If you are in Vancouver near the end of this month, go check out Kyohei Sakaguchi's installation Zero Yen House. Based on his research of the informal architecture of Japan's urban homeless, and his book entitled the same, the exhibition will feature a portable dwelling that is evident of the clever and resourceful builders that inhabit the in-between spaces of Tokyo's cityscape.
This work highlights a subculture that builds cleverly designed residences from the refuse of mainstream society for little or no money. The plans for these homes are often shared and the dwellings themselves are sometimes sold. By documenting the output of this creative subsection of homebuilders, Sakaguchi hopes to reveal an approach to architecture in tune with immediate needs and available resources.



Image via greg.org.

Sakaguchi's Zero Yen House installation at the Vancouver Art Gallery explores and elaborates on his architectural research. As a central component, the artist will duplicate a home he discovered in 2000 on the banks of Sumida River in central Tokyo owned by a former engineer.



Reconstructed from the artist's detailed drawings of the original structure, this ingenious dwelling uses an inexpensive solar panel to supply energy for six hours of lighting, television and radio. The dwelling is collapsible and portable, possessing a structural plan that allows for accurate reassembly of every facet of the design.





Images of homes presented in the installation do not include the owners of the dwellings. Instead, Sakaguchi focuses on the structural peculiarities of the dwellings in order to highlight the distinctiveness of each owner's vision and their various strategies for building a house. By doing this, he seeks to reveal a form of architecture created with the instinct, consciousness and capability of human beings not guided by preconceived ideas.


These images via a littlemore.

And check out Nurri Kim's related photography Tokyo Blues. (via)