Not enough, never enough.

Studio culture is unique and different each school and studio. Its characteristics are based on their policy, and school and studio color. I believe that studio culture should be respected and understood by studio users including students, workers, and instructors. So studio users can appreciate its environment better and can work efficiently. But still there are complaining and problems among studio because human beings are never satisfied. Users desire making studio as comfortable as being in own home for the reason that they stay at studio longer than staying at home often.

I have ever heard students comparing that there is not enough space to work on projects in studio. Students need more wide desks, individual working spaces, meeting rooms, etc. In addition, students want to have a vending machine, beds and even shower rooms. Our wish lists of studio may never blank. I agree with them partially. I want to have wider desk for multi working like working on laptop and on making model. I want to have a quiet meeting space to discuss some group projects.

But, is it true that we do not have enough space to work on projects? How can we make studio better?

I found some studio pictures on flickr.com.

UMd architecture studio (flickr.com)

The GSAPP studio (flickr.com)

I can clearly see that their paths must be so tight. They may have other working spaces in different room, but our studio is BETTER. We have definitely wider pathways and BETTER individual desks. I am not saying that it’s the best, and not saying that they are bad neither.

How about a wider or bigger desk?

(Flickr.com)

(jonography.blogspot.com)

It looks nice, but same time I can see what will be happened if we have a desk like them. Some may never clean up own desk until the clean-up day. I think wider or bigger desk is nice if each student have an attitude of cleaning-up. It will be great that if we have a desk like they have, so we can put our model “in progress”, “ready-for-critique”, laptop and extra snacks.

How about if we have a studio which can have all year like 1^st to 5^th like an image below?

(Flickr.com)

It is wide opened space, but looks a busy factory to me. I would rather choose a studio we have even though this studio can have all students we have.

So do we should have better studio like a professional one?

Like red nice wall with red conformable sofa and table?

The Hyperbody studio (flickr.com)

Or like a nice office in the nature?

"office in the woods," designed by Jose Selgas and Lucia Cano (dvice.com)

I would not mind to work on project in such nice places. But I may miss the school-like environment I have. These studio and offices must to be looked good for magazine shoot; clean, professional and neat.

I believe that studio culture may not be changed by what we have within such as big desks, well designed rooms, and cozy sofas. But it may be changed by attitude we have. I mean there are so many things we can improve situation by ourselves. If we do not have enough space around, why do not we clean up around? If we need extra food, why do not we buy extra bags of chips or something else from store before we come to the studio and stock them under their desk? If we need a relaxation, why do not we just go home one hour and make mind and body fresh?

However there are still things we need to be changed and had in the studio. First, we definitely do not have enough additional large group working desks around individual desks. At few situations, we can solve it by simply cleaning up our desk or by respecting others like sharing the large desk with other students. But the most of time, we want to have more large desks to work group projects (or fighting with another student like an image below).

(jonography.blogspot.com)

Second, I wish we have more walls at 3^rd floor to have critiques and display our projects like 2^nd floor beside the studio. It is sometime a fight how Interior design students can get a movable whiteboard or pin-up board from architecture students. We understand that they need those for group projects, but also we wish that they can understand our situation. All interior design major students from 2^nd to 4^th year share 2 and half blocks of desks. We have small square build-in boards for display and critiques and they are not enough for all of us. Also I sometime see that 4^th year architecture students need more display area to discuss their project at distance. I think this can be better if we have movable large displays more like in an image below.

(jonography.blogspot.com)

It can be used for critiques, group discussion, and even a partition between year and year or group and group. It creates little private area we may want to have. There is no space to make an extra wall or an extra room, but if we have some of these, it may help.

Our needs seem not enough, never end, and never enough. What do you think?

Welcome HOME

I grow up in Sendai, Japan which is about 190 miles away from Tokyo. Sendai is my hometown and a city where I call as home. My home was rebuilt 2002 to protect from a huge expected earthquake which Sendai will have it 98% of possibility in 10 years. . .

On the image above, this is a chart of family members drew by my younger sister. From top left father, mother, bottom left, me, younger sister, and younger brother. (Family website: http://sugarsfamily.hp.infoseek.co.jp/index.htm). My family has strong bonds and we go out everywhere together.

(drew by Rena.S)

Because of that, I have a strong feeling toward first floor at home where includes kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, and father and mother’s offices. When my parents decided to rebuild our old house, they wanted to have huge rooms instead of individual/private room for each. So at the first floor, we only have the main room, a bathroom and entrance. At the second floor, we have a small kitchen, a small bedroom, and a huge bedroom. All of my siblings share the huge room. My family has less privacy than any other families typically have.

(image from flicker.com)

A significant furniture piece is the ping-pong table to my family. Because father, sister, brother and I play table tennis, my mother, who plays tennis, desired to have it to share family time. Unfortunately for the ping-pong table, we mostly use it as parent’s extra working station, family meeting space, studying desk, and dining table for more than 7 guests. It is useful.

(image from flicker.com)

Japanese household typically have a family Buddhist alter and a household Shinto shelf next to each other at home like the photo above. Without exception, there are a Buddhist alter in my house which enshrine my grandparent, father’s younger sister, and a dog my grandmother had. We also have Shinto alter to worship. Whenever I leave home like trip, or coming back to U.S., I worship the Buddhist alter to pray a safe trip and when I arrive to home, I report grandparents to thank for the safe trip and great memories. If they were still alive, they could listen my stories and see pictures I took. All family members miss them so much even though it has been for 10 years after they passed away.

Left:old home before destroyed, Right:memory is gone?

I had similar feelings with the sentiment toward grandparents when our old house was broken down to build the house we have now. The old house was owned by my grandfather and I have lived there since I was born. We have so many memories are both good and bad. The house was like grandparents themselves to me. I went to kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, and high school from the house. I played games and many things with my sister and brother. We had great family gatherings. My father locked me out to shed once to punish me and grandmother rescued me soon after. I felt a lot of loss when the old house was destroyed to build new one on the same site. The feeling was similar to a loss of a family member.

It has been about 8 years since my family lives the new house. We have new furniture, events and memories there. It seems different from the old house because the most of surroundings are new and different; however, I can think the new house as my home. I believe that because all of my family members share same memories and events, the house becomes a simple shelter than the symbol home. I can say that if my family moves to the U.S. with some of furniture we have at home, I would consider a place all of us stays as home. Home has more ambiguous definitions than the definition of house/shelter. So when I saw my family, I feel that “welcome HOME”.