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seeking ID on japanese museum (?)

johnszot

many moons ago, there was a building posted in the news section of this site featuring images of a japanese museum (i think) - the building was *extremely* spare - to the point of making one question whether there was an architect involved at all.

nevertheless, the building is very nice. unfortunately, i have nothing else to go on here (the HD containing my copy of the feed bit the dust). searches on the news feed have yielded zilch.

anyone remember seeing this thing? can anyone shed some light on this one

thanks in advance.

 
Aug 18, 08 10:26 pm
holz.box

materials?

Aug 18, 08 10:31 pm  · 
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dia

Not SANAA's Moca in NY?

Aug 19, 08 12:44 am  · 
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xtbl

can you describe said project?

Aug 19, 08 1:53 am  · 
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johnszot

not sanaa - i believe the building is in Japan. the materials / description: plain as can be. a lot of white drywall (or appeared to be), brick, industrial/standard looking steel handrails. they best way to describe it would be very, very dry.

the only thing that was special about the building was that it was proportioned well, which made it extraordinary.

i know this description really sucks. but it's all i can come up with. someone who's seen the project will undoubtedly remember it for its austerity, which is a kind of David Ajaye / Chipperfield kind of austerity. It's more like a Don Judd / East Texas kind of austerity.

Aug 19, 08 7:22 am  · 
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is it taniguchi's national treasure museum?

Aug 19, 08 7:41 am  · 
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johnszot

that looks remarkably like the MoMA....but no. Taniguchi is not the designer....

Aug 19, 08 8:09 am  · 
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johnszot

BTW - i just realized in my 4:22 post i said "which is a kind of David Ajaye..."

i meant to say "which is *NOT* a kind of David Ajaye..."

sorry for the confusion...

Aug 19, 08 8:11 am  · 
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RoedGroed
Langen Foundation by Ando?
Aug 19, 08 4:05 pm  · 
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job job

johnszot - this is why we need rdf tags, I feel your pain.

I'll point you to Tezuka's museum which was published in Verb and elsewhere. Otherwise it's a complete crap shoot as the description sounds like all Japanese architecture in the past 50 years

Aug 19, 08 6:23 pm  · 
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johnszot

jobbie - i hear you. thanks for chiming in, but it's not what i'm looking for.

RG - the building is not by any of the biggies, hence the difficulty here

thanks to all for taking a stab.

any other suggestions? anyone?

Aug 19, 08 6:52 pm  · 
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mdler

is it dry due to good flashing details?

Aug 19, 08 10:04 pm  · 
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job job

atelier bow wow's mado house (Japan/urban)
madaspam's well hall (not Japan/not urban)
r & sie's parking lot (object/all about (amazing) roof)
toyo ito's grin grin (non-object/all about roof)

we can use the powerful divide-conquer process for faster results. The following are things you can certainly recall and can then recurse:
surrounded or solitary
small or enormous
local or foreign office

dry/spare/of nice proportions/non-Adjaye/architect-uninvolved-esp-not-Sejima-nor-Ando are markers that come after

Aug 19, 08 11:18 pm  · 
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holz.box
Teruhiro Yanagihara?


are you sure it's japanese?
Galerie Urs Meile, ai wei wei (beijing)





Museum Insel Hombroich, Erwin Heerich (germany)






galerie fuer zeitgenoessische kunst, bearth + deplazes





Aug 20, 08 12:31 am  · 
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dia

Tama Arts University - Toyo Ito

Aug 20, 08 1:53 am  · 
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holz.box

dia, i really like that project, though i'm not sure why.

there is a really great drawing in the aug. '07 arch review,
titled detailed section reveals steel plate structure encased in concrete

Aug 20, 08 2:08 am  · 
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oh, thank goodness, holz is here. if he can't figure it out, i don't think it exists.

Aug 20, 08 7:42 am  · 
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job job

hmmm... yes... Ai Wei Wei's gallery certainly meets all the criteria.

good game, people

Aug 20, 08 2:07 pm  · 
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johnszot

the Wei Wei gallery is very nice. alas, it is not the building i am looking for despite meeting all my vague criteria.

again i stop to thank everyone for making an attempt. there is clearly a crowd of serious architecture buffs surfing this site.

i am enjoying seeing the pics of these buildings (most of which i didn't know existed). anyone else with something interested to look at? or better yet, the name/author of the building i'm seeking?

Aug 20, 08 2:21 pm  · 
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RoedGroed

But don't you have some more details? What was exhibited in the museum?
Was it an urban setting or in the country side?

Non-David Adjaye...is not that big a reference for me :-)

Aug 20, 08 2:43 pm  · 
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dia

I keep thinking of Sou Fujimoto's Centre for mentally disturbed children.

Aug 20, 08 7:32 pm  · 
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evilplatypus

link

Masanari Murai Art Museum - 4 walls and a mezzanine


Aug 20, 08 8:39 pm  · 
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ah, so it's kuma? i was thinking of some of his other stuff but it's all so much more....baroque (?) compared to this.

does ep get the t-shirt? i'm guessing he got it.

john? john?

Aug 20, 08 9:21 pm  · 
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holz.box

but there is no brick! i feel cheated/guess i'll have to buy a shirt.

irie.

Aug 20, 08 9:29 pm  · 
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holz.box

we should start a thread on japanese minimalism.. but i think that'd cover almost all of them...

Aug 20, 08 9:30 pm  · 
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atte

Towada Arts Center by Ryue Nishizawa?

http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.ja/2008/04/towada.html

Aug 20, 08 11:30 pm  · 
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johnszot

i'm beginning to wonder if just imagined the building.

these are most excellent suggestions. unfortunately, i still don't have a match. my recollection is that the building is in Japan.

i missed the Palais de Tokyo last trip to Paris. Now i'm regretting it.

that school for disturbed children is really nice as well.

Aug 21, 08 8:59 am  · 
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johnszot

i thought i'd try one more time to describe spare as demonstrated by the mystery building.

we're not talking about a spare *technique* - that is, an approach that seeks to abstract its subject through hiding detail in the surfaces, etc. (hence the use of Adjaye and Chipperfield as dialectical examples); austerity is not the explict agenda - just a consequence of the bald-faced quality of the building.

of the stabs at this so far, the wei wei gallery and the german museum have the right attitude. they might end up being necessary substitutes for the project i'm thinking of. however, sure would be great to find the original....

Aug 21, 08 9:05 am  · 
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FrankLloydMike

I guess you can't get any more minimal than possibly not existing.

Aug 21, 08 10:11 am  · 
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greg.org

I was laughing out loud at the vagueness of your description last night, but now, I think I know which building you're talking about. And damned if I can't think of the name/architect, either.

This is worse than having a fragment of a song stuck in your head. At least you can whistle it to someone.

Aug 21, 08 11:12 am  · 
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johnszot

FLM - how true.

Greg - just think how i feel. it's worse knowing you might be on the cusp of solving this mystery.

Aug 21, 08 11:21 am  · 
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holz.box

hmm. last two guesses would be

Jiuchang Art Complex
Heyri Art Valley

Aug 21, 08 11:47 am  · 
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hurry up kids, the free t-shirt is getting cold ova here ;)

Aug 21, 08 1:52 pm  · 
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greg.org

Hmm, now I wonder if I was thinking of Atelier Bow Wow's Hanamidori Cultural Center in Tachikawa?

There was an Archinect interview with Tsukamoto about it last year:

http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=56468_0_23_0_C

Aug 21, 08 5:27 pm  · 
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greg.org

But looking at the Atelier Bow-Wow site,

http://www.bow-wow.jp/profile/works_e.html

it seems a lot less unintentional than I remembered. Though with all that flexibility, it still looks like a tough place to put on an art exhibition.

Also, it doesn't look much like either brick or Marfa...

Aug 21, 08 5:35 pm  · 
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dia

I dreamt of a building last night. It was pretty nice. Anyone who can post an accurate picture of it will have me as their live-in maid for the rest of eternity, and an archinect t-shirt of their choice.

Aug 21, 08 5:47 pm  · 
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holz.box
Aug 21, 08 6:13 pm  · 
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RoedGroed

holz - That's from flickr but what on earth is it...it's making me quite ill..

Aug 21, 08 8:47 pm  · 
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greg.org

here's the photo's page. Oxford Park Central.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61686932@N00/2365411371/

It does "make one question whether there was an architect involved at all."

Aug 21, 08 9:33 pm  · 
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holz.box

nice one. yeah, it is awful. but i'm pretty sure that's what dia dreams about at night.

actually, it looks like half the developer crap going up in seattle... no, like 80%

Aug 21, 08 9:37 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Oh man oh man what I would give to pull a Janine Antoni "Slumber" on diabase's brain activity while he slept...

Aug 21, 08 9:45 pm  · 
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dia

holz.box, thats a nightmare. A dream is more like this:

Aug 21, 08 9:50 pm  · 
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holz.box

on the rare occaision i do dream, it tends to be ridiculous corners

Aug 21, 08 10:47 pm  · 
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xtbl

diabase,

Aug 22, 08 12:07 pm  · 
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