Showing posts with label Architecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Architecture. Show all posts
Monday, 8 July 2013
Famous buildings in the dirt
Today I was walking through Bristol, behind the Council House, when I looked up and saw a stain running down a bit of the wall that looked exactly like the building La Mole Antonelliana in Torino. I took a photo and later compared the two (got the other photo from Wiki). The similarities are remarkable. But, considering Bristol's fondness for graffiti, I can't be sure it's not a work of art. I am scratching my head over this. Either way, it's very pretty.
Friday, 25 January 2013
The Curious Case of Watanabe Kinzou's House
In the years 1925-26, after the Great Kanto Earthquake, Watanabe went on a trip around the world. When he returned he began to renovate his building situated in the corner of a shopping distrcit in Fukagawa, Tokyo. He began in December 1927, but only gave verbal instructions to the carpenter – no blueprints were made – and work was frequently postponed while he made changes.
In August 1931, the building was completed but Watanabe soon began further construction work on the house. During this time, unable to tolerate his strange behaviour any more, his family left him, leaving him alone in the house with a maid. In the Spring of 1936, Watanabe offered to give up his free phone line, which was quite valuable. The authorities couldn't understand why, but they removed the telephone all the same. By chance, his estranged family heard about this, and thought it reason enough to hospitalise him. Two years later, his house was torn down.
The psychiatrist Shikiba Ryuzaburou wrote about it in a magazine in 1937, and these articles became a book, 「二笑亭綺譚」 (no official English translation, I'm afraid) which is now out of print. He tried to save the house, insisting it should remain standing as a work of art, but to no avail.
From the article on Wikipedia Japan, and other sources, I've collated this incomplete list of curiosities about the house.
The plot of land measured 95.7 tsubo (a tsubo is equal to 3.95 square yards or 3.31 square meters) but the floor space only added up 67 tsubo.
Despite being a two-storey wooden house, the storeroom and kitchen were made of steel.
Three large windows at the front on the second floor in a curious arrangement.
The ceiling of the entrance hall, just as you enter, went all the way up to the roof.
Hooks for hats and coats were placed in a haphazard manner, at a height of four metres.
The back gate was blocked by a diamond framework, so that it got in the way of anyone going out or coming in.
Peep holes in the thick wooden fence around the house, made in the knots in the wood and filled with glass.
A Japanese-style bath and a Western-style bath next to each other
A ladder out of the roof that doesn't go anywhere
A titled set of shelves
A ladder in the storehouse that just went from floor to ceiling
Unusually shallow closets of just 30cm deep
The toilet is separated from the courtyard by only the lower half of a door
One source mentions many rooms that were unusable, but doesn't specify why. Or perhaps I've mistranslated.
References
http://www.yama-semi.com/?pid=22482951
http://www.yama-semi.com/?pid=22485162
http://kizen.bunko1.com/105/200-1/50.php
http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/nishikawaw/nishotei02.html
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/0350371001/works/works_1_a.html
http://book.douban.com/subject/1941758/discussion/22127595/
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E7%AC%91%E4%BA%AD
http://yamanochikara.com/column/vision/2965/
Note:
I have followed the Japanese style of name order, such that Watanabe is the family name, and Kinzou was his given name.
In August 1931, the building was completed but Watanabe soon began further construction work on the house. During this time, unable to tolerate his strange behaviour any more, his family left him, leaving him alone in the house with a maid. In the Spring of 1936, Watanabe offered to give up his free phone line, which was quite valuable. The authorities couldn't understand why, but they removed the telephone all the same. By chance, his estranged family heard about this, and thought it reason enough to hospitalise him. Two years later, his house was torn down.
 |
| Source |
The psychiatrist Shikiba Ryuzaburou wrote about it in a magazine in 1937, and these articles became a book, 「二笑亭綺譚」 (no official English translation, I'm afraid) which is now out of print. He tried to save the house, insisting it should remain standing as a work of art, but to no avail.
From the article on Wikipedia Japan, and other sources, I've collated this incomplete list of curiosities about the house.
The plot of land measured 95.7 tsubo (a tsubo is equal to 3.95 square yards or 3.31 square meters) but the floor space only added up 67 tsubo.
Despite being a two-storey wooden house, the storeroom and kitchen were made of steel.
Three large windows at the front on the second floor in a curious arrangement.
The ceiling of the entrance hall, just as you enter, went all the way up to the roof.
Hooks for hats and coats were placed in a haphazard manner, at a height of four metres.
The back gate was blocked by a diamond framework, so that it got in the way of anyone going out or coming in.
 |
| Detail from this source |
Peep holes in the thick wooden fence around the house, made in the knots in the wood and filled with glass.
A Japanese-style bath and a Western-style bath next to each other
A ladder out of the roof that doesn't go anywhere
A titled set of shelves
Interior walls painted with a mixture that included insect repellant
 |
| Source |
Unusually shallow closets of just 30cm deep
The toilet is separated from the courtyard by only the lower half of a door
One source mentions many rooms that were unusable, but doesn't specify why. Or perhaps I've mistranslated.
 |
| Source |
References
http://www.yama-semi.com/?pid=22482951
http://www.yama-semi.com/?pid=22485162
http://kizen.bunko1.com/105/200-1/50.php
http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/nishikawaw/nishotei02.html
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/0350371001/works/works_1_a.html
http://book.douban.com/subject/1941758/discussion/22127595/
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E7%AC%91%E4%BA%AD
http://yamanochikara.com/column/vision/2965/
Note:
I have followed the Japanese style of name order, such that Watanabe is the family name, and Kinzou was his given name.
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Moving houses
In the 1800s it was common for buildings in the United States to be physically moved and placed somewhere else, either for aesthetic reasons, or to create a vacant lot where a larger building could be constructed. Perhaps the most remarkable example was the moving of the Hotel Pelham in Boston in 1869.
This seven storey building had to be moved to allow a road-widening scheme to take place. The New York Times described the method:
"The entire basement has been laid bare, the foundations slightly raised, and large numbers of small iron rollers inserted under them, and these rollers will move upon a stout foundation wall with straps of iron bound to its top."
The force used to move the building itself was by human-operated iron screws (72 of them) pushing the building one inch every five minutes. The whole process took three months to complete. During this process, the hotel and residents continued their business as normal, and utilities such as water and gas were connected to the moving hotel by flexible tubes.
In the end, however, the road-widening scheme itself was to bring about the end of the hotel. Since street cars were more frequent, people preferred to commute into the city from the more affordable suburbs. Also, the nearby Boston Public Library was moved to another part of the city and businesses stopped setting up in the area. Finally, in 1916, the building was demolished and replaced by offices.
References:
"The Moving of a Freestone Hotel in Boston", New York Times, August 23rd 1869
Peter Paravalos, "Moving a House With Preservation in Mind", Rowman Altamira, 2006
Sample chapter here: http://chapters.altamirapress.com/07/591/0759109567ch2.pdf
This seven storey building had to be moved to allow a road-widening scheme to take place. The New York Times described the method:
"The entire basement has been laid bare, the foundations slightly raised, and large numbers of small iron rollers inserted under them, and these rollers will move upon a stout foundation wall with straps of iron bound to its top."
The force used to move the building itself was by human-operated iron screws (72 of them) pushing the building one inch every five minutes. The whole process took three months to complete. During this process, the hotel and residents continued their business as normal, and utilities such as water and gas were connected to the moving hotel by flexible tubes.
In the end, however, the road-widening scheme itself was to bring about the end of the hotel. Since street cars were more frequent, people preferred to commute into the city from the more affordable suburbs. Also, the nearby Boston Public Library was moved to another part of the city and businesses stopped setting up in the area. Finally, in 1916, the building was demolished and replaced by offices.
References:
"The Moving of a Freestone Hotel in Boston", New York Times, August 23rd 1869
Peter Paravalos, "Moving a House With Preservation in Mind", Rowman Altamira, 2006
Sample chapter here: http://chapters.altamirapress.com/07/591/0759109567ch2.pdf
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)