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Design Miami/ Basel 2013: A Material Flow
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Author
Angelique Campens
Published
20 March 2013
Location
Antwerp
Sections
Architecture
Keywords
deSingel, Exhibition, Grand Palais, James
Turrell, Junya Ishigami, Junya Ishigami +
Associates, Scottish National Gallery of Modern
Art, Shiseido, Yohji Yamamoto
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"Light is a powerful substance. We have a primal connection to it.But, for something so powerful, situations for its felt presence arefragile."—James Turrell [1]
Can architecture beinvisible?
At deSingel, a translucent sphere and a dreamy environment — where even smallobjects disappear — harbours the work of Junya Ishigami, with 56 different notesthat through drawings, models and objects explain the ideas behind 58 projects.
Architecture / Angelique Campens
In his book Mapping Spaces (1987), the artist James Turrelldiscusses his work on the connection of light and space. Turrellstates, "the qualities of the space must be seen, and thearchitecture of the form must not be dominant." [2] Thesecomplementary thoughts on how he tries to fill space with lightresonate with the thinking-through-space in the work of theJapanese architect Junya Ishigami (1974). In the same manner asTurrell, he strives to create architecture that is, as it were,invisible and which allows visitors to experience space in adifferent way.
Until the 16th of June, Ishigami's work is on display at Antwerp'sdeSingel in an exhibition titled How small? How vast? Howarchitecture grows. Upon entering the exhibition room, the visitorencounters a brightly lit space where everything is white,including the floor. This creates a translucent sphere — evensmall objects, placed around the space, look translucent — and adreamy environment. This rendering space into a translucentaura is again reminiscent of Turrell.
The exhibition was originally made for The Shiseido Gallery inTokyo in 2010. The first room in deSingel consists of aninstallation of eight tables. These are made of narrow woodentable sheets of plywood with finish in European linden (while inTokyo he used a Japanese linden for the finish), standing onslender white legs in white lacquered steel. On them aredisplayed 58 realised and unrealised projects. The drawings,models and objects installed on the tables are complementedwith small notes explaining each project — 56 different notesexplain the idea behind the 58 projects.
Top and above: Junya Ishigami. How small, how vast installation view at Antwerp's deSingel. Photos by Stijn Bollaert
The manner and materials of installation form a directreference to his architecture. For example, the slender whitelacquered steel legs of the tables reflect the beams in hisarchitecture. The objects shown represent a fragile, delicateaesthetic, they all look very precious and embody the challengeto make an architecture that almost disappears. This is not purelyaesthetic; it is a way of life. Junya Ishigami says he tries tocombine architecture, artificial things and natural environmentsto make a new criterion for human activities. He further exploresthese ideas by conceiving pieces from a child's point of view onthe world and natural phenomena. His work balances poeticsand technical engineering as he tries to learns fromthermodynamics and physics.
Junya Ishigami, Kanagawa Institute of Technology
KAIT Workshop, 2010. Photo ©
junya.ishigami+associates
The work presented in this exhibition ties into Ishigami'sinterest on the relation between art and architecture. This is mosttransparently seen is his work for museums. In note 40, forexample he explains and shows a model of the project of theballoon that he made in 2007 for The space for your Futureexhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. Themetal, cuboid balloon measures 7 x 13 x 14 metres, is filled withhelium, and is displayed in a space of 15 x 20 x 19 metres. Here,it weighs more than a tonne and is as high as a building of fourfloors. This makes apparent Ishigami's idea that no matter howheavy architecture is, it still can be floating on air.
The objects shown represent a fragile, delicate
aesthetic, they all look very precious and embody
the challenge to make an architecture that almost
disappears
Junya Ishigami. How small, how vast installation view at Antwerp's deSingel. Photo by Stijn Bollaert
In a project for an extension of a museum (note 41), theidea of the balloon comes back. Here, the foyer is covered with aballoon-like acrylic material that creates an illusion of floatingover the garden. Junya ishigami also once proposed a project forthe Grand Palais in Paris (note 53). Since the Palais is alwaysused as an open space, he wanted to frame it in order to bring outthis otherwise overlooked quality. In order to do so, he suggestedplacing colossal 30 metre walls around it.
For the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (note 54),Ishigami made studies which re-imagine the architecture andgrounds of the Gallery. He proposed to keep the buildingsuntouched but to reconstruct the gardens so as to integrate theold buildings into the new gardens.
junya.ishigami+associates, little gardens 2007-2008. Photo by Takumi Ota, collection of Tatsumi Sato
Other important themes that recur in his work are therelation between nature and housing, patios, cities with smallpopulation density, and new modes of inspiration such as cloudsand weather patterns.
In the second room visitors can see the 2007 installation SmallGardens. Here one finds a low, coffee table, full of smallcontainers made out of silver, where each piece is differentlyshaped and carries a dried flower.
Junya Ishigami, Another scale of architecture — horizon, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, 2010. Courtesy Gallery Koyanagi. ©
junya.ishigami+associates. Photo by Yasushi Ichikawa
Junya Ishigami studied architecture at the Tokyo NationalUniversity of Fine Arts and Music. Before setting up his own firmjunya.ishigami+associates, he worked for Kazuyo Sejima andRyue Nishizawa. He became known with his Extreme Nature:Landscape of Ambiguous Spaces installation, which placed glassgreenhouses around the Japanese pavilion during the 2008Venice Architecture Biennale. Angelique Campens
Junya Ishigami, Yohji Yamamoto New York Gansevoort street store, 2008. ?junya.ishigami+associates
Notes:1.Kristine Stiles and Peter Selz, eds., Theories and Documents ofContemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings (University ofCalifornia Press, 1996), 575.2. Ibid.
Junya Ishigami, Yohji Yamamoto New York Gansevoort street store, 2008. ?junya.ishigami+associates
Through 16 June 2013Junya Ishigami: How small? How vast? How architecturegrowsdeSingelDesguinlei 25, Antwerp
Junya Ishigami, Table, 2005-2006, Tokyo, Osaka, Basel. © junya.ishigami+associates
Author
Angelique Campens
Sections
Architecture
Keywords
deSingel, Exhibition, Grand Palais, James
Turrell, Junya Ishigami, Junya Ishigami +
Associates, Scottish National Gallery of Modern
Art, Shiseido, Yohji Yamamoto
Location
Antwerp
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Ethel Baraona Pohl · Segui già · Top Commentator · Co‑Founder presso DPR‑barcelona · 526 persone ricevono gli aggiornamenti"... making an architecture that almost disappears".Rispondi · · Mi piace · Segui post · 22 marzo alle ore 10.093
Catherine du Toit'Junya Ishigami says he tries to combine architecture, artificial things and naturalenvironments'... Extreme Nature ‑ clever, sensual, compelling. An invisiblearchitecture ‑ reminds me of Frank Newby & his minimal post war structure. Achallenge then: could the Gansvoort Street rooftop, complete with writhing alien,not be transformed into a natural environment, a 'little garden' for the birds and thebees...Rispondi · Mi piace · Segui post · 2 aprile alle ore 21.53
