Japan Architectural Tour (Continued)

Continuing from my previous post, after a bus ride up in Hiroshima and a streetcar just few blocks to the west was the Nishi Fire Station designed by the architect Riken Yamamoto in 2000. It's my strangest travel destination yet so far, but I thought to myself, 'When's the last time you took a tour of a fire station?' Perhaps when I was 8? And remember how after the trip all the boys in the class wanted to become a fireman?

The building is tiled with glass shingles, making up its front and left facade. Inside, there are many red elements and motifs found, typical of fire stations. But the fire station also accommodates a small public library and museum space for visitors to see. Inside the building is a large atrium with a net hanging high, used for drill practices. Or at least I think it's for drill purposes. Underneath the net is a labyrinth-like paths which include suspended bridges connecting all side of the building, sets of staircases that elongate on its east wall, and red, perforated boxes protruding from the wall, which look like office spaces. I'm not sure how efficient the utility of the building is, but if you're ever around the area and you're curious it's worth a peak. Next, I headed to Miyajima-guchi Station and took the ferry to Itsukushima Island.

This is where the famous floating red torii and the Miyajima Shinto Shrine resides. At high tide the water level reaches over a meter to make it impossible to even walk to the torii from the shrine. When I went it was low tide, so I got to tread over the wetlands and see the red torii first-hand. I would've loved to see it with the sea around it, but I'll save that one for later. Really, I was just happy to see the torii gate and the shrine while keeping with my schedule. On my walk back to the ferry dock I saw a deer grooming another deer, though I prefer to believe it was a smooch. I took a picture and headed for Kanazawa, a 7-hour train trip.

The next morning, I woke up fresh and cold. Kanazawa was the most northern part of Japan I've travelled to, and consequently there were lots of snow. I had forgotten to plan the breakfast for that day, so I went short on stomach that day. Kenrokuen Garden was going to be my first attraction of the day; it is one of the 3 must-see gardens in Japan. Though I had some doubts about it, being winter and all, the experience turned out to be very charming and sublime.

Right across the Kenrouken Garden is the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa in 2004. They're more famously known for their firm, SANAA. The concept of the museum is to service the people as a park. It has a large hall around its circular plan which is open to public during working hours with comfortable chairs for those who need to rest, and at its basement is a convention hall. The aesthetics of the building is fairly bourgeois, but the museum itself is incredibly flexible as it can accomodate just about any types of exhibitions of any size. I loved the exhibition, including its permanent pool installation by Leandro Erlich. Next stop, Yokohama.

About 8 hours later, I reached Yokohama via Tokyo. About 15 minutes from the Yokohama Station is the Yokohama International Passenger Terminal. It's a large ferry dock and a boat terminal designed by Foreign Office Architects in 2002. The plan of the terminal is intuitively simple, but I was shocked and amazed by the level of execution and details. Ceilings with an origami-folding motif, handrails and the floor-walls that constantly rotate as you ambulate, the public performance stage on its roof deck, the illuminating blue light throughout its exterior design, and the unobstructed view of the downtown Yokohama. I awed at such clarity of concept and the architects' ability to communicate it. After the Yokohama International Passenger Terminal, I headed to Kangaroo Hotel in Tokyo.

This is the Kangaroo Hotel where I stayed in Tokyo for the next 3 nights. While it's not a designer hotel or anything luxurious, priced at modest 3300 yen per night, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sleep inside a baren concrete room. 3300 yen is about 30 US dollars. I liked the facility. The rooms were very quiet and the innkeeper was very nice. The only thing I didn't like was the building's poor design in fire escapes. Due to its limited access to the roof or the stairs in case of fire, each room occupant is given a rope instead. Clutch one end on a steel bar located by the window, open the window, and climb down. Not exactly something someone would be able to do in panic mode, nevermind the fact that fires usually happen in middle of the night so you would've woken up just few seconds ago. Anyways, I slept comfortably. There was no fire when I stayed and I continued to my next stop the morning after. End of my 5th day. February 2nd.

Next day. Early in the morning, I headed to Kamakura, located about an hour from Tokyo to see the Kamakura Museum of Modern Art designed by Junzo Sakakura in 1951. The architectural style of Sakakura is comparable to Le Corbusier's, and that's because he studied under Le Corbusier. I thought the architecture of this building was too humble for a museum. An atelier or a villa was more suiting. Though I enjoyed the exhibition there, I wished it wasn't so clustered and disorganized. The site plan is great, though I disagree with the orientation of the building. Its entrance should face the opposite end of the building. As for the brown steel building, it's sectioned off as an administrative building. Visitors aren't allowed, and they're barred from the bridge that connects the two buildings as well. However, the bridge is a key element to the building! It not only connects the buildings but from the administrative building, it leads straight to the scenic view of the lake. Such a waste. I headed back to Tokyo after the Kamakura Museum of Modern Art to view the Chiyoda Palace located at the heart of Tokyo and the Tokyo International Forum.

The Chiyoda Palace is located 10 minutes north-west of Tokyo Station. I strolled through the park and the palace fairly quickly. Afterwards, it was the Tokyo International Forum. I actually found the Tokyo International Forum accidentally while I was trying to transfer from one station to another. A somewhat comical coincidence, since I originally had planned to visit it the next day. Though the architecture of the building may be a great feat, as a mere visitor it's hard to study it. Only the central atrium is open to public; all other conventional rooms and halls are closed for event-purposes only. I didn't have much room to explore, so I just stooped over the glass fence on the upper deck. It was nice to just hang-out and observe all the traffic with people in black suits move about. Next was Ueno Park.

At Ueno Park, there were 3 buildings I mainly wanted to see. First was the National Museum of Western Art by the architect Le Corbusier, mentioned above, in 1959. His former student by then, Junzo Sakakura, also collaborated on this project. Like many of Le Corbusier's works, the museum continues with the villa-styled loft theme. The plan of this museum is a little haphazard though. Its routes are not clear-cut; it's baffling. While I really liked some spaces as it's almost meant to be discovered and found, then the viewer rewarded, I would argue that there should be more emphasis on transparency and clarity for public spaces. The National Museum of Western Art, for one, is a public space.

Next to the National Museum of Western Art is the Gallery of Hoyuji Treasures by Yoshio Taniguch. This is the second of the 3 buildings I wanted to see at Ueno Park. The gallery, built in 1999, is part of the Tokyo National Museum complex. It boasts of a water fountain right at its foot and a tall, wide foyer upon entrance to the building. To the left is the main staircase that carries you to the second floor where you can start your museum tour. Simple and elegant in architectural motifs, the Gallery of Hoyuji Treasures is a result of clear and clean design concept without overbearing staleness. Personally, I thought it was oversimplified.

The 3rd and last stop in Ueno Park was another contemporary piece located just north of the Gallery of Hoyuji Treasures. This is an extension project of the International Library of Children's Literature. With the initial building constructed in 1906, Tadao Ando added a central passage that strikes through the main south-east entrance and rear north-west exit. He also added a glass facade to extend the halls located at its rear, adding over 5000 square-meters. Strangely enough, most of the people I saw at the library were adults. I would've imagined children should make more appropriate invitees than adults. With that I headed back to Kangaroo Hotel. My 2nd night at the hotel. 6th night in Japan. Only 3 more nights and less than half of a day left.