Architecture. Possible here? Home-for-All, Japanese Pavilion, Venice Biennale

Winner of this year's Golden Lion award for best national pavilion, Toyo Ito's proposal for the Japanese Pavilion proposes a "Home-for-All" to people who lost their homes in Japan's tsunami of March 2011. 'Architecture. Possible here? Home-for-All' presents the process by which three Japanese architects- Kumiko Inui, Sou Fujimoto (who I've already dedicated a fair few posts on this blog to already) and Akihisa Hirata- collaborated with Ito on a support centre for those affected in the city of Rikuzentakata. The exhibition curls chronologically around timber columns and wooden plinths, showing the project from conception to construction. Alongside models of the project, there are also photographs by Rikuzentakata native Naoya Hatakeyama, including a floor-to-ceiling print of the town post-tsunami around the perimeter of the exhibition. This is a great project, unlike some pavilions purely documenting the problems, Ito has come up with viable solutions, and indicated the steps toward recovery for East Japan.

The British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

For the month of October I am here in Venice working in the British Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale. For those of you who don't know about the British proposal for David Chipperfield's Common Ground theme, here are a few words and photos. As you can probably tell I've kept this post pretty impartial...

Here's what the British Council say:

The British Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale presents the work of ten architectural teams that have travelled the world in search of imaginative responses to universal issues. Venice Takeaway charts their course in Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia, Thailand and the USA and demonstrates the creative potential of sharing ideas across borders.

Research, in the form of photography, drawing, film and objects will be displayed in a Research Emporium, while in the galleries of the pavilion you will find Takeaway Proposals – installations and objects that encapsulate their ideas for change.

Commissioned by the British Council and curated by Vanessa Norwood and Vicky Richardson, Venice Takeaway responds to Venice Biennale Director David Chipperfield’s theme of Common Ground by identifying new ways to negotiate the challenges of making architecture and making the case for internationalism.

The exhibition is a reminder that the practice of architecture is as much about observation and thinking as it is about design. We have taken inspiration from Albert Einstein who said, ‘If we knew what we were doing, it would not be research, would it?’ While keeping an open mind, Venice Takeaway presents a set of clear intentions that we hope will be pursued beyond the life of the exhibition.

Also be sure to check out www.venicetakeaway.com for more on each explorer, as well as www.venicetakeawaystewards.tumblr.com for steward diaries. 

Emporium Space

Public Works, Urban Projects Bureau and Owen Pritchard

Elias Redstone

dRMM

Smout Allen and bldgblog

aberrant architecture

Forum for Alternative Belfast

Ross Anderson and Anna Gibb

Darryl Chen

Toh Shimazaki

Codie Young in Raf Simons for Black Magazine A/W 2012 by Karen Inderbitzen-Waller

Images: Fashion Gone Rogue

London Design Festival: Ropero Wardrobe System by Hierve & Matthew Zorpas at designjunction

Boutique design consultancy Hierve, based in Mexico City and London, has teamed up with The Gentleman Blogger Matthew Zorpas, to create the Ropero Wardrobe System, which was showcased this week at designjunction as part of the London Design Festival. Ropero, which translates into 'wardrobe' in Spanish, immediately caught my eye as part-traditional wardrobe, part-glass cabinet. Add to this, the live outfit changes taking place today by Matthew Zorpas himself, and it is no wonder they've had a successful year at IMM Koln Furniture Fair and Salone del Mobile in Milan. 

Ropero is a modular freestanding wardrobe system that comprises a series of stackable modules and bases that can be arranged into a variety of possible configurations and colour combinations. As well as being functional in the sense that there are different compartments for the storage of clothing, Ropero is also a bit of a show-off. This is the kind of storage system you might find in a trendy Manhattan loft, designer wares on display through the glass windows. Nevertheless, it is the adaptability of the different components to suit the user, and the eye-catching Pantone colours that make this product interesting. 

Images: courtesy of Hierve

In-situ at designjunction. Images my own