Human(e) Aspects of Tokyo creative climate, small places of anarchy, stigmergy
notes and a few projects for a guest lecture at Dr. Christian Dimmer's Public/Private Seminar, Waseda University Nov. 16, 2011 Chris Berthelsen http://a-small-lab.com chris@a-small-lab.com @a_small_lab
People play with things and find new uses for them (Lynch, 1984:157)
Messy and spontaneous,indiv idually created, everyday expressions of the creativity of everyday people in all of its facets. A response to the environment, a reflection of society, culture, and traditions (Jonas, 2007)
Change reconciles with the idea of Improvement (Koolhaus, 2002)
Leaky roof countermeasures (Nakano Station, Tokyo)
and people feel joy, as opposed to mere pleasure (Illich, 1973:17)
I started out looking at creativity and innovation...
Creativty Innovation
Hint: It didn't work for me At first in organizations... I thought it would be a good money spinner
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Departments
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Departments Teams
I keep looking, down to the work environment
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Departments Teams Work Envrionment
I keep looking, down to the work environment and finally the individual....
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Departments Teams Work Envrionment The Individual
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Departments Teams Work Envrionment The Individual
At the same time
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Departments Teams Work Envrionment The Individual
Regions At the same time, people were being exciting about innovation and creativity on regional
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Departments Teams Work Envrionment The Individual
Countries
Regions At the same time, people were be exciting about innovation and creativity on regional, country
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Departments Teams Work Envrionment The Individual
Cities Countries
Regions At the same time, people were be exciting about innovation and creativity on regional, country and city levels....
Creativty Innovation
Organizations
Neighbourhoods
Departments Teams Work Envrionment The Individual
Cities Countries
Regions At the same time, people were be exciting about innovation and creativity on regional, country and city levels....I kept looking, through to neighbourhoods
Creativty Innovation The Individual Organizations
Neighbourhoods
Departments Teams Work Envrionment The Individual
Cities Countries
Regions At the same time, people were be exciting about innovation and creativity on regional, country and city levels....I kept looking, through to neighbourhoods and finally the individual...
Creativty Innovation The Individual Organizations
Neighbourhoods
Departments Teams Work Envrionment The Individual
Cities Countries
Regions
individual
Components of Creativity & Creative Climate
environment
Ref: Amabile, Isaksen, Ekvall etc
Here is a little framework for thinking about creativity.... Please keep it in mind while I flip through the examples and projects later....
after Amabile
“A product or response is creative to the extent that those familiar with the context in which it was created and/or resides in regard it as being novel and valuable to a suitable degree.�
creative product
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace
Ref Stigmergy, later
Always some kind of process (sub/conscious, in/direct), ending with the creative output
Process
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace
The creative product always comes out of the mind of the individual, (e.g. even if simultaneously arrived at in a group)
Person Process
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace
The processes and persons reside in some environment (social, psychological, climate etc etc)
Press (Environment) Person Process
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace
Press (Environment) Person Process
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace Components of Creativity
Press (Environment) Person Process
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace Components of Creativity Knowledge & Skills Domain relevant
Press (Environment) Person Process
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace Components of Creativity Creativity Specific Skills Tacit, explicit, personality etc...
Knowledge & Skills
Press (Environment) Person Process
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace Components of Creativity Intrinsic Motivation 'for itself'
Creativity Specific Skills
Knowledge & Skills
Press (Environment) Person Process
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace Components of Creativity Intrinsic Motivation
Creativity Specific Skills
Knowledge & Skills
Press (Environment)
Creative Climate
Person Process
creative product
As fine-grained component of happiness.
Engram, Trace Components of Creativity Intrinsic Motivation
Creativity Specific Skills
Knowledge & Skills
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen) Text from : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8691.2010.00558.x/full
Debate Climate: A collective perceptual construct reflecting a lower level of Freedom abstraction based on observedIdea Support patterns of interaction and behaviour
(Schneider, 2000). Culture, which reflects the deeper and more stable aspects of values, traditions, rituals and history (Denison, 1996). Resources Research on organizational culture has typically focused on Playfulness the underlying assumptions and values of the organization Time /Humor that are deeply embedded and can often be subconscious, hidden and taken for granted (Schein, 2004).
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom Idea Support Trust/ Openness
Conflict (Violence?)
Resources Time
Playfulness /Humor
Text from : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8691.2010.00558.x/full and Mathisen and Einarsen (2004: 126) (see also on Amabile et al., 1996, 1999)
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom
Trust/ Openness
The way new ideas are treated. In a high IdeaSupport situation, people receive ideas and suggestions in an attentive and professional manner. People listen generously to each other.
Idea Support Conflict (Violence?)
Resources Time
Playfulness /Humor
Text from : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8691.2010.00558.x/full
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom
Trust/ Openness
The occurrence and open disagreement between viewpoints, ideas, experiences and knowledge. In the Debating situation, many different voices and points of view are exchanged and encouraged.
Idea Support Conflict (Violence?)
Resources Time
Playfulness /Humor
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom
Trust/ Openness
Resources
The tolerance of uncertainty and ambiguity. In a high Risk-Taking climate, people can make decisions even when they do not have certainty and all the information desired. People can and do ‘go out on a limb’ to put new ideas forward.
Time
Idea Support Conflict (Violence?)
Playfulness /Humor
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom
Trust/ Openness
High levels of Freedom imply more perceived autonomy and ability for individual discretion.
Idea Support Conflict (Violence?)
Resources Time
Playfulness /Humor
Text from : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8691.2010.00558.x/full
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom
Trust/ Openness
The emotional safety in relationships. In high Trust/Openness situations, people feel more comfortable sharing ideas and being frank and honest with each other.
Idea Support Conflict (Violence?)
Resources Time
Playfulness /Humor
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom
Trust/ Openness
Access to resources including funds, facilities, materials and information.
Idea Support Conflict (Violence?)
Resources Time
Playfulness /Humor
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom
Trust/ Openness
The amount of time people can, and do, use for elaborating new ideas. When Idea-Time is high, people can explore and develop new ideas that may not have been included in the original task.
Idea Support Conflict (Violence?)
Resources Time
Playfulness /Humor
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom
Trust/ Openness
The spontaneity and ease displayed within the environment. Good-natured joking and laughter and a relaxed atmosphere (lower stress) are indicators of higher levels of Playfulness and Humour.
Idea Support Conflict (Violence?)
Resources Time
Playfulness /Humor
Creative Climate (see e.g. Ekvall, Amabile, Isaksen)
Risk Tolerance
Debate
Freedom
Trust/ Openness
When Conflict is high, people engage in interpersonal warfare, slander and gossip, and even plot against each other...Crime.... Include also threats/actual phyiscal violence (police, military, private security)
Idea Support Conflict (Violence?)
Resources Time
Playfulness /Humor
A quick run through Tokyo (keeping in mind the creative climate framework)
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Public Seating
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Safety.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Access.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
When access becomes difficult
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Fix it.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
In a city with scarce space and dirt, make it yourself....
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Even on a 10cm wide curb....
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Or on the sidewalk.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Or in a highrise.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Or on a precarious brick wall.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Or along the railroad tracks.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Flower lovers share their passion...
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Grape-obsessed Shibuya-ites.....
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Basil
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
What appears to be dead space...
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Is home to fresh red peppers.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Maintaining a dead spouse's neighbourhood park garden...
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
What appears to be run-down dead space
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Becomes a lush living fence that beautifies the vacant lots
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
And plays host to lovely flora....
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
The work of neighbourhood misfits
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Is actually a tomato garden.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
People who often visit the neighbours
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Create their own access-ways.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Placing rubbish bins where they are needed.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Animals KEEP OUT!
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
With intricate, flexible and affordable construction.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Even pedestrian smokers find a way to keep the street (if not the air) clean.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Dark apartment complexes call for home-made street lights.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
And when you're sick of people asking you how to find the station, you stick up some signs.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Bricks are a key element in bicycle parking.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Foxface decorates an inner city garden
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Even when it's out of season (fruit are tied on with plastic ties)
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
In the suburbs, where Jazz clubs are scarce, you need to make your own..
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
And golf lovers construct a 'fold away' 9-hole course in the local park.
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
Discuss: RISK – FREEDOM – TRUST – RESOURCES – TIME – PLAYFULNESS – IDEA SUPPORT – DEBATE - CONFLICT
ad infinitum
But, In a dire view of the city
“Part machine, part subhuman organism, part nightmare-huge projection and embodiment of passion and insanity.� (Huxley, 1939)
From 'After Many a Summer Dies the Swan' not 'Brave New World'
Photo: Mori Scale Model of Tokyo
Total absence of purpose
(Lynch, 1984:364).
Community = the market + isolation; Freedom = total surveillance society (Zerzan, 2006).
"if there has to be a bloodbath, then let’s get it over with"
(Ronald Regan quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle in response to protests when the
People’s Park in Berkeley was fenced off by police and the National Guard (in McKay (2011:120)).)
This is California, 1966
Photo: Collection of the Oakland Museum of California
→ The abstract, faceless conquest of Space by Man → the limitation of place for men
(capitalized)
(in small letters) (Ellul, 1964:328).
Our city illness
a basic motive , a common denominator; A single mechanism by which it most disturbs urbanites. (Lynch, 1984:364)
This is the loss of control. (Krupat)
has
The message is clear: “You cannot do as you please; your actions do not make any difference."
No throwing cigarettes.
Be careful! (of your sandals)
No walking, No running, Hold the handrail.
No walking, No running.
Stand in an orderly fashion. No walking, No running, Because it's dangerous.
Hold the handrail. Subway station (Nagoya)
And of course, don't play on the grass...
Not just 'don't walk' but specifically directed at children.... Apartment block grassed area in Western Tokyo
The Radical Monopoly of Space:
The Radical Monopoly of Space:
a major tool rules out natural competence, imposing compulsory consumption and thereby restricting personal autonomy.
The Radical Monopoly of Space:
a major tool rules out natural competence, imposing compulsory consumption and thereby restricting personal autonomy. It constitutes a special kind of social control because it is enforced by means of the
imposed consumption of a standard product that only large institutions can provide (Illich, 1973:35).
people give up their native ability to do what they can do for themselves and for each other, in exchange for something “better� that can be done for them only by a major tool (Illich, 1973:36)
Housing in Western Tokyo
But,
commoditized city space which is ‘assembled and ordered’ in form,
appearance, and functional prescription
need not be entirely fixed or
predetermined by the complex process through which it enters the world. Reality acquires its identity from what can be done with it and what is important is the relationship that human beings have to their everyday environment.
But,
commoditized city space which is ‘assembled and ordered’ in form,
appearance, and functional prescription
need not be entirely fixed or
predetermined by the complex process through which it enters the world. Reality acquires its identity from what can be done with it and what is important is the relationship that human beings have to their everyday environment.
Technology in this view can generate specific forms of access to the world for human beings. It is the use-objects around us that are the nearest and authentic things, they give us access to being and thus (help us) shape our world.
The most powerful way of improving our environment then is to put the control of it into the hands of its immediate users who have the stake and knowledge to make it function well (Lynch, 1984:165).
The last great force in the city is the residents themselves their creative response to change is their ultimate guarantee of survival
(Orum
and Chen:18);
(Lynch, 1984:172).
Taking care of apartment block public space in Edogawa
It is important to understand unintended user contributions to urban order becaus e this is a potentially revolutionary aspect of the city's structure. The general organization of urba n life must develop more sensitivity to the arbitrariness of human use fo r the city as an object, or that arbitrariness will coalesce into revolt.
These lifestyles must be given breathing space (Glean Chase discussing urban cavemanship in Wilsher and Righter, 1975:98-99).
Pick one spot in the city and begin to think of it as yours. It doesn't matter where, and it doesn't matter what (Auster, 2003)
Hollyhock grown by residents of housing opposite train lines in Western Tokyo
“We give back to man the joy of building.” (Hans Hollein, 1960)
“The reconstruction of life, the rebuilding of the world: one and the same desire.” (Vaneigem, 1967:chpt10)
Small Places of Anarchy
Small Places of Anarchy The actor, not the hero (Bamyeh, 2009:30). Neither the passive observer of determined systems nor a determined manipulator of passive material and standing reserve, but rather
the cultivator See also http://thisbigcity.net/small-places-of-anarchy-in-the-city-three-investigations-in-tokyo/
Tokyo makes it possible for
slim segments of the population to generate their own environments in scattered oases of a vast metroscape. What emerges here is the idea of the
city of
unimposed order, consisting of communal self-determination on one hand and individual freedom on the other.
Here authority is practical, rather than absolute or permanent, and based in communication, negotiation.
NO
state
control
NO
majority
rule
YES
Small places of anarchy are zones of human-scale action, attachment and care. They can: 1) Replace state control with regards to an aspect of city life. 2) Take away that aspect from the requirement of majority rule.
to
unimposed order as work style
3) Promote unimposed order as the style working.
They are located within the existing system,
tacitly accepted or actively protected, and may take many forms. They are not the whole of society but occupy space within the existing order and can be entirely individual in nature.
They are located within the existing system,
tacitly accepted or actively protected, and may take many forms. They are not the whole of society but occupy space within the existing order and can be entirely individual in nature.
They are not consciously based in anarchist ideology because
“anarchy is a normal tendency in voluntary organized social life, where spontaneous order comes out without an imposition.” The virtue of unimposed order thus develops through learning of the practice of rational freedom – that the complexity of the social world can be an asset rather than a source of perpetual war.
What emerges is not
intensified debate, ‘automatic pilot’ resistance or struggle (Boomkens, 2008:16).
Neither is it the violence of market-based 'competition' or the dull submission of the hierarchy. Rather life emerges as a common but negotiated human experiment – a
life that is engaged and felt rather than delegated and abstracted (Bamyeh, 2009:12, 24) in places of intensified cohabitation and conjunction (Boomkens, 2008:15).
For the case of Tokyo
Locations of Small Places of Anarchy (Scattered Uchi) [Tokyo] City ・都市 Workplace ・職場
Suburb ・町・街 Nearby Large Park ・もっと大きい公園
Parking Space ・駐車所
Workplace ・職場 Nearby Larger Roads ・近くの道路 Close Small Parks ・近くの公園
Deceased Grandparents' House & Shop ・亡くなった親戚 の家や店 Uncle's House ・おじさんの家
Neighbourhood ・近所
Surrounds ・家の近く Opposite Footpath ・反対歩道
Frontage ・正面
Own Shop & Surrounds
Footpath ・歩道
Home ・自宅
Dwelling ・住まい
Locations of Small Places of Anarchy (Scattered Uchi) [Tokyo]
Locations of Small Places of Anarchy (Scattered Uchi) [Tokyo]
Locations of Small Places of Anarchy (Scattered Uchi) [Tokyo]
Practically, this means that the individual realizes that the society that he or she lives in is the landscape – that
this living thing right now before our eyes is the landscape. Every resident has a clear
sense of identity and culture , of agency ‌ or possibly more correctly, the habitat in which agency operates and which it produces in the course of its operation (Bauman, 1992, 190-1 see Flusty, 2004).
"I will grow, I will grow when the city grows" (Huidobro, 1919:115)
Small Places of Anarchy form the City
Gardened walkway (Suginami-ku, Tokyo)
Stigmergy ‘… instead of coordination through direct communication, each individual can adjust its building behaviour to fit with that of its neighbours through
the medium of the work in progress’. Camazine, et al.(2001, p. 24)
Stigmergy Form of self-
organization Complex, seemingly intelligent, structures
without planning, control, or even direct communication Supports collaboration between even very simple agents or actions
Stigmergy Form of self-
organization Complex, seemingly intelligent, structures
without planning, control, or even direct communication Supports collaboration between even very simple agents or actions
Mechanism of indirect
coordination between agents or actions. The trace
left in the environment by an action stimulates the performance of a next action by the same or a different agent. Subsequent actions tend to reinforce and build on each other. Leading to the spontaneous
emergence of coherent, apparently systematic activity.
Stigmergy Actor/Action
Actor/Action
Imprint of information via cues and/or stimulus
Environment
Actor/Action
http://epress.anu.edu.au/info_systems/mobile_devices/ch09s05.html
Information flow via the environment
Coordination/ Construction Activities
Something like
http://thisbigcity.net/the-non-intentional-landscape-of-tokyo/
Non-Intentional Landscape,
Hand-Made City Stigmergent City Elastic city
http://www.thepolisblog.org/2011/11/imagining-elastic-city.html
Walls, curbs, balconies and roofs. Sidewalks, corners, overhangs, carparks and train stations. The park, inherited property, reappropriated fishing spots, public toilets and green sleeping spots. Here, the city of crumbs is experienced as
a city of fine-grained humanity
built in the gaps of the city. This is a physical manifestation of the fragments of individual human knowledge of the city; residences, parks and free space, extended family, and areas connected to their professional, social and other roles.
Non-intentional Landscape (Shibuya)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/a-small-lab/6245919459/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Non-intentional Landscape (Akishima-shi)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/a-small-lab/6246441966/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Non-intentional Landscape (Hand-Made Tokyo Collage Workshop)
http://a-small-lab.com/projects/hand-made-tokyo
Some projects examining the human(e), fine-grained aspects of Tokyo
FIXES (a-small-lab.com/fixes/) Investigating alterations of space/objects at the public/private boundary in suburban Tokyo, Japan.
TOKYO DIY GARDENING (tokyo-diy-gardening.org) An open sourcebook and resource for urban gardening on a personal level – “hands-on gardening for a crowded city”. It includes ‘how-to’ examples/instructions, photo essays, observations, interviews, articles and more with the aim of knowledge sharing and creation around low-cost, agile gardening in dense cities (with a focus on Tokyo).
HAND MADE PLAY (a-small-lab.com/hand-made-play) A collaborative + open research project investigating, enjoying, and learning from the self-initiated non-commercial play of children
HAND MADE PLAY (a-small-lab.com/hand-made-play)
Child-Scale Cities (http://a-small-lab.com/hand-made-play/understanding-the-child-scale-in-the-city-excerpt/)
Child-Scale Cities (http://a-small-lab.com/hand-made-play/understanding-the-child-scale-in-the-city-excerpt/)
Child-Scale Cities (http://a-small-lab.com/hand-made-play/understanding-the-child-scale-in-the-city-excerpt/)
HAND MADE ASPECTS OF MASS MADE HOUSING
survival sickness..
what elements of the human hand are found in this space built on the logic of economies scale?
We most emphatically condemn as inhuman the present practice of forbidding any modifications to social housing by their residents. Tied in to our suggestions for ownership, we uphold the fundamental right for an owner/resident to modify his/her dwelling to any extent without impinging on the rights of neighbors or the public space.�
HAND MADE ASPECTS OF MASS MADE TOILETS
what elements of the human hand are found in this non-place?
HAND MADE ASPECTS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT
what elements of the human hand are found in this non-place?
HAND MADE MEMORIAL (Ozaki Yutaka)
hand made memorial in smooth, bald space
temporal aspect, pilgrimage
KOKONOHANASHI (http://a-small-lab.com/projects/kokonohanashi.htm) “How do people like to discuss their neighbourhood spaces? What would a flexible, open and affordable system for facilitating this look like? How can we easily find out which neighbour-hood spaces people care about?� An iterative investigation.
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Keep Your City Beautiful! 153
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Keep Your City Beautiful! 154
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Keep Your City Delicious! 155
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Title: Aoyama Breakfast Time: 7:30am~10:00am, Early Spring 156
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
In a small run-down park not a minute's walk from the death-trap of Omotesando Hills. A small bearded man waits.
157
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Contrast the leisurely urban interior 158
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
with the psychological rigor that the commerical crust demands...........anyway, back to the breakfast. 159
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
butter, chocolate, juice, etc
gas burner
grated potato
flour
coffee, cups, stovetop espresso maker
Necessary bits and pieces 160
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Season, sauce and eat. 161
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
A small, balding man enjoys his breakfast. 162
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Welcome to the bakery in a home! 163
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Welcome to the bakery in a home! Entrance fee 100 yen for 20 pieces, and your money back at the end! 164
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Bread, cake, biscuits and more! Take your pick! 165
Keep Your City Delicious (http://www.slideshare.net/asmalllab/keep-your-city-delicious)
Go for it! 166
LOOK-A-ROUND (http://a-small-lab.com/projects/look-a-round) a board game which encourages learning about city accessibility
Creating cities that are accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of physical capabilities is an important part of cultivating a fully functioning urban environment.
TOKYO-COLOUR-IN (http://a-small-lab.com/projects/tokyo-colour-in)
introduce little hands and minds to the finegrained hand made aspect of human(e) creativity on the street.
CITY BLOCKS
Children have an inexhaustible ability to use and transform the debris of society in new and creative ways.
CITY BLOCKS
FIXES TOOLKIT
a card game about the hand-made city of Tokyo.
TOKYO MAPPING WORKSHOP (a-small-lab.com/projects/hand-made-tokyo)
TOKYO MAPPING WORKSHOP (a-small-lab.com/projects/hand-made-tokyo)
TOKYO MAPPING WORKSHOP (a-small-lab.com/projects/hand-made-tokyo)
"The experience of these ragpickers suggests a time other than that of development. And studying these groups, like digging into the history of ideas, can lift us from our assumptions, but with no guarantee of what the result will be" (Illich, 1989:7 PDF)
“Within the chaos, most people have forgotten who lives where and how; they have lost affection for their own locality. Beautiful cityscapes and wonderful living environments must be fostered slowly and steadily under the gaze of citizens who love and take pride in their land.� (Jinnai, 1995:65)
Contact:
Chris Berthelsen (chris@a-small-lab.com) > twitter.com/a_small_lab > a-small-lab.com