Kisah-Kisah Kecil : On Smallness and Little Things

investigation_ VOLUME 01

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K isa h K isa h K ec il

On sm allness and little things a research by sesiseni/ garasi 1

Sm all Scale, Sm all Impact, Bi g Di fference.

What is smallness?

Small acts seems insignificant. But we don’t see the effects, that small act incrementally increases in value over time.

Photo of Nazi posts in coastline of Normandy, France.

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The smaller it gets, the more significant context informs the design. Like a furniture that has a specific function.

A chair to sit, a cupboard to store things for example.

How small can architecture go?

Can it go to a size of furniture? Does a furniture have possible spaces to inhabit?

A small house might be an extra-large furniture. Can architecture be a throwable item? Like the last broken chair?

Context & Content 3

This is one of the very few last photo of the Pekeliling flats before being completely demolished. Despite being empty with no electricity and water, a homeless man still manages to live in it. What is the minimum items and spaces that we as humans, need to survive?

Smallness forces us to re-think these questions over and over again.

On t he bare m inim um 4

Actions waiting to happen?

Thinking about smallness does not mean neglecting the big. It actually enforces the big at the same time.

The act of smallness enables action that are waiting to be done, to happen.

A space which has a large table, enables the act of dining by a family. A set of utensils enables a family to eat.

Within this report are compilations of micro to small projects of furniture to small architecture by various designers and architects. A glimpse into the world of being small.

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So sm all, So what?

Kenya Hara

“ When the dog runs up the stairs, he ends up at just the right height to be face-to-face with a person. I thought up a device/ installation that equalizes human scale and dog scale, or in other words, a scale modifier.

With this product, my focus was a scale that achieves equilibrium. People have designed their environments to their own scale.

For instance, each step of a stairway is 15cm high, around the world.�

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Longbodied, shortlegged.

Atelier Bow-Wow “ Because of their short legs, it’s hard for dachshunds to meet their masters’ eyes.Also because of their short legs, it’s hard for them to get up on chairs.Is there no good way to get closer to the eyes?

Stairs? With those too-long bodies, they may throw out their backs. How about something like a folded slope? This works. Let’s make it long enough so a person can lie down too. Sunbathing with your dachshund on the veranda is good.

Multiple stacks in an atrium space make a ramp for the dogs to go upstairs.”

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No dog, no lf ie!

Sou Fujim oto

“This architecture is a living space for the dog, as well as furniture for the people, a garden within the house, as well as a gentle boundary between the people and the dog.

Our plan offers a house in which can be combined many different things that arise in the humans’ and dog’s living space, architecture for a space that holds a new abundance. The hollowed out interior section of this lattice functions as the dog’s residence, while on top of the clear shelf are stored various things for either dog or humans: a collar; a dish; books; a plant….”

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M icro Public Spaces Micro Public Spaces are devices proposed

by Atelier Bow-Wow which create social platforms.

Furnicycle Atelier Bow-Wow went to Shanghai and noticed two things: furniture arranged on the street as though it were in a living room, and 2. lots of bikes.

They responded with 4 bikes that 4 friends can ride around separately, and reverse into formation at the end of the day, to chat for hours over dinner and drinks.

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W hite Lim ousine Yat ai Atelier Bow Wow

The yatai is an open air mobile food stand. Atelier Bow Wow’s White limousine Yatai is a ten metre-long pub driven around the city. Of course when manoeuvring inside the city, the yatai would block traffic but at the same time, it made people smile. When the yatai stopped, its drivers served white food to people (rice, tofu, radish.)

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Cricklewood

Town Hall

Spacem akers

“Cricklewood is a community with no public space: no town hall, no library, no square, not even a single bench,” explained the designers. “The square will take the form of a civic folly on the back of a rickshaw bicycle, housing everything necessary to create a bona fide town square, including benches, stools, a clock tower, games and signage.”

It will be used to host events for the local community such as dances and film screenings.

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Ham m ock House

Atelier Bow Wow

In its first solo U.S. exhibition, Atelier Bow-Wow shows three microstructures that collectively offer a contemporary spin on the idea of minimal low-cost housing. ‘small case study house’ consists of ‘BBQ coliseum’, a circular structure directed toward oil can barbeques, ‘sunset house’ and ‘hammock house’, all of which are built with salvaged wood from deconstructed homes in los angeles.

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Final Wooden House

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has designed a wooden bungalow, small and primitive. the design is meant to highlight the versatility of lumber. using large beams of 350mm square profile cedar, the pieces are piled on top of one another, creating the walls, ceiling, floors and built in nooks. this leaves no definitive lines between each of the structure’s components.

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Keret House Centrala

In the crack between the buildings on 22 Chłodna St. and 74 Zelazna St., Jakub Szczesny designed an art installation entitled Etgar Keret’s House, which shall become the narrowest house in Warsaw, since its interior will come to 133 centimeters in the widest spot.

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Ermitage will be a workplace for writer, Etgar Keret.

Rum ah Jengga SesiSeni/ Garasi

A modular house from the concept of stacking up jengga blocks.

Forms Rumah Jengga.

A fully modular structure to be used as a mini exhibition space, library & popup store.

Displayed at Neue Artisans 3.0 Designers Market at Annexxe Central Market, organized

by Bandlab.

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M obile St age Pit a Hati

Connection details

Not to scale

SesiSeni/ Garasi wit h projections by M otio fixo

Virtual projection plane Virtual projection plane

Isometric

1:20

Formed from the concept of Cathedral of Light by Albert Speer’s Nuremberg Nazi Rally, this mobile stage and lighting set can be dismantled and assembled at a different venue. Used on tour for band Pitahati’s two month Malaysian tour across the country testing the limits of materiality and flexibility according to different spaces.

Dimmer

Dimmer

Light Ambient Setup Isometric

1:50

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Steel Box & Connection

‘bringing t he am bience and space o f Pit ahati to any location” One of the main idea’s was to be able to bring the same Pitahati ambience and experience to each location in Malaysia during the two-month long tour. So the setup could be built up or down according to the venue, be it a small studio space in Terengganu, a gig in Ipoh, or a large venue such as Hari Belia, Putrajaya.

Giving the audience the same ‘space’ and experience

Above: Hari Belia, Putrajaya Right: Ruang, Subang

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Terat ak Archisa SesiSeni/ Garasi collaboration wit h ARCHISA

A small ‘teratak’ (Malay Language) or traditional hut built for Laman Seni 7.

A two platform structure based on the traditional structure of the Rumah Melayu Melaka.

A small pavillion, a playground for children, for laman seni 7 where visitors can rest amidst in between the hijabi shops in Seksyen 7, Shah Alam.

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Detailing of Teratak Archisa. Reclaimed wooden frame from an unknown house in Shah Alam Seksyen 2, rerofitted with woven bamboo panelling, kiwi green paintjob. Roof: Reclaimed wooden truss and batten, shinggora clay shingles.

Foundation to floor: Reclaimed hardwood floor joist bolted to Ikea Marius RM10 stools. Teratak painted in Paprika Red. Teratak Kaki Bangku Archisa: A collaborative project between Archisa and Sesi Seni Collective for Laman Seni 7, Shah ALam

Designed by Garasi, manufactured in FSPU, UiTM

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Rum ah Dinding SesiSeni/ Garasi

In the act of reappropriating or reclaiming our alleyways, Rumah Dinding intends to become a small microcosm that is an installation as much as it is a public participatory event space.

-Proposal for urban reclaimation.

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“From my observations and research, I have defined spatial inquiry as a rigorous artistic investigation of physical and psychological space as we experience it through our daily surroundings.�

Annie Mihaylo of Lead Pencil Studio

Investi gations into spatialinquiry 25

Sm all Scale, Sm all Impact, Bi g Di fference?

Makoko floating school, Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Iwan Baan

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You decide.

Contents all rights reserved by Sesi Seni / Garasai. 2014

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