painting are the examples of his creation; A certain aspect (mountain) , Room, naked relations, something too much, and We meet only to part. Through these works, he has explored the ways in which borderlines from the painting practice is articulated through painterly relationships. He has been based in Osaka, Berlin, and Aichi, and has shown his works in Japan and abroad. Recent solo exhibitions include Something of Painting Part 3, Minatomachi POTLUCK BUILDING, Aichi (2019), We meet only to part, TARO NASU, Tokyo (2018), All for One, SEXAUER, Berlin (2018), etc. Recent selected group exhibitions include COME TOGETHER, SEXAUER, Berlin (2020) , Aichi Art Chronicle 1919 – 2019, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan (2019), 19th DOMANI, The National Art Center, Tokyo (2016), Temporal Measures, White Rainbow, London (2014), From a Quiet Distance, PARKHAUS im Malkastenpark, Düsseldorf (2014), THE ECHO, Kunstraum Kreuzberg / Bethanien, Berlin (2014, 2012), Aichi Triennale 2010, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Aichi (2010), Garden of Painting – Japanese Art of the 00s, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Osaka (2010).

KAZUHITO TANAKA

Born in 1973 in Saitama, Japan. After graduating Meiji University in 1996 and then working as a corporate employee, he moved to New York. Guraduated from School of VISUAL ARTS (NY) in 2004. Questioning the relations in between photography and painting, he explores new abstract expressions using photographic medium. He also organizes exhibitions as a curator in parallel with his career as an artist. He is a director of artist-run- space soda founded by him in 2018 in Kyoto. Currently lives and works in Kyoto and Saitama. Recent solo exhibitions include Trans / Real –The potensial of Intangible Art vol.7 Kazuhito Tanaka, gallery M, Tokyo (2017), pLastic_fLowers, Maki Fine Arts, Tokyo (2015), high & dry, Gallery PARC, Kyoto (2014), etc. Recent group exhibitions include NEW BALANCE #3, XYZ collective, Tokyo (2015), hyper-materiality on photo, G/P gallery shinonome, Tokyo (2015), etc. Recent curations include Photographs by 7 Painters, soda, Kyoto (2018), NEW INTIMACIES, Hotel Anteroom Kyoto Gallery 9.5, Kyoto (2014), Her Name is ABSTRA, Daido-Soko, Kyoto (2012), etc. He was awarded TOKYO FRONTLINE PHOTO AWARD 2011.

Link: Kazuhito Tanaka, Futo Akiyoshi at KAYOKOYUKI

from Contemporary Art Daily https://bit.ly/2Esnuvz

#micaramel

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coin-river-blog · 6 years

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An association of 16 cryptocurrency exchanges is working on a draft of self-imposed rules in a continuing attempt to secure the industry following the Coincheck hack. The vote on these rules is set for June 27.

Next week, Japan's Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) will vote on a proposed set of voluntary rules intended to improve the security and transparency of virtual currency exchanges.

The 16 member exchanges came together in March, in the wake of the theft of roughly $530 million worth of NEM from the Tokyo-based exchange Coincheck.

According to a report in the Nikkei Asian Review, the new rules, which currently span nearly 100 pages, would ban insider trading, prohibit exchanges from accepting new currencies that "cannot be traced to previous sellers" (commonly known as privacy coins), and expand consumer protections. The new regulations would also require individual exchanges to perform audits and report the results to the JVCEA.

This JVCEA has not been the only Japanese attempt to more tightly regulate cryptocurrency exchanges since the Coincheck theft. In February, the FSA began inspections of exchanges, ordering some to cease operations. At a recent meeting of the Financial Action Task Force, the international anti-money laundering organization, a Japanese official claimed Japan would be seeking a prominent role in establishing binding, international rules for cryptocurrency exchanges.

Tim Prentiss is a writer and editor for ETHNews. He has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno. He lives in Reno with his daughter. In his spare time he writes songs and disassembles perfectly good electronic devices.

ETHNews is committed to its Editorial Policy

Like what you read? Follow us on Twitter @ETHNews_ to receive the latest Virtual Currency Exchange Association, Japan or other Ethereum wallets and exchanges news.

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vmzincscolumn · 7 years

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TO THE POINT – VMZINC’s column

Saga - The fabulous destiny of La Vieille Montagne:

Episode 7 : The inter-war period: the advent of industrial electrolysis

Before the First World War, Vieille Montagne had 7 mining and metallurgical sites in Belgium, 11 in France, 8 in North Africa, 3 in Germany, 2 in Sweden, 4 in England, 4 in Italy and 2 in Spain, as well as commercial consignees all over the Planet, from Mexico to Havana, Tokyo to New York, via Alexandria, Moscow and St. Petersburg!

Several years later, the two largest producer countries, Belgium and Germany, were severely affected by the war, as was France, where the productive potential of the Viviez-Penchot plant in the Aveyron region had been restricted, as activity there had been pushed to its limits to supply the national defence forces with extra-pure zinc (alloys including brass for munitions) and sulphuric and nitric acid (explosives)

The world zinc market was in a state of upheaval, both in terms of ore and primary zinc, marketed mainly in Europe and North America. Indeed, during the war, it was in the United States that zinc underwent its most striking evolution, where production tripled in modern new mechanised plants, some of which were already using the new electrolytic process.

From thermal transformation to electrolytic zinc

At Vieille Montagne, the redevelopment crisis of 1919 to 1921 was very severe as it was marked not only by a decrease in production (*) but also a decrease in prices, profits and employment. At the same time, competition in the North and Pas de Calais regions of France (Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines, Pennaroya) was rapidly reviving as each company was rightly focusing on significant development of demand, as demonstrated in America. In any case, company directors in the sector could now make a strong and clearly proven argument: their activity had obviously become crucial for manufacturing arms and explosives!

(*) from 68,000 tons in 1913, French production had decreased to below 19,000 tons by 1920!

So World War I had shown the directors of Vieille Montagne that it would perhaps be wiser to strengthen their activity in the south of France rather than nearby the large ports on the North Sea, which, due to their strategic importance, had become strong factors of power in the case of conflicts and therefore key targets during bombardments!

This relocation would be accompanied by a technological transformation that was to be decisive for the future of the company.

Since 1918, the Vieille Montagne managers had been considering which new orientation to give to this site, but they waited 3 years, and in a healthier context, things gradually became clearer!

At the plant in the Aveyron region, the old process known as the “dry” process had been constantly improved between 1871 and 1917. But although the production volumes and profitability had increased considerably, the engineers were sure and certain on the eve of the war that the potential gains would be very restricted in the future and, despite the efforts made, working conditions could not remain as they were.

So in 1922, Vieille Montagne decided to take a risk on massive investment in industrial electrolysis. For the first time in Europe, this process based on electric energy was being used (*) in the transformation of zinc ore in an ultra modern plant, and the Viviez site was chosen for this!

(*) This process was copied in 1929 by the Norwegian subsidiary (Der Norske Zinkkompani) of Vieille Montagne’s main competitor, the Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines. It was envisaged in the Pyrenees in 1925 by Pennaroya, but the idea was rapidly abandoned.

In order to meet its energy needs, Vieille Montagne had to build dams on the river Lot and hydro-electric plants to supply electricity for its electrolysis.

But the adoption of the new process engendered some difficulties. Management at the plant worked in successive adaptation phases between December 1921 (tests on what was called “small electrolysis”) and the beginning of 1928, when the thermal process was completely abandoned.

Finally, the purity of zinc obtained and the improvement of yield and working conditions were so impressive it was decided to use the French experience to install the innovative process in 1935 at the Vieille Montagne plant in Baelen, in the Campine region of Belgium.

(See the 1st photo above: Electrolysis process in Balen - 1935)

(More information on this can be found in the book entitled “L’adoption du procédé électrolytique par l’usine Vieille Montagne de Viviez (1922-1931)”(The adoption of the electrolysis process by the Vieille Montagne plant in Viviez (1922-1931)”) by A. Boscus, published by Editions Siècles – Cahiers du Centre d’Histoire “espaces et cultures” in 2005)

Industrial growth that boosted the zinc market

At the end of the First World War and after the 1929 crisis - two events that significantly destabilised industry and transport - worldwide consumption of zinc enjoyed a phase of strong and lasting growth, due to new uses of the material. One such new use was the fantastic success of galvanisation, making it possible to effectively protect steel in industrial conditions. Galvanisation experienced constant growth in the United States (infrastructures, plants, shopping malls….).

(Editor’s note: the process was reproduced in the same manner recently with the fantastic growth of economies in Asia including China, where growth in zinc consumption soared from the 1990s. We will come back to this.)

The zinc market also benefitted from growth in the use of cars, because zinc is used to manufacture tyres and also in the many moulded parts made using zamak1 (carburettor, window and headlight surrounds, door handles, windscreen wipers, protection grids and radiator caps, etc.).

Second World War: Vieille Montagne opts to continue production from 1940 to 1945, but under certain conditions.

In 1939, drawing inspiration from the experience of the First World War, Vieille Montagne and Union Minière (a company created in 1906 to exploit copper mines in the Congo and Haut Katanga), decided to maintain its activity in France if Belgium was occupied. As a precautionary measure, stocks of metal were stored in Antwerp, Bruges, Ostend and Le Havre, so that they could be rapidly evacuated in the case of an invasion.

(Photo: Destruction of the Bray-et-Lû factory - 1941)

The roll-out of the German troops was beyond all expectations. In just a few days, Belgium was occupied and France capitulated. The occupier immediately set about reopening the plants and wanted to appoint German engineers to manage them. Although Belgian industry refused to work for Germany, there was an imminent threat of famine and deportation of workers. Therefore the only possible option was to start work again under German control, striving to refuse production of war material.

So the Belgian non-ferrous industrial plants continued to produce, but they applied the following principles:

· No specific production outside of the activity previously conducted during peacetime,

· Accept orders while resisting and carry out orders as slowly as possible.

· No production of arms or munitions

· Do not act with a view to financial gain.

(Photo: Visit of the Balen factory by German occupiers - 1940)

Vieille Montagne applied these rules notably at its plants in Baelen and Viviez.

By way of anecdote, in all the European countries they dominated and with a view to supplying their plants, the Germans recovered metal by any means possible, especially non-ferrous metals. This is why they seized and disassembled church bells. In less than three years, Belgium lost two thirds of its church bells, leaving this heritage greatly depleted and church belfries all over the country silent...

(Photo: stock of bells in Hamburg)

Before finishing this 7th episode of the Vieille Montagne Saga, I have to tell you an anecdote that moved me and that very few people know of.

It happened on the VMZINC stand at the BATIMAT trade show in 2013. Amidst architects and roofers, I was presenting our products and speaking with clients when I was shown an older man who wanted to speak to me. He introduced himself and straight away said to me in a very respectful manner: “dear sir, I owe my life to your company. I have great respect for Vieille Montagne!”. I thought he was a former roofer who loved our material and had perhaps been helped by one of our technicians.

But he continued: “if you have a few minutes, I’d like to tell you my story”. And so he began to tell me of the 1940 exodus, his mother who fled Belgium and found herself, pregnant with him, walking the roads of France in the middle of July to escape the Germans. She went from town to town, and happened to end up in Aubin in the Decazeville basin, where she was taken in by the Director of the Vieille Montagne plant and his wife. She gave birth to this little Jewish boy who was to spend most of the war hidden, with a few other children, with this discreet family who had accepted to run all the risks.

He held out his business card and left just as he had arrived, leaving me feeling pensive and proud to work for this company.

In the next episode, I will tell you about Vieille Montagne at the end of the Second World War and the unshakeable optimism of its managers, who were fully determined to pursue the redevelopment of their company.

VMZINC

Article - 2017/05/15

#VieilleMontagne #Zinc #ZincStory

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peakwealth · 7 years

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FIVE YEARS ON

An Anniversary (2012-2017)

Hazy night in Hong Kong, Kowloon side (March 2006)

English is not my native tongue and it shows on every page I write. The older I get the less certain I am that my brain can actually operate in English. I get my tenses wrong. There are gallicisms and other unwitting perversions borrowed from other languages. I have never mastered the proper order of things in an English sentence (see!), nor have I figured out how to balance that sentence so that it lands softly on its hind legs. Punctuation is haphazard. The musicality of the language eludes me. Example: Mary had a little lamb and everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go. I could never ever write a sentence one-fiftieth as eloquent as that - in any language for that matter. I lack the poetic instinct for no other reason that I am a natural skeptic, not a poet. But I try. And I keep making corrections as I reread material and ask myself how I could get it so wrong. How come I did not spot a repetition, a typo, une maladresse, etc...

I think I'm learning. This blog has helped me to do that, though I have no illusions about ever getting it right. It ain't literature, I’m not Nabokov.

***

When I decided to start a blog five years ago, in January 2012, I called it 'Sniffaround' because that is basically what I do when I go walkabout. If you see a canine analogy there, you're right. While 'Sniffaround' certainly isn't a proper online record or 'log' in any sense of the word (certainly not the impulsive sort of thing that social media like Tumblr are intended for), it vaguely tracks my movements. And it is true that travel still triggers my curiosity. Once I'm on the go, I start noticing things. As for the word blog, I'm no more comfortable with this ugly neologism today than I was five years ago. What can I do? I'm from another century.

***

Five years is not a long time. Many things change but not so much as to render them truly passé or belonging to a bygone era. On the other hand, the wheels of history do grind perceptibly in the course of five years, especially if those five years happen to be as historic as these: the undoing of Western democracies, the continued rise of violent jihadism, Donald Trump's election, looming environmental collapse and a wider sense of gathering chaos.

It leaves me more than a little apprehensive about the next five years.

***

Chinese tourists (Beijing, September 2016)

Not all of the blog posts, 257 in total, deal with such weighty subjects. A few were written at the spur of the moment, but most took a long time to concoct, sometimes months, sitting in a corner of my desktop, evolving, mutating, waiting for clarity to rise from the heap of ideas. Others just popped into my head and then lingered there, unfinished. (I know one should beware of sudden ideas but I am one of those people who still get up in the middle of the night to write down a thought that somehow seems too valuable to ignore. Ha!)

The outcome has been an unpredictable mix of subjects: from noisy tractors in China or the decline of public transport in Malaysia, to the price paid to Colombian coffee farmers or 'the demographic elephant in the room' (a recurring theme). I wrote about the Inquisition, about the culpable proliferation of junk food around the world, about the forgotten tragedies of European wars ("local boys plucked from their family farms, dressed up in silly uniforms and shipped to their cheap, irrelevant deaths") and sometimes I just wrote rambling pieces about the lack of hot water in Ethiopian hotels or the idiosyncracies of in-flight video maps. In the last two or three years I have inevitably become more concerned with serious matters as the global balance of power shifts away from the old 'West' and things start to look shaky for ‘us’.

After a visit to San Francisco in the spring of 2012, I touched on the cult of Diesel jeans which, when you look at it now, accurately prefigured the rise of populism and the political gangsterism that has brought us the likes of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Diesel marketing celebrated the idea of "stupid" as embodied in the slogan ‘SMART MAY HAVE THE BRAINS BUT STUPID HAS THE BALLS’. I thought it was eye-opening. Suddenly soccer hooliganism and neo-fascism no longer looked so hard to understand. But I hoped it was just a blip of the Zeitgeist and that it would go away.

Not so. Stupid, the diffuse pushback against reason, civility and tolerance has gained a lot of political traction since then. With Donald Trump in the White House, the pushback is no longer diffuse. Trump is its very incarnation.

***

The single most frequent subject has been China with some 25 posts if I include Hong Kong, which perhaps I shouldn't. Some of these posts were quite substantial. Clearly I could not let go of so fascinating a subject, perhaps because I've been a visitor to the PRC since the beginning of the eighties and have thus witnessed China's unimaginable transformation. Not that I ever developed a great affinity for China, hardly surprising since I do not speak the language. As for Hong Kong, which has changed so very little by comparison, I immediately took to it and still think of it as the world's greatest city. I shall return soon as the territory marks its 20th year under increasingly heavy-handed Chinese sovereignty.

Ageing Japan (Central Tokyo, September 2016)

If I have not gone sniffing around Japan as much, or written about it, it is mostly because of cost. For too long it was a frightfully expensive place. But after inflation flatlined for two decades, the relative cost went down and I returned. Today's Japan's is an eerily static society, a nation-state approaching retirement. It is the first major country to settle into civilized decline.

Japan's post-war transformation had already peaked by the time I first got there, thirty-five years ago. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Tokyo today is not terribly different from what it was then. Although it faces almost insurmountable challenges of population collapse and eventual bankruptcy, Japan has shown remarkable wisdom and restraint in managing its decline (at least so far). It remains quirky, non-violent, noticeably more egalitarian than other rich countries; the people lead healthier, longer lives than anywhere else. And I like the food.

***

A few topics were not the fruit of travel but of sedentary summers in Montréal, none more so than my battle with the magnum opus of the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, 'A Secular Age', which kept me intermittently busy for a long time until I gave up, though not until I had vented my displeasure at so much 'professorial incontinence' in July 2014.

I didn't stop there. The widespread renaissance of divine sentiment, obscurantism and religious militancy kept me on my toes to the extent that I unburdened myself in a six-parter called 'In Bad Faith' which I started more than a year later, after a great deal of reading. I then illustrated it with religious street music recorded during Semana Santa in Málaga, a musical ritual so dark and soaked in centuries of genocidal conflict and religious madness it hardly bears thinking about.

***

Writing is, of necessity, a solitary, reclusive activity. Readership has never been a concern of mine. I have no idea if anyone reads or listens to what I post, except for the odd friend who will give some feedback in person. It does not matter. Although blogs are public by nature, mine serves primarily as a tool for extracting clarity from the avalanche of ideas and confusion that surrounds me (just as it surrounds most other people). In my case, it has become a ritual of intellectual hygiene, however modest.

My friend George often tells me to add more pictures, believing they would attract readers (or somehow mitigate the dullness of the writing?). The thing is that I'm not an intuitive photographer. Still I do use my own pictures (with one or two exceptions) and give them some thought. I tried my hand at three photographic explorations or essays: along the militarized Green Line that divides the Greek and Turkish sides of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus; the aesthetic magnificence and architectural balance of a Chinese mansion in Songkhla, in the deep south of Thailand; and, recently, the startling reconstruction of the imperial city of Datong, in the north of China. All three were planned and gave me great pleasure.

***

Finally, there is the audio. How I got into sound is a long story, probably going back to childhood when my father gave me a toy tape recorder. It was a plastic box from Japan with a beige lid and a single lever, but it came with a schematic notice, printed on yellow paper, explaining the theory of magnetic recording. I disassembled the machine and was hooked.

Before the advent of digital recorders with built-in microphones, I used to travel with a set of microphones, cables, spare batteries and a lovely cassette deck (repeatedly stolen), taping all over the world. The blog has featured thirty-five audio posts so far. Some were just personal musings, walking around Paris or travelling by AMTRAK train across the USA. Others stood out for the sheer beauty of the sound: Bosphorus ferries blowing their horns on a fogbound morning in Istanbul; trains passing in the night in Assam, Northern India; the official Thai time signal at 8 AM; polyphonic singing in the Georgian capital Tiblisi or soppy ranchero music in deepest Paraguay.

A few times I tried more ambitious recording projects, like audio landscapes of Tokyo or the parades of Easter Week in Málaga. I also used my own archives to check the acoustic evolution of Milano Centrale railway station over a quarter century. I realize that hardly anyone ever listens to these evocative things, certainly not with the adequate playback gear for which they were intended. I keep a vast archive of unused material gathering dust under my bed in Montréal. More may be coming!

Derek Vertongen

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micaramel · 5 years

Link

Artist: Tam Ochiai

Venue: Tomio Koyama, Tokyo

Exhibition Title: Itinerary, non?

Date: January 12 – February 9, 2019

Click here to view slideshow

Full gallery of images, press release, and link available after the jump.

Images:

Press Release:

Tomio Koyama Gallery is pleased to present, Itinerary, non?, a solo exhibition of works by Tam Ochiai. The exhibition marks the artist’s first solo presentation in Tokyo in nine years since his show, spies are only revealed when they get caught at WATARIUM Museum in 2010, and as his sixth solo exhibition with Tomio Koyama Gallery since his previous showing at the gallery’s Kyoto space in 2012, features a series of new painting works.

Tam Ochiai’s practice encompasses a range of different media from drawing, painting, three-dimensional works, videos, performance, book production, to writing poetry and text. His works unearth hidden meanings and contingencies in the various things that exist within the world such as names, feline animals, words, cities, and even death itself, presenting complex and unfettered significations that resonate and enrich the imagination. Ochiai’s very own process of association is made manifest as forms through the linkage and engagement of colors and lines.

[About the Exhibition]

A total of 12 painting works, one representing each month of the year, are presented in the exhibition. Each month is depicted with a different background color, upon which the names of holidays and national holidays celebrated that month in various countries across the world are painted along with the names of their cities. The works thus serve as an “itinerary,” inviting viewers to travel the cities of the globe through their respective holidays.

These suggested itineraries, that attempt to travel the world within a short span of time, suggest highly tiresome journeys that, in reality, would be impossible to fulfill. However, if it were possible to actually realize these trips, we could constantly be experiencing a “holiday or national holiday” wherever we may be. Through limited elements of “words” and “colors,” the works are able to convey not only various seasonal imageries, the cities of the world and their respective holidays, but also describe an ever expanding distant horizon and collapsing spans of time.

What had served as the initial idea for this work surrounding the theme of holidays was a drawing Ochiai presented in New York in 2008. Derived from the concept of “things that are a surplus (noise)” such as “a cat’s tail” and “mistakes” that he had contemplated within his practice at the time, Ochiai observed that “holidays” could also be considered as a “surplus” or “additional thing.”

This painting series had originally gained its formalistic inspiration from “L’Oeil cacodylate,” a work composed of various words and text created by French painter Francis Picabia in 1921 (translating to the “Cacodylic Eye” in English, Picabia had began this painting while he was sick in bed with an eye infection, inviting his friends who came in to visit to add messages and texts to a large canvas). Ochiai continued to develop this series over many years, beginning its production in 2012, temporarily suspending the project in 2014 with the release of the corresponding publication Itinerary, non? from French publisher onestar press, and later resuming work from around 2017.

Ochiai originally began producing the series based on the idea of an impossible yet somewhat refreshing journey as depicted in Mount Analogue, the masterpiece of French surrealist literature by René Daumal. However, when resuming production in 2017, he came to recognize that there are new ways of perceiving the work due to the numerous changes within society that have occurred over time. First was the realization that holidays have a deep relationship to religion and war, as could be seen in celebratory holidays of national independence. Furthermore, Ochiai discovered their connection to immigration and racial issues that arise when entering and leaving the various cities of the world each time one moves or travels. Even the eye that is depicted in the paintings is reminiscent of security eye (facial) recognition systems recently introduced at U.S. immigration, thus indicating new narratives emerging within the work subconsciously to the intentions of the artist.

[Conceptual Drawings: The World of Ochiai’s Work]

All of Ochiai’s means of expression could be described as “conceptual drawings.” Whether it may be through words, paintings, or video, he transcribes the thoughts and images within his mind into works in a “manner like making a drawing,” enabling various sorts of time to emerge.

In the work “broken camera” at his solo exhibition at the WATARIUM Museum, the video footage projected is played through a broken camera, each time becoming subjected to a different effect. What viewers presently witness is an accumulation of past video logs that cover the entire screen, as a result conveying an interplay of more than two different passages of time. In his architectural drawing series, although the buildings themselves remained unchanged, the narrative focused on how the contents housed inside had been subject to change over time. The series of paintings exhibited at Tomio Koyama Gallery Kyoto had through them were painted with bleach on fabric, thereby conveying the very length of time (seconds) taken for their production. In his 2008 book note on the drawing (published by team gallery), Ochiai evokes various manners of time and imagery to manifest through “conceptual drawings” consisting of phrases such as “the line from a flannel coffee filter dripping”and “the moment when the sunlight is reflected in a mirror”.

Art critic Midori Matsui critiques Ochiai’s work as follows:

“The world of Ochiai’s work is conceived in a manner akin to quantum theory in the sense that things serve to formulate fluid and organic networks through the assembly and disassembly of fragments.”

(Midori Matsui, “Tam Ochiai Solo Exhibition: spies are only revealed when they get caught –Installation as a Fluid and Organic Network,” LIBERTINES MAGAZINE, July Issue, 2010.)

While engaging in a means of expression full of lightheartedness and wit, Ochiai appears to be in pursuit of a fundamental world that is open to countless possibilities, transcending both time and dimension. It is an attempt to reproduce the seemingly exhausted medium of “painting” through the conversion of everyday perspectives, and could be discerned as seeking the extreme point at which today’s art is established. Through looking at the works and re-experiencing his thoughts, we as viewers are gradually liberated from fixed stereotypical concepts, in the end realizing that what we essentially need is a sense of humor and the flexibility to engage with everyday life with more care and attention.

Link: Tam Ochiai at Tomio Koyama

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from Contemporary Art Daily http://bit.ly/2Bdgsqa

#micaramel

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