art & design, interior design

japanese rooms and emptiness

this is a repost!  interesting view of the japanese on empty space and how similar the transformation of a room corresponds to our own pinoy sensibilities on fluidity and flexibility of spaces in the bahay kubo setup. the argument is trivial (it’s almost the same banana) but i respect the idea.


Posted by hipstomp | 30 Sep 2010

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I received an interesting note in response to yesterday’s post about living with a traditional Japanese futon. The author of the note, Ko Nakatsu, took exception to my oversimplified blog-ready description of why futons are folded and put away, and wanted to set the record straight in greater detail (which should be of great interest to architects and designers of environments):

The futon’s fold-away function is not [just] for “freeing up useable square footage in a space-tight country”. That notion is merely a benefit from the true meaning and original philosophy of a futon. The true reason for the fold-and-store-away function is so that you can create an “empty space”.By creating an empty-space, it allows for limitless potential of reasons for the room’s existence. It could become a tea room, dinner room, bedroom, entertainment room… the empty room creates “potential” to be any room. Traditional rooms in Japan (which are becoming rare) often have nothing that is permanent, even the “walls” or fusuma, slide away to create a larger expansive empty-space. The people, wall, furniture, and artwork, enter and then leave the room, to return it to empty-space, full of potential….

This philosophy can often be seen in many parts of the country, from objects to culture, to even an international company like Muji (“Mu” meaning “empty” or “absence” with a hint of “tranquility” and “potential”. That would be the closest translation in English. )

Nakatsu then provided a link to the following video of designer Kenya Hara (you probably know Hara’s work from Muji or Haptic) giving a presentation at Google headquarters on “the meaning of Mu, or emptiness…. He doesn’t talk about the futon exactly but that object still embodies the philosophies of Japan that he talks about.”

(Warning for those of you at work: The vid is nearly an hour.)

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laundry therapy, musings

laundry therapy in session

doing the laundry now. ive always said that laundry to me is therapeutic. water, the sound of the machine, the order you go through your whites and coloreds, the cleansing process. like my pastor reading the books of psalms as a mantra, i go through my dirty linen seeking enlightenment and clean sheets at the end process.

i later learned im almost out of soap. that means ill have to limit my wash load today to 3-4 batches only. that covers my whites, my blacks and greys for shoot, jeans and underwear. im currently liking a grey scheme for my wardrobe. black is staple, but grey is my new blue.

carlo is making stewed roasted pork in vinegar and garlic (read: lechon paksiw). as hungry as i am, the smell of paksiw with my laundry is not good. i wouldnt want my v-necks smelling of leftover fiesta fare.  i should stop until the cooking is done.  enlightenment would have to wait.

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musings

saturdays 100210

it’s been a very slow, quiet saturday. i opened my eyes and it was still raining this morning. perfect bed weather, i said to myself. and to fully appreciate this bed weather, i went right back to sleep. lovely

woke up again hours later. the sun was out but the day remained cool. pogi tried rousing me up and seeking a hug. i stayed in bed for another few hours before dragging myself downstairs because i was thinking i had to eat already. it was already 2pm. carlo is now reheating leftover from last night’s meal we shared with gian.

my sister forwarded the sound clip to amelie’s waltz from the film’s soundtrack. listening to the piano strains elicited images of parisian streets, wallpaper and garden gnomes, perfectly framing my day’s mood. falling autumn leaves would have sealed the deal but there are no trees in sight.

carlo’s finished reheating the food. will eat now. pogi is at my feet chewing on a piece of rawhide we got him yesterday. life is grand. cheers to you all and hope you have a great weekend 🙂

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art & design

Original and Intriguing 5 in 1 Home in Tokyo

i love the concept of this house, though i wouldnt necessarily want to live here. carlo would have a hell of a time climbing up and down those and pogi will have to catch up (but he can climb stairs), not to mention our props and shooting stuff hehehe but i love how it looks 🙂  but this house would be extremely hot in the pinas, given its use of glass windows and low ceiling design. ay hwag nalang. adik nga ako hahaha

REPOST from Freshome.com by Lavinia on 9/25/10

In childhood many of us have probably drawn a sketch similar to the one belonging to the project in the photos below. You know, where you scribble a simple classical house shape and then you place another one on top? Even though this analogy has the risk of minimizing the effect that this original project might have, we only made the crazy comparison to highlight the overall simplicity of this idea and as you know, simplicity is bliss. The Tokyo Apartment building was designed by Sou Fujimoto and features five independent cribs connected through stairs. We really appreciate the uniqueness of this building, the way it contrasts the other neighborhood houses and its overall design. However, having to climb or descend a ladder every time you have to step into another room might prove to be irritating in time. How do you feel about this building? Photos by Iwan Baan

Tokyo Apartment 11 Original and Intriguing 5 in 1 Home in Tokyo

Original and Intriguing 5 in 1 Home in Tokyo

5 in 1 home

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art & design, filmmaking

pogi at the punerarya

currently working on a pelikula produced by regal. who’d have expected id be eventually working with motherlily? i know i didnt haha the shoot has been going on pretty well so far. in fact, it’s much better than my own expectations, reservations and fears.

working wd jerrold tarog again, my director for mangatyanan (2009) and senior year (may 2010). rounding up the familiar and equally loveable are DOP mackie galvez, AD/PM bianca balbuena plus gaffer ritchie de padua. if only regal shot their movies with wild sound, sound recordist kulas varela would have joined in the funk, making this the third move we’d all make together (carlo only got to join the team in senior year).

and speaking of the familiar, pogi was able to visit the set on day2, much like how he did during senior year. and this blog is really only about that haha here im posting a phot0 of him with actress, carla abellana. apparently carla loved dogs so i asked that i take a photo of them both. pogi got very excited and started to slather carla with his laway. oops.  next time ill try to take a photo of him with the other actors (sid lucero aod gaby dela merced). cheers!

here is pogi tired from the day’s shoot on the trip home. he gets a whole couch on the van while me and my staff are crammed in the other. become a fan of POGI on facebook by visiting his official page and clicking Like 🙂

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musings

tweeting

ive been tweeting more now than ive been fezbooking or blogging. i am certain facebook has eaten up a hefty amount of time i could have used for real life like cleaning the house, taking care of pogi or doing more creative stuff, like watching more glee (and singing along, there you go). i took the conscious route to cut down my fezbook time and instead resorted to tweeting.

short, sweet, and concise, tweets are perfect for adiks on the run and hardcore people with ADHD. theyre easier to read and follow, plus they push people to be witty and measured with their shoutouts. so i monitor my threads there more than fb.

i only check facebook now when people tag me. besides, ive put most everbody on hide or have unfriended some to declutter my feed haha and on twitter, i get to stalk some personalities like steve martin, cheyenne jackson, josh groban, jim carrey, ramon bautista and yes, charice. hahaha

if you feel like it, follow me on twitter.com/benpadero 🙂 cheerio!

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