Takeshi Hosaka – Ku u so u – invitation to the exhibition at DUČB

T.Hosaka: Restaurant Houtou Fudou

Place: House of Art České Budějovice
Date: 4.4. - 3.5.2013
Opening: Wednesday, 3.4.2013 at 6:00 PM
Curator DU: Michal Škoda

As part of architectural exhibitions, the House of Art in České Budějovice presents, as this year's first project, an author from Japan – Takeshi Hosaka.

Japan is a country with a very rich cultural heritage and history, which is also strongly reflected in architecture. It is not only about architecture from the perspective of distant history, whether in the form of ordinary folk houses characterized mainly by simplicity, austerity, or perfect craftsmanship, but it is also about modern architecture that became known especially in the sixties.

At that time, Japan became the center of world architecture. This period saw the emergence of projects by so-called metabolists, whose main representatives were Kiyonori Kikutake and Kisho Kurokawa. However, more classical figures, such as Kenzo Tange, also played an important role.

It is not easy to briefly introduce even the development of modern Japanese architecture in a few sentences, yet it is also impossible in this context not to mention at least other successors of the mentioned creators. From Fumihiko Maki, Arata Isozaki, Tadao Ando, Terunobu Fujimori, to Toyo Ito, SANAA studio, Kengo Kuma, and the most respected young authors like Sou Fujimoto, Junya Ishigami, Bow-Wow Atelier, or Takeshi Hosaka himself.

Contemporary Japanese architecture does not only bear historical traces, as due to the constant threat of earthquakes, buildings made of stone and brick were effectively excluded, with construction, combining an innate sense of integration into nature and the use of natural untransformed materials, giving rise to a unique style that blends aesthetics with comfort, tradition with modernity. We also encounter architecture based on courage and the use of the latest technologies, innovative shapes, and unusual structural solutions.

In the work of Takeshi Hosaka, we can trace a number of features that reveal not only respect for tradition, where the boundary between the exterior and interior is only loosely defined, a variety of rectangular surfaces are harmoniously arranged together, and sliding walls open the view into the garden. However, we also encounter elements typical of today's era, utilizing contemporary technologies with a clear sensitivity to the interplay of natural forms with geometric forms. Last but not least, it is necessary to mention another very important and frequently used phenomenon, which is transparency and the manipulation of light. Light is not only a symbol of the land of the rising sun but also, in connection with the relationship between light and shadow, a typical element of both traditional and modern buildings, which applies to a significant extent to the work of Takeshi Hosaka.

Takeshi Hosaka / 1975 / graduated in 2001 from the architecture program at Yokohama National University, where he has also been teaching since last year. As early as 1999, he founded his first office, Speed Studio, in 2004 he worked at Kokushikan University, and in 2010 at Hosei University. Since 2004 he has been leading his own office, Takeshi Hosaka Architects in Yokohama.

For our standards, it is remarkable how many projects Hosaka’s studio has already completed and how many significant international awards these buildings have won.
These include private houses, office buildings, as well as kindergartens, schools, or restaurants. To a certain extent, they also engage in interior design, primarily focusing on table and chair designs.

Some of the most notable works by Takeshi Hosaka include the Chigasaki House, Acrylic House, Love House, Garden House, schools in Tokyama and Hongodai, as well as the immensely popular Hoto Fudo restaurant building in Yamanashi, Daylight House in Yokohama, where residents live in natural light from the sky, as light comes into the house "only" through 29 roof skylights, or the house for the hearing-impaired, Room Room in Tokyo - a two-story building in the midst of chaotic residential development serves a deaf couple with two small boys, which is an important detail for understanding the entire project. The arrangement of a series of small square windows (200x200mm) at various heights (including in the floors and ceilings) facilitates better communication between parents and children, who communicate with each other through sign language. This way, they can talk through walls or ceilings as well.

The exhibition in České Budějovice is the author's first European activity. Hosaka presents here a project he named after the concept “Ku u so u” / fantasy /.
It is a specific installation that can be perceived as a landscape inside his mind.
The viewer has the opportunity to walk among sketches that reflect the author's imagination or can sit in one of his folding chairs and fully experience the world of fantasy “Ku u so u”.

Takeshi Hosaka adds regarding this project:
“When I create an architectural design, I always make sketches, of which 99% do not work out. In the remaining 1%, however, I discover amazing things. 99% of my “Ku u so u” are my failed attempts, but I have still decided to let these sketches float freely. It’s an open insight into my reality as an architect. Architecture is a reality; however, we should not only call it a reality, as it also creates something that transcends reality. It strives for something that evokes “Ku u so u” / fantasy /. It takes what was born into the imaginary world and transposes it into the tangible world of architecture. I would like everyone to experience that mini world between reality and architectural design – a world of fantasy.”

As part of the exhibition, a workshop will take place from 7th to 10th April 2013, led by Takeshi Hosaka with selected students from the Faculty of Architecture in Liberec, the result of which should be a construction - object for the main square of České Budějovice.

The general partner of the entire project is Sika Group.