*The image is view from the “Atami Villa (Kyu Hyuga Bettei)”

Today is a side story of Bruno Taut “Atami Villa” 1 / Bruno Taut “Atami Villa” 2.

I wrote about the guide when I visited the Atami Villa in the last article, I introduce about wonderful leanings from the guide.

Taut found the Japanese beauties in Katsura Imperial Villa, Ise Shrine and Shirakawago, and he disseminated them to the word by his books. Today’s blog is about why Japanese architectures attract him.

First, the “Unostentatiousness”.
Katsura Imperial Villa is a “Villa” and Ise Shrine is a “Religious Facility”, but they are humble and simple. The colors from nature are modest. On the one hand, Western villas and religious facilities are gorgeous, also they are colorful. They are opposite of Japan. The architectures are modest in Japan and they are gorgeous in the Wet, but how about clothes? Japanese traditional clothes are Kimono, right it is very colorful and gorgeous. The color of the upper class more vividly, more layers and the hairstyle becomes big and gorgeous. The clothes in the West is dress, dresses look modest and colorless, especially in the Middle Ages.

Japanese culture which is gorgeous clothes look best in the modest space, and Western culture which is modest clothes look best in the gorgeous space. I see, both has good balance.

I introduced about Bruno Taut last blog, I write about the “Atami Villa (Kyu Huga Villa)” this time.

The client was Mr. Rihei Hyuga who was active in trade business in Asia. FYI – the wooden two-storied main house was designed by Jin Watanabe who also designed Wako department in Ginza, the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno and Aichi prefectural office. I think the client Mr. Hyuga knew about art & culture very well and had a nice sense of beauty. Also I heard that Mr. Hyuga said “You can design whatever you want no matter how much it costs” to Taut. Such a dream project it was that the client trusted Taut, left all of it up to Taut and no money restriction. I think client’s understanding for design is necessary to create something great.

This Atami Villa is well know as a “A cellar of the annex” but I think “A guest room for social place” is more suitable for this space. Because there are three rooms and there is also a big window that you can see the Pacific Ocean, it is very luxurious “cellar”.

Atami (a pleasant seaside resort west of Tokyo in Shizuoka Prefecture) is famous as nice Onsen area, also it attracts attention as great architectures for architecture lovers.
I visited MOA art museum and Bruno Taut “Atami Villa” (official name is Kyu Hyuga Bettei).

First talking about Bruno Taut, he was a German architect and his style is categorized Expressionism. He was active as an avant-garde architect in Berlin. He was also active as a city planner by designing housing complexes. You can live his house still now but it is difficult to live there because it is very popular.

He went to the Soviet Union but he returned to Berlin after a few years, then he headed to Switzerland in order to escape persecution with the emergence of Nazi. He arrived in Japan after Turkey and European countries, invited by Japan International Architecture. He was raised in Europe where Japonism was a heyday. Perhaps his dream came true to come to his dream country Japan.

In 1930, he arrive in Tsuruga, Fukui prefecture and he had a fateful encounter in Kyoto. He met “Katsura Imperial Villa”. He expressed the villa “It makes me almost cry, it is so beautiful…” All his ideal design was there. He was the first person who introduced Katsura Imperial Villa to the world, he wrote about it some books. I have a lot about the villa but not this time.

The world is becoming more digital but I still use mail system such as letters or postcards. I go to a post office sometimes and always check design stamps there. There are many kinds of stamps seasonal ones, limited ones, characters, traditional Japanese drawings etc. Also they change the designs often.

It is so fun to see the design in a small space, there are stamps with sheets. Some stamps make one design. I’ve heard that there are only seven stamp designers in Japan!

Design stamps (seals) were sold in Denmark in 1904 first. Einar Holbøll, a Danish postal clerk developed the idea of adding an extra charitable stamp on mailed holiday greetings during Christmas. The money raised to help children who are sick with tuberculosis. Since then, the stamps have been sold during Christmas season every year, and it has also spread from Denmark to Scandinavia, Europe, America, and Asia. Now around 80 countries participate the activity.

I have a conscious desire to wear Kimono once a year, always someone had put my Kimono on because it is hard to wear it by myself. However, I decided to go to school to wear it by myself.

– I would like to wear it beautifully by myself
– I would like to learn about the way of moving
– I would like to learn about itself (history, cultural background, patterns, colors, types etc)

You would be able to wear it if you would like to just “wear” it, but it is not only that. Wearing Kimono also has the side of emotional effects. I was very impressed by my teacher’s spirit of wearing Kimono.

Today is about seasons.

“Trees turn the colors into deep green, and feels like beginning of early summer, how are doing?” It is good season to greet so. I heard that these are Japanese-specific expressions that talking about seasons when you meet someone. Today, I explore a little deeply about the culture that the seasons have been incorporated into their lives.

There are three types of seasons to divide; 4 macro-seasons, 24 seasons and 72 micro-seasons. They are sensitive of changing seasons and take advantage of the wisdoms from nature.

“MORNING RELAY”  – Shuntaro Tanikawa
While a young man in Kamchatka
Dreams of a giraffe
A young girl in Mexico
Waits for the bus in the morning haze
While a little girl in New York
Rolls over in her bed with a smile
A little boy in Rome
Winks at the morning sun that colors the column capital
On this Earth
Always, somewhere, morning is starting
We are relaying mornings
From longitude to longitude
Taking turns protecting Earth, as it were
Pick up your ears awhile before you go to sleep
And somewhere, far away, you’ll hear an alarm clock ringing
It’s proof that someone has firmly caught
The morning you’ve passed on

This is a famous Japanese poet Shuntaro Tanikawa’s poetry.

I have worked for over fifteen years as a graphic and digital designer, and I still LOVE to design.

Maybe people think that “design” is act of making visual things (surface decoration) mainly, but the word includes a wide range of activities such as planning, making plans, concept working, making structure.

In actual projects, I spend 70-80% of time on “researching or thinking”, and the rest of 20-30% of time is for “making something visible” with Mac.  (I think most of people think this one is “design”.)

I think that going to book shops or museums, going on a journey if needed, even taking walk is even wonderful part of job, because these are all researching or thinking act. There is always a project in the head, and it seems that the directions is decided through various experiences.

This world where we live is always neutral.
Nature, animals, plants and human beings as well. Just the way they are, just being.

And, the world what I see is only real and it is only one thing, and I believe that the other people see the same as I see. However, there are as many worlds as people. It’s all different.

It is fun to feel empathy for “same”, but also it is rich experiences to know the “differences”.

I see the world that it is A, and how do you see it? Wow, you see so, interesting!

Knowing other people’s world broadens your world.  I would like to make this blog will give something positive in your life by sharing “differences”.

You See A and I See B.