P1.2 Who? What? Why? / constructing_fiction
Metaphorical nomadism and post-urban society
„The permanent
discrepancy that exists between our society, which is in perpetual
movement, and the professional – indeed, institutional –
architecture, that is to be found everywhere.
(...)The subsequent
generation has been viewed since the Eighties in terms of the concept
of the urban nomad who, according to work requirements, quickly moves
his domicile to the vicinity of the place of work.
(...)Without going
into details, let us note that Japanese consumer society goes much
further than Europeans imagine: cities and urban life have undergone
extraordinary upheavals in Japan. Although everyone has the
impression of sharing the same sort of happiness, there is growing
inequality within the different social categories. (...)Japanese society
goes beyond the consumer society; it has become the first
post-consumer society.
(...)'Nomad' is
nothing other than a metaphor to describe the way of life of the
inhabitants of a metropolis.
(...)Toyo Ito has
radically changed the tradtional idea of architecture as something
static and lasting. If he were asked to define the difference between
architecture and fashion, he would reply that the difference is
minimal.
(...)A pao can be
easily folded and transported; it is therefore highly suitable for
the life of the nomad. I intend to invest the word 'pao' with the
connotations of a primitive house which can wrap around the
inhabitant like an oversized coat; it is a sort of transportable
residence.
(...) Architecture
becomes mobile like fashion design. (...)If we take Toyo
ito's metaphor to the extreme, architecture is reduced to something
that covers the human body as comfortably as clothes.(...) He is also
interested in fashion and the 'pop' world. 'Pop' is, moreover, the
word he uses to describe urban life and life itself.“
(...)The metaphor of
the 'nomad', which is the fruit of his observation of city life, is
the result of his own imagination.
(...)The city is
split up, is fluid, dynamic, and within such a context the house has
lost its symbolical meaning. (...)In Tokyo, the
inhabitants do not want to stay put; they are forever on the move.
(...)The residents of
Tokyo can, I believe, be compared to nomads wandering in artificial
forests.(...) No one stays at home during the day.
(...)If you life
alone, your house is just the space where you sleep. (...)Even if it is
only a place for sleeping, there should be a bed, a table, a chair, a
minimum of comfort, as it is a place of rest.
(..)Of the three
pieces of furniture installed one is for gathering information. The
nomad woman must know what is going on, and where. (…) The second
is a dressing-table, where she can make up and get ready to go out.
(…) The last piece is a table, where she can sit down and sip a cup
of coffee when she comes home for a short break.
(...)A city is the
result of a concentration of populations; but today the city centre
is almost deserted by its inhabitants. This centre now functions like
an economical-political-cultural machine, producing information. The
city has become a sea of signs, without any shape or limits.
(...)In the ephemeral
urban space, (…) meaningless symbols are accummulated in
expectation of pleasure; but can we not do anything other than
reproduce these symbols as attempts at architecture, and play like a
nomad with these meaningless symbols?“
source: Toyo Ito - Architecture of the ephemeral, Sophie Roulet and Sophie Soulet
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„The nomad girl does not act or pressure the environment, but rather is prepared to be the object herself of the actions and offers proposed by consumerism.“ Inaki Abalos and Juan Herreros
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