This transdisciplinary thesis occupies the in-between space of architecture and
art and takes the cultural, social, spatial and urban existences of Tōkyō’s kyōshō
jūtaku (small house) as a focus point. By concentrating on the fourth generation
of houses and architects (2001-), it argues that in order to understand the history,
present and future of this housing model, there is a need for anglophone
representations to move beyond design obsessed narratives which often rely on
stereotypes and fictionalised imaginaries of Japan. To challenge this and offer
an alternative lens of looking, the thesis embodies and advocates for situated
slowed down architectural research, which centres insider-outsider
conversations and intimate experiences of the everyday.
Overarchingly, as a way of rejecting the image of the kyōshō jūtaku as a
static architectural object, the thesis theoretically works to connect the model to
a macro public-private network. Applying Peter Sloterdijk’s theory of foam, the
thesis demonstrates how Tōkyō operates as a foamy network which in turn
produces individual cells, or houses, which function as micro containers of
urban life. To access the influence of the macro foam structure of the city on the
individual cells, the thesis extends Atelier Bow-Wow’s methodological approach
of zooming which encompasses both zoomed in site encounters and zoomed out
ecological perspectives. This is achieved through curating an original
methodology coined feminist sensory creative practice (fscp) which has a
qualitative foundation of feminist ethics, sensory ethnography and artistic
engagement.
As a way of revisioning how these houses are understood, the thesis goes one
step beyond the macro public environment of Tōkyō and the micro private
existences of the houses, by discussing how the kyōshō jūtaku relates to
Isozaki Arata’s conceptualisation of Japan-ness. Through the term, Isozaki
challenges the foreign gaze and the outsider interpretation of what constitutes a
Japanese architectural identity, but in turn creates his own set of limitations. The
thesis demonstrates how fourth generation architects are developing nuanced
understandings, meanings and practices of Japan-ness which develop the theory
in new localised directions. As a way of materially responding to these
interpretations, the thesis creates five art works and spatial writings, which aim
to challenge how theory can be represented and disseminated.
