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Curating the Interstice
Exploiting the Urban Gap Phenomenon in Kobe, Japan
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Heather Ruszczyk 45
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The flowing river never stops and yet the water never stays the same. Foam floats upon the pools, scattering, re-forming, never lingering long. So it is with man and all his dwelling places here on earth...
Kamo no Chomei
12th century Japanese Buddhist monk and poet
This project is inspired by urban phenomena in Japanese cities, particularly those unique conditions that exist as a result of a rapidly changing urban form.
changeable japan 3 gap analysis 9 design 19
This research began by observing patterns, cycles, and causes for change and how urban form evolves. With a lack of long term planning strategies, lack of zoning and parcel regulations, urban form is free-willed, rendered an accumulation of architecture and infrastructure built one on top of the other. 2
changeable japan
3
A Cause for Change A number of factors facilitates the Japanese tendency towards rapid change including a lack of available space. The emphasis on land value rather than building value leads to a lack of preservation and valueless architecture. Japanese cities are largely a-historical in regards to physical context and undifferentiated in terms of form. Buildings are easily disposed of and a setback mandate requires a minimal 18” setback from property lines for all buildings. Every building is stand-alone; party walls don’t exist and this enables an ease in the replaceability of buildings. Altogether this attitude that favors construction over preservation is referred to as ‘scrap and build’ and renders the average life-cycle of a building in Japan at 26 years, roughly half of that in the United States. 4
valueless architecture / lack of preservation
tabula rasa
undifferentiated / ahistorical
minimal gap mandate
unrestricted parcel division
‘scrap and build’
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Shibuya, Tokyo
fragmented rhythm urban space as a field space as a ďŹ eld
regulated rhythm + scale
Returning to this image of Tokyo compared to Seattle, a downtown core defined by a grid, continuous space facades, as a grid party walls and preservation corridors, the urban form is drastically different. Space in Japanese cities can be thought of as a field where buildings are constantly changed, unrestricted by pre-determined form. Further, urban form is a product of both positive and negative space. 6
fragmented rhythm space as a ďŹ eld
Downtown Seattle
regulated rhythm + scale urban as a grid spacespace as a grid
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Gaps are arguably the most significant product of change evidenced by the Japanese urban landscape. They are the marginal spaces leftover as a result of accumulated and unplanned changing form. They expand and contract, they accumulate and disappear as the positive space of the city comes and goes. They collectively represent a significant amount of underutilized space in cities that lack available public space. 8
gap analysis
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The remainder of this study focuses specifically on Kobe, Japan, beginning with a survey of Kobe’s gaps. Kobe is the 5th largest city in Japan, a major port city situated between mountains and water. In central Kobe is the Motomachi district, a popular shopping area whose form reflects the typical conditions of Japanese cities. Specifically studied is the Sakaemachi district, an up and coming artisan district in the once busy marine industrial fringe of central Kobe. 10
Kobe Kyoto Osaka
HU NS Tokyo HO
Residential / Commercial
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in nta
kko Ro
u Mo
Harbor / Industrial
Port of Kobe
Port Island
Kobe
Earthquake Memorial Park
Sakaemachi
Kobe Station
Meriken Park
Motomachi 11
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1:20
Forty-eight Gaps 48 gaps were identified and compared in terms of scale, use, spatial qualities, and effect on the urban fabric and its accumulative formation. This investigation began as an analysis of positive and negative; figure and ground; solid and void; challenging the assumed relationship between positive space as meaningful and negative space as meaningless and equalizing the value of both in forming urban space in Japan. 12
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Sectional Rhythm These simplified sections demonstrate the abundance of gaps and variety of scales. They are an essential piece in forming space but also experiencing the Japanese city as one moves through it. Space is fragmented and the gaps accumulate to a significant amount of underutilized space as evidenced by the percentage underneath the white bar.
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foreign the ‘for Large forei the ‘
1956 1956
Large bl foreigne the ‘fore
1956
1956 1st Iteration
At the picture of gaps At th pictu of ga
1984 1984
1984
1984 2nd Iteration
2012 2012 2012 3rd Iteration
2012
At the h pictures of gaps d
By 201 marpos ing num The Byurb 2 marp ing n The u By 2012 marpost ing numb The urba
Gap Evolution If buildings in Japanese cities are on a 26 year cycle, then examining the urban fabric in 26 year increments is telling of how urban form accumulates. These maps show the relationship between the increasing fragmentation of urban land (due to lack of parcel restriction and people dividing their property due to increasing land value) and the growing complexity of accumulated positive and negative form. 15
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gap
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Ma + The ‘Pregnant’ Void Up until this point, a gap has been defined as something that exists between two buildings. Rethinking this spatial relationship more generally, a gap can be defined as the spatial or temporal distance between two physical or non-physical things. This is likened to the Japanese spatial concept of ma, which Arata Isozaki refers to as the ‘pregnant void.’ Ma emphasizes the meaning behind the void as the essential emptiness that exists between two things, both separating and uniting them in space and time, and this concept assigns equal importance to positive space and negative space. 16
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After having understood the site context in terms of its gaps, this study concluded that although rarely transgressed or even noticed, these interstitial voids are critically important to perpetuating the unique character and formation of urban space in Japan. They also inadvertently capture the extremities of Japanese spatial values including smallness, darkness, irregularity, and emptiness and each has a specific spatial experience. 18
design
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This thesis engages with the gaps in the Sakaemachi neighborhood of central Kobe offering a proposal to exploit the gap as a representative space of change, exploring temporality but also questioning the value of a negative space through overlaying the notion of impregnating the void. This project envisions Sakaemachi’s gaps as a collection to be curated, creating an infrastructure that supports this network of gaps as an ‘art site’, filling them with temporary site-specific installations and inviting the public to transgress the void. 20
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Four Gaps + Art Site Sakaemachi Of the forty-eight gaps surveyed in Kobe, four were selected to represent Art Site Sakaemachi. Three serve as installation spaces (No. 12, 46, 24), while a larger typical infill gap (No. 16) is reserved for a central facility that maintains the Art Site and provides the basic infrastructure for the project.
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Since the Sakaemachi district is currently undergoing revitalization as an artisan district, the project was inspired by the contribution of art to revitalization efforts and sought to create a project in-line with the residents and workers of Sakaemachi. Following the precedent of Naoshima, Echigo Tsumari and other projects in Japan that work to revitalize rural areas through creating site-specific art and architecture exhibition where visitors arrive at the site, receive a map, and then go out again to experience the landscape in a new context, this project envisions a similar model in an urban setting, drawing visitors to the site and encouraging them to contemplate Japan’s urban phenomena. 23
Change over Time Each individual site becomes a found public space, however, the project as a whole envisions the cumulative void space of Sakaemachi as a new and accessible urban space. The intention is that each piece of the Art Site is temporary, to varying degrees. Therefore the project and the site as a whole changes in response to the general changeable nature of space in Japan, creating a unique experience of the site for visitors over time. Each gap installation changes every 6-9 months, while the larger facility is dismantled and reassembled elsewhere on the site every 3-5 years. 24
present
6 months
5 years 25
the curator 1 identify existing gap
2a install artist’s studio
3a prepare space through
2b artist occupies studio
3b site-speciďŹ c installation
in gap
minimal intervention
the artist
in gap
the visitor 4 public transgression
Art Site Process This project creates an infrastructure that supports this network of voids, providing a collaborative platform for curator and artist. The curator selects the voids and prepares the space according to its inherent spatial qualities through minimal architectural intervention. A resident artist is invited to respond through impregnating the void with a temporary site-specific work. Prior to installation, the artist is invited to occupy their gap, developing an intimate relationship with the space in order to respond accordingly. Finally, the public is invited to transgress into these gaps. While this process is happening in a number of gaps, a central facility, located in a larger gap, is a vital element in this process, working to maintain and perpetuate the art site. 26
5 construction materials
stored and partially assembled in storehouse
art site components
1 identify the gap
2 construction system prepare the gap
3 occupy the gap
standard ring-lock scaolding pieces
plywood
coated polyethylene mesh netting
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experience the gap
5 maintain the gap
There are 5 stages of use of the site, all varying in degrees of temporality. Scaffolding was employed as a tectonic expression that could be repeated throughout each phase of constructing the art site. This system was chosen because of its ability to create and adapt to a variety of spaces, its reuseability, and in general its expression of temporality. A ring-lock scaffolding system serves as the structure for the interventions, while plywood provides for platforms and netting provides shelter.
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Preparing the Gap Prior to the artist coming to the site to prepare an installation, the curator has conceptualized a vision for the gap gallery. The intention for each intervention is to respond to the inherent qualities of the void. The existing conditions of the found space are all similar: walls, ground and ceiling planes (sky). However, a number of variables including width, height, edge conditions and accessibility, renders the transgression into each gap a unique spatial experience. The interventions focus on particular spatial qualities of voids. Each intervention is prepared by the curator and is minimal, restricted primarily to the scaffolding construction system. In the case of gap #46, the space is open between both ends, offering a physical and visual connection through. The building that forms the gap on the west side is slightly skewed, creating a natural forced perspective in the space. Therefore, the curator conceptualized this space around the idea of perspective. The curator has invited a sculpture artist to prepare something site-specific for this space. 29
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Occupying the Gap This is an intermediate step between the curator’s vision of the space and the full realization of the artists installation in situ. The curator uses the scaffold to prepare a minimal space for the artist. The artist is invited to use this space as a studio or simply as a perch that offers a different vantage point and understanding of the particularities of the specific gap. It also explores another temporal scale and use of the scaffolding to fulfill this purpose. This structure remains during the artist’s residency, roughly 1-3 months prior to the installation of the intervention and artwork. In this case, the gap is 110’ tall and 3’8” at its widest point. It forms a dark canyon in the middle of the city. The curator has identified that the artist must address light in their work. Therefore, the curator constructs the scaffolding as a tower through which the artist can ascend into the space, experiencing the gap as the light streams from the top to bottom. 31
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Experiencing the Gap This rendering displays the final realized product of the curator’s intervention and the artist’s installation. In gap #12, the intervention is a simple ramp built from scaffolding which brings the visitor up into the space, suspending them 4’ above the ground plane. A mirrored surface covers the ground allowing the visitor to experience a reflected image of the sky above and of the installation. The curator has invited a hanging installation artist to create a work for this space, which is here represented as a glowing pink orb. The projected length of any one installation is 6 months. 33
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Maintaining the Gap This facility provides the basic infrastructure to maintain the Art Site. It is located in a larger gap, a typical infill site, measuring 34’ x 70’. Programmatically, it includes public restrooms and a welcome center for visitors coming to the site, but most importantly, it acts as a storehouse and workshop. The scaffolding and other materials for the in situ interventions are stored and staged here by the curator and artists. 34
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coated polyethylene netting
2 x 4 studs @ 3’ o.c. attached to scaffold 2 x 12 floor joists @ 3’ o.c. attached to scaffold 2” plywood sheet attached to interior of studs
standard 43 mm tube steel ring lock scaffolding system
standard scaffolding base
This building demonstrates the use of scaffolding to a higher degree of permanency with a lifespan of 3-6 years. The scaffolding acts as an exterior structure to shelter the unconditioned space of the workshop. The conditioned space, a simple box constructed of plywood and 2x4s, is entirely hung off of the scaffolding structure. 36
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Revisiting Kamo no Chomei’s words, “The flowing river never stops and yet the water never stays the same. Foam floats upon the pools, scattering, reforming, never lingering long. So it is with man and all his dwelling places here on earth,” his opinion of the built environment, written over one thousand years ago, still resonates today. Building in Japan is a temporal act, reflecting the essential transience of the physical world. The Japanese city is the quintessential product of this long-standing attitude towards change. Of this change reflected in the built environment, contemporary architect Mitsue Inoue says, “There is a consciousness that the present that we inhabit is nothing more than an instant wedged in eternal nothingness. From this comes the idea that human life and human dwellings are temporary shelters.” Beyond temporality, Inoue suggests that ‘eternal nothingness’ or void is the essence of space. Ma, the spatial and temporal interval conceptualized in Japanese spatial theory and traditional cultural value, builds a fundamental connection between space, time and the void. Gaps, as both a physical void and a product of change, suggest more than a forgotten leftover in urban form. Through curating Sakaemachi’s gaps as a network of site-specific interventions, this project engages with the gaps as representative spaces of change, addressing the issues of temporality, questioning the void as a negative space, and offering a proposal to exploit the gap. The project, as a collaboration between artist and architect, suggests a new role for the architect-that of the curator. Art Site Sakaemachi represents one vision for utilizing these forgotten, leftover, albeit critically important spaces. 38
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heather ruszczyk @ hruszczyk@gmail.com 781.608.2923 35 36 11th37st ne 38#3 39 131 2’-5” 2’-8” 4’-0” 2’-11” 1’-7” 153 130 110 238 64 washington, d.c. 20002 33
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