Japanese Avant-Garde Architecture & Liquid Space

The recent (now finished) 4×4 exhibition of Japanese avant-garde apartment architecture at London’s RIBA was mounted on PS2’s and tatami mats. One quote from the DVD – Tadasu Ohe talking over Koyaanisqatsi-like visuals and Ken Ishii-like techno – caught my ear:

“I make business trips abroad about 7 or 8 times a year and domestic business trips more than 50 times a year. When I am back in Tokyo, the time I spend at home is less than 10 hours a day. Originally, home was a starting point, but as my travel become more frequent, it becomes a mere passing point. Even at home, I open up my laptop and call on my cellular phone just as I do in a hotel. We tend to think that space is absolute and “to be mobile” is to move within that space. As one travels more, however, the point one stands become constant and the space seemingly flows around him. Liquid space is the concept that represents such space which becomes extension of body. It is similar to the movement on Internet. The amount of spatial movements will increase and the space become more liquid.”

Ohe continues … “home is a passing point, not starting point … similar to hotel, similar to the city itself. People are in one place temporarily and shift to another in ashort span. A bag abstactly represents this concept. A bag … containing computer, phone, toiletries, clothes … it becomes home itself. The majority of people live in cities … for increasing numbers, home = liquid space”.