Archinect - Tokyo University Faculty of Architecture

Holidays

2005-12-23T05:29:54-05:00

Happy Holidays! Just wanted to let people know I'm alive, doing fine and still attending school in Tokyo.

Apologies for not posting anything in like half a year or so...

Studio Ends

2005-07-05T10:57:16-04:00

wow, it's been like a month since i've written anything. it has been crazy busy and people have actually in tokyo univ. sleeping bags in their classrooms...some people don't seem to see daylight before the submission of the design studio. hmm...but then again, i'm not talking about anything new here...

so i finished up my work, a residential house / unit. i was happy about the model, the panels and also my work. my professor seemed to be happy too...but as it comes to critic, i didn't get any "real" feedback.

this is how it goes: we have to submit two A1 sheets + a model. we formed a line 13.00 hours (the deadline) and our submission was stamped and registered. then we put up our panels on the exhibition space. as the exhibition opened for "public" professors walked around and the student was supposed to "holler", pull the professors arm, and invite him for a presentation. the professor would then mark the work in his notebook or wha'ever and later on all the professors would vote...

Slow at School

2005-05-27T11:07:30-04:00

my parents are visiting me here in tokyo so i haven't been able to study that much. i find it ok not to study for a while...i guess most of the bloggers are finishing up and starting their summer vacations. my deadlines will fall in july and will have practically school until august...

last tuesday i had again the studio discussion hour with the students and the professor. the comments from the professor was now constructive and i guess i'm back on track after being a bit cast away after the midterm critic. i always write this blog at home and never have any pictures to upload but eventually i will post some pictures of my work, if i dare!

it won't be anything as fancy and discussable as bryan's post the other day...but still. wishing all the bloggers who have finished their semester a nice nice summer vacation (hopefully everybody will get some time off and enjoy the vacation)!

view from my parents hotel into the western part of tokyo. infront tange's tokyo city hall bldg.

Dental Clinics and Critics

2005-05-20T04:16:01-04:00

oooh...man it hurt! today i was at the dental clinic (tokyo univ. hospital) for a wisdom tooth extraction operation. it was probably the most horrible experience ever! i'm telling you guys...there were some complications and it took an hour to get the wisdom tooth out. anyway, still alive. barely.

last tuesday i had the mid-term critic. three students presented their work, 1 minute each, and then the professors commented the works for 6 minutes. i don't know what happened but the professors totally disregarded me. so i didn't get any critic or comments. it left me a bit wondering about many things about the school.

the problem was maybe the lack of time and the fact that i spoke english while the other two students were japanese. (although i don't think they intentionally disregarded me because i spoke english). the japanese students at glance of course got better and longer comments than the foreigners...that's a fact!

i don't want to think that my work was so uninteresting that...

About Entering the University of Tokyo

2005-05-13T20:19:53-04:00

i have received several emails about fellow students from around the world about how to enter the university of tokyo. i'm trying now by this blog reach out to those students who have emailed me that i will answer you shortly. one student who emailed me from the chicago school: would you be kind and send the email again since i screwed up my mailbox and deleted emails accidently.

otherwise i'm having a studio mid-term critic where all the professors will attend, the presentation will be one minute long and the critic two minutes long...i'm not yet working nights but have long days at school and go to the uni also during the weekends

i find that the japanese students begin to tackle the assignment/problem by designing the mass, or the volume, before working on sections and plans. it's function that follows form...anyway, a great deal of emphasis is put on the concept which i find to be a good thing.

okok, have to run to school to make some study models.

presentation of work for p...

The Golden Week

2005-05-06T10:42:18-04:00

during the super vacation week (also called as the golden week) i went with friends to kamakura, a small city south of yokohama. the place was packed with people but the city with its shrines, parks and small shops was nice! usually the golden week is a time when people really take off from work and relax...

and for those who read my blog now and then; i'm back on track with my laptop

Impressions of a Confused Mind Vol. I

2005-04-27T01:14:02-04:00

finally i get to post...unfortunately not from my computer but from my lab's public computer.

tokyo university faculty of architecture is a pretty big school and the first impression of this school is that it's run by many different kinds of administative offices which makes it for an exchange student a bit difficult to grasp at once. although a massive process of paperwork at the beginning everything went well and here i am...

TU wants to give an international impression to the foreign students but infact it's very difficult to manage here without speaking japanese. the message board which is the main and the single most important place for messages for students is almost 90% in japanese...even the board for the international students is written in japanese.

so only the titles are in english. for example the title can go: "international students very important"...but the content is in japanese. but, (a big but) everybody here are happy to help and you're not left behind if you a...

computer

2005-04-20T08:05:48-04:00

sorry sorry. my computer is broken so i can't post...i'm alive, doing fine and soon to be busy with design studios. hopefully next week my laptop will be up and running...

Ohanami

2005-04-11T04:53:45-04:00

i arrived to tokyo some days ago and i have been dealing with paperwork and all kinds of stuff but now i'm settled down in tokyo in my apartment. the school is nice and good and the studios + seminars will start next week. this weekend i just went with friends to see the cherry blossom trees and relaxed and slept off my jetlag.

the cherry blossoms during the night.

Leaving on a McDonnel Douglas

2005-04-05T01:23:33-04:00

leaving today and arriving tomorrow to tokyo. will begin my tokyo blog as soon as i get settled down.

All My Bags are Packed

2005-03-20T10:28:08-05:00

i'm packing all my belongings to boxes and suitecases. some boxes stay in helsinki and some go to tokyo with me. i guess i won't be needing any winter clothes..(?), uh...my apartment is a mess...

i will leave helsinki in two weeks. my to do-list is pretty long but i guess everything will be just fine.

this is my to do list.
-souvenirs to my japanese friends
-email all my friends about my trip to tokyo (most of them know i'm going) :)
-print on paper my sim-card's address book
-buy some film to my camera
-get in contact with the (finnish) government about my new address in tokyo
-buy some books
-draw a cad drawing of my friend's old house
-pack, move stuff
-buy some cds
-get a basic health check
-talk with my teachers & professors
-throw an enormous party
-clean my apartment
-apply for some last minute scholarships
-some other things i won't share in this blog :)

what am i forgetting? please add!
all the visa applications and such is covered.

i'm soon good to go.

...

Wine and Articles

2005-03-14T14:19:23-05:00

today at noon the fresh and new issue of "arkkitehtiopiskelija" (translation: architecture student's newspaper) was released. the newspaper is printed on full 4/4 colour and has a very tight layout. the newspaper is co-edited with finnish architecture schools in tampere and oulu.

wine was served during the release party! dauym, i wish i had something more intersting to report like bryan at gsd. but sooo--ooon, soon school will start for me too in tokyo. sooo-hoooon.

The Green Week

2005-03-05T04:00:35-05:00

the following week is holiday for architecture students in helsinki. no seminars, lectures or assistance sessions will be held. it's a way for our dept. to save money, give the students some holiday or time to prepare for their exams and such. the week is called the green week and to kick off the green week friday was a "chill" day organised by our student union. free pasta, bread, soft drink and good music. they used to sell beer during this "chill day" but somebody put an en to it. damn people who don't know the meaning of beer in academic studies. hmm...

traditionally during the green week an excursion is held to somewhere in europe. last year it was to northern italy, this week it will be to copenhagen combined with a work shop with local schools. so...i guess i'm wishing you all a nice green week.

Discussion Forum at its Best

2005-02-26T08:39:05-05:00

so much is true that helsinki univ. of technology, dept. of architecture professors are pretty conservative and aren't that open for criticism. there isn't really a good base for constructive discussion between the students and teachers and sometimes/many times it makes the students a bit anxious...

the far best way to discuss and express oneself for a student in our dept. seems to be the toilet, its dorrs and walls.

the academic discussions on architecture that is held on the toilet doors/walls are usually high-end discussions (no racial or similar writings can be found)...

unfortunately last semester there was a heavy cleaning operation where all the clever, witty and good writings were flushed away so to speak. the order to clean up the toilets came from a higher level with no doubt...

i don't know what has happened but the writings are coming back...hopefully they are here to stay.

Non-stop Finnair flight to Tokyo

2005-02-19T04:20:32-05:00

so yesterday i made my flight reservation to tokyo. it's a non-stop flight which is nice...a stop-over flight would have been a pain in the a*s. i'll be leaving in the beginning of april and hopefully i will catch the sakura-time, you know, the time when the cherry blossom trees blossom. i hear it's a must.

it's been a hectic week or two, and paul's mail got me scared :), I've been working for this architect office and it's been pretty fun. me and my friend have been working on an "idea design" proposal for a chinese city called ningbo. it's some kind of a riverside / waterfront leisure, comemrcial and cultural / green park area thingy. the deadline is this sunday when one of the office partners will leave for china.

anyway, i have to work on sunday and after that i'll just probably fade away from office and concentrate in doing travel preparations and some school work. currently i am attending this 60-70's architecture history course. it's hot, archigram and superstudio and tange...

Dial M for Money

2005-02-09T17:19:30-05:00

i received an email today from tokyo univ. that they / i did not receive a scholarship that i was sort of hoping for (a scholarship from the ministry of japanese education or something).

now i need to look for more scholarships and funds to...fund my stay in tokyo. no worries but still...a bit maybe sad. well not sad, it's just the way it goes. free and taxfree money sounds too good to be true anyways!

helsinki univ. of technology dept. of architecture is situated in otaniemi, espoo. espoo is a los-angeles-like-city outside helsinki. not that i have been to la. it was a nice day at school today...very relaxed.

Happy New Year

2005-02-08T12:20:08-05:00

...oh, and happy new year (the chinese one). it's the year of the chicken, and that would be me.

Underground

2005-02-08T11:32:09-05:00

the helsinki underground is something i haven't used in ages, actually i never use it. helsinki has one "line" which runs west-eastbound and is one of the widest metros in the world and it's almost never packed like in tokyo, london or seoul.

picture: kamppi station at the heart of helsinki.

i travel from the westend to the eastside to get to work twice a week...the underground spaces are wide and pretty straight forward. although the underground (metro) system is simple the information design is pretty inconsequent and may i say bad.

picture: entrance to lower level where the trains run.

at work i'm working with one of the founders on a competition entry to china...we're working on the study model and the proposal is strange in my opinion (humble) but the work is interesting...anyway, the office is nowadays known for several projects to china and for complex architectural buildings, like...uh, airports and stuff.

anyhooo...tomorrow and for the rest of the week i'll be doing some ...

Working while working

2005-02-02T10:29:37-05:00

like many of my friends at the dept. of arch. i got a part time job at an architecture office. i'm actually only going to work for some 2 weeks or maybe more... the pay is bad since i have a poor office experience in finland. anyway, the pay is 10 e/h...my friends are getting around 13 e but they have previous office experience in finland.

aaaanyways, now i'm working on to get some scholarships for my tokyo univ., reading for exams (not actually) reading more japanese grammar and from friday i'm working for this office in eastern helsinki.

mmm. that's it. as you were.

Extreme Housing and Rumours

2005-01-30T03:40:41-05:00

the courses have begun but i haven't been able to attend any because my exchange year in tokyo univ. will beginning in april and the deadlines here in helsinki will be in may. nevertheless i have been planning to do some exams in the near future...

i got the final documents from tokyo univ. conserning my application. i got the papers for my visa application which seems to be a complicated and a long process. i have been in good contact with tokyo univ. and they are very helpfull so that's good.

extreme housing is the title for this spring's housing studio. it seems very interesting and it's a shame i can't attend that course. the assignment is to plan housing of any kind to a small island outside helsinki...

other intersting courses would be the urban renewal course...there are rumours that rem koolhaas will be in helsinki in may and may also be looking at some works from this course. rumours seem to have been confirmed by professors etc. let's see...not that it matters for me bec...

Rogers / Foster

2005-01-24T08:52:42-05:00

in pictures...old friends. the machine and the "thing". It's snowy and cold in Helsinki (nothing is happening yet in school), this is a picture from last week.

Back Home

2005-01-23T15:44:57-05:00

After being almost 5 months away from my hometown Helsinki I have returned. Here in Helsinki, Finland I will be about 3 months
studying my forth year...I will leave for Tokyo in April when my year as an exchange / reasearch student will begin.

For the 3 months that lies ahead in Helsinki I will do some exams, do a lot of administrative / paper work and decide my reasearch theme for Tokyo...I will also just take it easy, maybe work a little bit (if I get any)...

Last August I left for Tokyo to work in a starchitect company and stayed there for 3 months, got to know really good people in Tokyo Univ. and interns / staff in Tokyo...after that I went to Seoul (parents) just to relax and think things over.

Today I came back from London, I stayed at my Superfriend and we had lots of fun walking around in London, Hamstead and Notting Hill. I feel tired and will post later more stuff!!!

This was a short short comment on my life that has been, I'll post travelpictures and stuff later on...