fala

can incomprehensibility be structured?

masuda otsubo

a+u #637, 2023

I have not been able to see their architecture in person. I only know them through texts, photographs, lectures, and conversations I have had with them on several occasions, so I cannot mention the spaces they create. However, I feel that their architecture is more current and evolving in terms of what they are doing and valuing and practicing in their position and time, rather than the spatiality of their architecture.

fala's photographs are full of images that attract me. fala's photographs are full of images that are instantly appealing and somehow nostalgic. The images are nostalgic because they are important references to Japanese architects from the 70's to the early 90's. But the wavy curves, the colors, and the shapes of the buildings are not the same. But the wavy curves, colors, and materials were originally used as metaphors and easy-to-understand expressions, but they are difficult to understand as architecture because of the location, time period, and the way they are perceived and used. That is why fala is so fascinating.

House of Three Generations, House with a Curved Wall, House with Four Columns, House and Atelier, Suspended House, Small House with a Monumental Shower, and Folly for Sun and Sound. House Along a Wall, and Folly for Sun and Sound, with no "column". Except for the painted existing structure and the column, the additions that adorn the interior and exterior remain. We feel nothing more than a well-organized image of the sound without a conductor. Then, what makes this column an architectural structure? The seemingly mysterious and meaningless column, for example, is the umbilical for the flooring boards, or stands at the center of a series of doors on a curved wall, or the pink and white graphic painted on the extension tower is conspicuous because of its color-catching relationship with the trees, but blends in with the surrounding stones by virtue of the same colors contained in the surrounding stones. The pink and white graphics on the additional tower stand out because of their colorful relationship with the trees. Perhaps it is similar to the way that the presence of a mailbox brings the disparate actors into alignment, and a good sculpture or painting fits perfectly into an otherwise featureless space, transforming the place into a scene. As you can imagine, the layout of the room will also vary from person to person. In that sense, there seems to be freedom. But if you think about it in a normal way, it is an obstacle. Listening to their lectures, I understand that they are struggling to find a way to keep the column in the proposal until the end. In a world that demands convenience, comfort, economy, logic, and clarity, but perhaps it is better to have a column, fala must assume that somehow structuring this incomprehensibility into a complex structure will create a space or place that is richer than an attractive image. Otherwise, it would just be a ploy to somehow become an architect in these difficult times and positions.

A few years ago, a glass manufacturer told me that heat-reflective glass, half-mirrors and colored glass developed during the bubble era have been on the market for about 20-25 years, and those that do not sell are being eliminated as building materials. For example, glass is not a "transparent material" but a "light-dividing material" if one acknowledges the fact that it reflects light. The high-transparency glass often used in modern architecture is a material that pursues an easy-to-understand image of transparency, but it is arrogant and boring because it forcibly centralizes the characteristics that glass originally possesses. On a completely different level, heat-reflective glass and half mirrors that were popular during the bubble period can be evaluated. There are many creative materials that seem somewhat useless but are really solid or creative when viewed from a different perspective. But if they stop at revivals, they will just be repetitions and will probably be buried. But if we re-evaluate them from a different perspective, one that is 180 degrees from the original evaluation, we may be able to creatively make architecture, society, and the world, which are becoming boring and simplistic, more attractive.

The style of architecture has been changing with the economy and trends of the times, but I have the impression that there are not many young architects in their 30s and early 40s who can create a new image that is out of the ordinary and unexpected. This is probably because they are keenly aware of the danger that many things they have built, and which may still have value, are in danger of being buried here forever. However, if we do not value things scientifically and logically, they will end up as meager fads and hobbies with no sustainability, just weak and repetitive changes. We cannot be naïve anymore.I have not been able to see their architecture in person. I only know them through texts, photographs, lectures, and conversations I have had with them on several occasions, so I cannot mention the spaces they create. However, I feel that their architecture is more current and evolving in terms of what they are doing and valuing and practicing in their position and time, rather than the spatiality of their architecture.

fala's photographs are full of images that attract me. fala's photographs are full of images that are instantly appealing and somehow nostalgic. The images are nostalgic because they are important references to Japanese architects from the 70's to the early 90's. But the wavy curves, the colors, and the shapes of the buildings are not the same. But the wavy curves, colors, and materials were originally used as metaphors and easy-to-understand expressions, but they are difficult to understand as architecture because of the location, time period, and the way they are perceived and used. That is why fala is so fascinating.

House of Three Generations, House with a Curved Wall, House with Four Columns, House and Atelier, Suspended House, Small House with a Monumental Shower, and Folly for Sun and Sound. House Along a Wall, and Folly for Sun and Sound, with no "column". Except for the painted existing structure and the column, the additions that adorn the interior and exterior remain. We feel nothing more than a well-organized image of the sound without a conductor. Then, what makes this column an architectural structure? The seemingly mysterious and meaningless column, for example, is the umbilical for the flooring boards, or stands at the center of a series of doors on a curved wall, or the pink and white graphic painted on the extension tower is conspicuous because of its color-catching relationship with the trees, but blends in with the surrounding stones by virtue of the same colors contained in the surrounding stones. The pink and white graphics on the additional tower stand out because of their colorful relationship with the trees. Perhaps it is similar to the way that the presence of a mailbox brings the disparate actors into alignment, and a good sculpture or painting fits perfectly into an otherwise featureless space, transforming the place into a scene. As you can imagine, the layout of the room will also vary from person to person. In that sense, there seems to be freedom. But if you think about it in a normal way, it is an obstacle. Listening to their lectures, I understand that they are struggling to find a way to keep the column in the proposal until the end. In a world that demands convenience, comfort, economy, logic, and clarity, but perhaps it is better to have a column, fala must assume that somehow structuring this incomprehensibility into a complex structure will create a space or place that is richer than an attractive image. Otherwise, it would just be a ploy to somehow become an architect in these difficult times and positions.

A few years ago, a glass manufacturer told me that heat-reflective glass, half-mirrors and colored glass developed during the bubble era have been on the market for about 20-25 years, and those that do not sell are being eliminated as building materials. For example, glass is not a "transparent material" but a "light-dividing material" if one acknowledges the fact that it reflects light. The high-transparency glass often used in modern architecture is a material that pursues an easy-to-understand image of transparency, but it is arrogant and boring because it forcibly centralizes the characteristics that glass originally possesses. On a completely different level, heat-reflective glass and half mirrors that were popular during the bubble period can be evaluated. There are many creative materials that seem somewhat useless but are really solid or creative when viewed from a different perspective. But if they stop at revivals, they will just be repetitions and will probably be buried. But if we re-evaluate them from a different perspective, one that is 180 degrees from the original evaluation, we may be able to creatively make architecture, society, and the world, which are becoming boring and simplistic, more attractive.

The style of architecture has been changing with the economy and trends of the times, but I have the impression that there are not many young architects in their 30s and early 40s who can create a new image that is out of the ordinary and unexpected. This is probably because they are keenly aware of the danger that many things they have built, and which may still have value, are in danger of being buried here forever. However, if we do not value things scientifically and logically, they will end up as meager fads and hobbies with no sustainability, just weak and repetitive changes. We cannot be naïve anymore.