TOKYO UNIVERSIY OF THE ARTSWHITE FOREST KAITTAMA ART LIBRARY

TOKYO

CASE STUDY BY ELISABETH KUHNLE & VILDE ASPEN HELVIK

CONTENTS

2

JAPANESE TEACHING METHOD page 3

TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS page 4

WHITE FOREST KAIT workshop / studio page 19

TAMA ART LIBRARY page 31

REFLECTION page 38

JAPANESE TEACHING METHODIn Japan the architecture schools are usually organized in studios / laboratories. The professor works like a mentor for the student, and the student does research for his professor. For this reason the Japanese students often have the opportunity to get their projects realized. The Japanese students commit to the same professor for at least 2 years. There is a close relationship between student and teacher. Students are being taught in small groups, and the teachers often have their offi ces right next to the lab / studio.Every professor teaches a different theme in the studio he is responsible for.

The plan at the right shows a typical fl oor plan of an architecture school in Tokyo where the two teacher offi ces are placed close to the lab where they teach. Tutoring with the students is often held in their offi ce. The students have two model making workshops that they share. The refresh room is a room for having a tea or reading a book.

Office 1Professor

Workshop 1Models

LAB / studio 1 LAB / studio 2Workshop 2Models

Office 2Professor

Refresh roomAuditorium

(20 persons)

typical fl oorplan (Tokyo Tech)

3

TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS Tōkyo Geijutsu Daigaku

5

TOKYO

TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS

University Art Museum

6

CAMPUS

FACULTY OF FINE ARTSDepartment of Architecture

Tokyo University of the Arts (Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku) or Geidai, is one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in Japan, and the only national university that offers fi ne arts education. The university is mainly located in Ueno Park, but also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi (in which about 3000 students are enrolled). The university owns two halls of residence: one (for Japanese students) in Nerima, Tokyo, and the other (for overseas students) in Matsudo, Chiba. The exchange program is important for the school that has agreements with 45 universities all over the world, among these; School of the Art Institute of Chicago (USA), the Royal Academy of Music (UK), the University of Sydney and Queensland College of Art, Griffi th University (Australia), the Korea National University of Arts, and the China Academy of Art. The faculty of Music and the faculty of Fine Arts (with the department of Architecture) are situated in the Ueno park campus. Students enter the Tokyo University of the Arts by the grade system.

Established: 1949Chancellor: Ryōhei MiyataVice-Chancellor Kenji WatanabeAdmin. staff: 227Students: 3217Undergraduates: 2045Postgraduates: 1172Location: Tokyo, JapanCampus: Ueno

7

Tokyo Music School (1887)Tokyo fine Arts school (1887)

1949 Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music

The history of the university dates back to two specialist schools, Tokyo School of Fine Arts (Tōkyō Bijutsu Gakkō) and Tokyo Music School (Tōkyō Ongaku Gakkō), both founded in 1887. In 1949 these two school merged into Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. The former of these schools is the present-day Faculty of Fine Arts, the latter the Faculty of Music. Originally only men were admitted, but in 1946 also women could enter. From its beginnings, over more than a century ago, the university has played a major role in the arts of this country, producing many fi ne artists and musicians. The English name of the school was changed in 2008 into Tokyo University of the Arts. Since its foundation as a university, its curriculum and facilities have undergone continuous development. In

Ueno park University gate

8

1963 the university opened its graduate school. Initially offering Masters programs, the school expanded to cater for doctoral students in 1977, enhancing the level of education and research in the university as a whole. In 1987 the university acquired a new campus in Toride City, Ibaraki Prefecture. The facilities, which complement those at the Ueno campus, include a large workshop complex, containing areas such as metal working and lacquering. In 2004, following the corporationization of the national universities, it became the National University Corporation Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku. In 2005, the university established the Graduate School of Film and New Media in Yokohama City, Kanagawa prefecture. In 2006, Senju campus was opened.

Tokyo University of the Arts2008

1 Painting2 Sculpture3 Metal Arts4 Factory Complex5 Factory Complex6 Factory Complex7 Main Building (class rooms, administration)8 University Library9 Geidai Art Plaze10 The University Art Museum (old building)11 The University Art Museum12 The University Art Museum13 The University Art Museum14 Gatehouse I15 Gatehouse II16 Old Brick Building I17 Old Brick Building II18 Building I19 Building II20 Building III21 Building IV22 Building V23 Auditoriums24 Sogakudo Concert Hall25 Senior High school of Music26 Administration / Health Care Center27 University Hall28 Guesthouse29 Garage30 Gymnasium

9

MAP OF THE UENO CAMPUS AREA

10

UENO PARK CAMPUS

11

UENO PARK CAMPUS

12

UENO PARK

The campus area of Tokyo University of the Arts is a part of Ueno Park where different museums, institutions and the zoo are located. The university also has its own museum; Tokyo University Art Museum, and it’s therefore expected that people move freely around the campus area as they otherwise do in the Ueno Park. The park is famous for it’s more than 1000 cherry blossom trees and the picture below shows the park during the blossoming period. Because of the trees, all the museums, the old temples and the zoo also a lot of tourists come to see the park.

TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS AND THE PUBLIC

Tokyo University of the arts relates to the public through its University art museum and Concert Hall (Sogakudo). In the concert hall the entire seating arrangement is moveable to adjust the acoustics to the type of performance. The hall is designed like one giant music instrument. Tokyo University of the Arts also collaborate with local communities establishing events that will bring arts out to the people and help them understand how the arts enriches human life.

13

SENJU CAMPUSSenju Campus was established in 2006. On this campus is located the department of Musical Creativity and the Environment. Here also are located several courses of the Department of Musicology and Music Studies (Graduate School of Music). The campus has well-equipped facilities, such as a hall for performing arts, two recording studios with a control room for surround sound production, a sound production studio for audio and video recording/editing and a playroom with an adjoining observation room for music therapy research.

Division Professors Associate Professors Assistant Professors Attached School Teachers Offi ce Workers TotalFaculty of Fine Arts 45 33 15 - 13 106Graduate School of Fine Arts 5 3 1 - - 9Faculty of Music 42 34 3 11 12 102Graduate School of Film and New Media 14 1 1 - 8 24University Library - - - - 9 9University Art Museum 1 2 2 - 4 9Performing Arts Center 1 3 1 - - 5 Art Media Center - - 1 - - 1Administration Offi ce - - - - 61 61Total 217 76 24 11 107 326

The Old Brick Building - The Faculty of Fine Arts (departmen of architecure)

NUMBER OF TEACHERS/PROFESSORS AT TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS

The second unique characteristic is that the Department’s primary focus of architectural education is architectural design. Topics of instruction focus on practical issues and techniques in architectural design, imparting the comprehensive design skills needed by architects based on a rigorous training in architectural theory and in the techniques specifi c to each domain of architecture. Lastly, instruction takes place in small groups (enrollment is limited to 15 undergraduate students and 16 master’s degree students). The goal of this structure is to provide guidance and education based on in-depth interactions between instructors and individual students in an environment with as few constraints as possible, thereby nurturing creativity and individual vision.

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECURE

Three unique characteristics of the Architecture Department

The fi rst unique characteristic of the Department of Architecture is that Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku remains, since its founding, the only national educational institution in Japan whose primary purpose is to train architects within an environment in which instruction in this course of study is provided by a faculty focused on the fi ne arts. At educational institutions in the West, architecture tends either to be attached to a fi ne-arts faculty or established as an independent School of Architecture, with architectural education undertaken from a comprehensive artistic perspective. In this aspect, the department is perhaps the closest among Japanese institutions to the Western model of architectural education.

fi ne arts focused faculty

faculty of fi ne arts

department ofarchitecture

closer to the western model of architectural

education

focus on architectural

design(technique/theory)

interaction between

instructor and individual

14

15STUDIO / WORKSHOP CONDITIONS AT TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS

STUDENT PROJECT 2009

16

THE UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM

Kijo Rokkaku

Personal History1965 B.A. in Architecture, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Staff Architect of Arata Isozaki & Associates (’69) 1969 Established Kijo Rokkaku Architect & Associates1991 Professor, Department of Architecture, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, 2000 Guest Professor at Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University China2004 Dean of Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music

17

In 1999 The University Art Museum was opened due to aged facilities and needs of storages and exhibitions space according to the scale of the collection. Today this collection is one of Japan’s largest with about 28 000 pieces based on Japanese modern art including art works of former teachers and students.

The main building of The University Art Museum consists of three primary sections for storage, exhibitions, and administration and research, and also has a student cafeteria, a museum shop and an art supply shop.

Exhibition rooms are separated on two fl oors. On the second basement there are two exhibition rooms. One room is furnished with large glass cases to display the collection. The other simple room excludes details as much as possible like a white box to allow various ways of displays fl exibly. The exhibition space on the third fl oor is furnished with a new top light system which controls the opening and closing of the ceiling windows for natural light.

The museum has four fl oors plus three basement levels and a total area of 1.699,97 square meters. Final completion of the project was in April, 1999. Architect and dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts Kijo Rokkaku was the planner and supervisor of the museum project.

Kijo Rokkaku is a Japanese architect born in Tokyo, on June 22nd 1941. He graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music in 1965 and in that year entered the offi ce of Arata Isozaki. In 1969 he left the offi ce to open his own offi ce in Tokyo. Rokkaku was critical of modernist architecture, and therefore took a more intuitive approach to design, drawing inspiration from pre-modern rituals such as geomancy. The Zasso Forest Kindergarten (1977) in Kyoto Prefecture incorporated wind-driven sculpture by Susumu Shingu on top of each tower, creating what Rokkaku called “wind-games architecture”. This refl ected his desire to use playfulness and other forms of self-expression in architecture. Other works include the Konkokyo Hall of Worship (1980) in Fukuoka City, a cannon-shaped building for a popular religion that incorporates the symbolic geometry of the circle, and the large, ambitious Metropolitan Martial Arts Hall in Tokyo (1989).

18

WHITE FOREST KAIT KOBO

20

21

KANAGAWA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

White Forest Kite Kobo

KANAGAWA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CAMPUS

White Forest KAIT kobo, studio/workshop

“I wanted to make a space with very ambiguous borderlines, which has a fl uctuation between local spaces and the overall space, rather than a universal space like that of Mies. This allows a new fl exibility to emerge, revealing reality rather than shaping it.”

22

Junya Ishigami is a Japanese architect born in Kanagawa prefecture in 1974. He acquired a master’s degree in architecture and planning at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 2000. He worked in with Kazuyo Sejima and Associates from 2000 to 2004 at SANAA. In 2004 he established his own fi rm: junya.ishigami+associates.

JUNYA ISHIGAMI

WORKS

- Table exhibit at the Art Basel exhibition, 2006- Balloon exhibit at the “Space for your Future” Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2007- Japanese pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, 2008- The Yohji Yamamoto fashion store, New York, 2008- KAIT Studio for the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 2008

“Constellations and Ambiguity. We think of a constellaion as a geometrical formation of lines connecting a group of particularly bright stars. When constellations were fi rst named ages ago, people looking up at the stars of varying intensity and density must have seen in certain vague clusters a likeness of a godess here or a hunter there that they identifi ed as shared referencecs. I see promise in this, in something as indefi nite and ambiguous as a cluster of stars becoming oriented into a very particular and enduring image or state. I see in this a kind of accessible abstractness.”

Small Images (2008), Junya Ishigami

23

Plan, White Forest Kait

A WHITE FOREST IN A GREY FIELD

Junya Ishigami’s university project space in the foothills west of Tokyo is a building designed to almost disappear.

The project is a studio / workshop for the students at Kanagawa Institute of Technology. The university wanted

this structure to be a place where students could work on different self-initiated projects

to make things. They wanted the building to have a high public capacity, as it would be open for use by

local children.

The structure presents another round in the architect’s ongoing contest with gravity. The forest comprises 305 slender steel 5m-high

columns, irregularly orientated and distributed throughout the space, while the fi eld from which they rise is a distorted square bed

of concrete, 47m by 46m, slightly raised above the surrounding bitumen. A fl at roof caps the space with linear roof lights, and a

frameless glass perimeter seals it. The architecture ends there; its animation then takes over with furniture, pot plants and people.

Ishigami explains the evolution of the design as a painstaking investigation of the relationships between the columns – a task for

which he developed custom-made software.

24

25

After extensive research and calculation the architects decided for a structure of 305 pillars with almost the same amount of different

sections and angles, that provided the earthquake proof walls Ishigami wanted. Sections of the columns

26Structural section

27

28

29Workshop interiors

MOVEMENT

With the 305 columns placed metaphorically like the stars in the sky to create different spaces within the studio a different pattern of movement appears. In an online video the architects have fi lmed how people move in the building, choosing different routes to get from A to B in the workshop. This creates a different social situation compared to the one where you move from room to room in a closed hallway.

30

REFLECTING THE SURROUNDINGS

TAMA ART LIBRARY

32

Main Building ALecture Hall BEast Painting Building C • Gallery • Oil painting studios • Dining HallNorth Painting Building D • Gallery • Studios for Japanese painting, oil painting, and printmaking • Printmaking chemicals roomSculpture Buildings E • Gallery • Studios for clay, casting, stone, metal, wood carving, and mixed mediaDesign Building F • Gallery • Studios and lecture rooms of the Departments of Graphic Design, Product Design (Product Design Course), and Environmental DesignCenter for Machine Tools G

TAMA ART UNIVERITY CAMPUS

33

Ceramic, Glass and Metal Works Building H • Gallery • Studios for ceramics, glass, and metalTextile Building I • Gallery • Textile Design Course studiosInformation Design Building and Art Science Building J • Studios and lecture rooms of the Department of Information • Design (Art and Media Course and Interaction Design Course) and Department of Art ScienceGeneral Education Center K • Lecture rooms for general educationMedia Center LLibrary MGreen Hall N • Dining Hall and shopGymnasium OTAU Hall PStudent Club House QCenter for Machine Tools No. 2 R

TOYO ITO

Honorary Fellowship of AIAHonorary Fellowship of RIBACommissioner of Kumamoto Artpolis Biography1941 Born in Seoul Metropolitan City1965-69 Graduated from The University of Tokyo, Department of Architecture Worked at Kiyonori Kikutake Architects and Associates1971 Started his own studio, Urban Robot (URBOT) in Tokyo1979 Changed its name to Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects Awards and Prizes1986 Architecture Institute of Japan awards for “Silver Hut”1992 33rd Mainich Art Award for Yatsushiro Municipal Museum1998 Ministry of Education Award for the Encouragement of Arts for “Dome in Odate”1999 Japan Art Academy Prize for “Dome in Odate”2000 Accorded the Title “Academician” from The International Academy of Architecture 2000 The Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture from American Academy of Arts and Letters2001 Grand Prize of Good Design Award 2001 from Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO) for “Sendai Mediatheque”2002 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 8th International Architecture Exhibition NEXT at the Venice Biennale2003 Architectural Institute of Japan Prize for “Sendai Mediatheque”2004 XX ADI Compasso d’Oro Award for “Ripples” (furniture design)2006 Royal Gold Medal from The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Public Building Award for “Sendai Mediatheque”2008 ADI Compasso d’Oro Award for the Stand Horm 2005 6th Austrian Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts2009 Medalla de Oro from Circulo de Bellas Artes de Madrid2010 2009 The Asahi Prize The 22nd Praemium Imperiale in Honor of Prince Takamatsu

34

Tama Art Library is a library for an art university located in the suburbs of Tokyo. Passing through the main entrance gate, the site lies behind a front garden with small and large trees, and stretches up a gentle slope. The only common place shared by both students and teachers across all disciplines was the existing cafeteria, so the fi rst task in the design assignment was to question how an institution as specialised as a library could provide an open commonality for all. The idea was an open gallery on the ground level that would serve as an active thoroughfare for people crossing the campus, even without the purpose of going to the library.The structure of randomly placed arches was meant to let the fl ows of people freely penetrate the building and at the same time create the sensation as if the sloping fl oor and the front garden’s scenery were continuing within the building. The characteristic arches are made out of steel plates covered with concrete. In plan these arches are arranged along curved lines which cross at several points. With these intersections

35

the arches were kept extremely slender at the bottom, and still supports the heavy live loads of the fl oor above. The spans of the arches vary from 1.8 to 16 metres, but the width is kept uniformly at 200mm.

36diagram of column and arch strucure

site plan

37Basementplan with belonging sections

Models / Sketches

Therefore we should keep in mind how the 1st fl oor / roof extension with the outdoor area underneath in Tama Art Library helps attract people into the building.

A certain kind of “see through” effect could be something to work with when it comes to the exhibition spaces of KAM. Maybe should some of the spaces be visible and reachable from the street so that randomly passing people could “drop-in” to see what’s happening.

From Tokyo University of the Arts we understand that there might be an interest for the the different disciplines to have interaction, for example a space where they could do projects together. We also should consider the teacher/student situation, and refl ect on what kind of spaces are needed for studios, tutoring and offi ces. Maybe the Japanes model is better than the one of NTNU today with the teachers located miles apart from the students?

REFLECTION CASE STUDIES VERSUS KAM

The two buildings are interesting in relation to our KAM-project in several ways. First of all they both have an “open” plan that raises the question: Could we think in a different way for the logistic parts of the project we are doing? Maybe we don’t need closed hallways with a regular pattern, and maybe some irregularities can cause spaces for random social meetings. There are also some concerns regarding the effi ciency of such an open plan solution. And, is this really the best way to work? In a faculty like ours perhaps this idea of irregular logistics suits better for an entrance fl oor or library situation and not necessarily for the studios and workshops.

Both the buildings also stress the relationship with the outdoor surroundings; they try to bring the nature inside of the building, both literally and metaphorically. As a part of our site is the university park with a high value in the campus area, and one could imagine pavilions with a concept like that of Kait’s or Tama’s placed out in the park - bringing the inside out and the outside in, creating a close relationship to the green area. In the Tama-project the goal was to make the library a meeting place across disciplines and status (student/teacher), and let the people fl ow through the ground fl oor of the building. They wanted to bring people in even though they didn’t intend to go to the library. This is something important also to the KAM project, where the new faculty building(s) will become the link between the city and NTNU. All the faculties/departments situated in the new campus area will have things to show that are interesting to the public also outside the university.

38

KAIT WORKSHOP TAMA ART LIBRARY

outside inside

see throughfacade

upper libraryfloor

Could this maybe be a pavillion in the park area within the site? The building mirroring the nature outside, creating a relationship to the outdoor surroundings

Irregular logistics versus regular. Could irregularity be an idea for a foyer area of the KAM project?

39

WHITE FOREST KAIT PLACED ON OUR SITE IN TRONDHEIM

40

TAMA ART LIBRARY PLACED ON OUR SITE IN TRONDHEIM