(Photo)Report from the Antonin Raymond journey The most remarkable memories

Katerina Frejlachova (2014) The first photo I made and put on Instagram. The view from the balcony of our great comfortable apartment in Nakano The most remarkable experiences of the “Antonin Raymond” trip to Japan 2014 Kateřina Frejlachová (with Martin Špičák and Tadeáš Říha)

Japan was no surprise for me, but a country, to which I always like to come back. Although this was not my first time in Japan, this journey has broaden my horizons again a little more. The two weeks were so intensive, that it is not even easy to write a day-by-day report on everything we saw and did. Therefore I’ve decided to write about the most remarkable moments - things that caught me, experiences that characterize and summarize the whole trip. So I have divided the report into these eight chapters:

no. 1 revisited (back in Japan after 2 years)

no. 2 Japanese reunion with Tadeáš (...and Nikola)

First of all, I would especially like to thank no. 3 Antonin Raymond Mrs. Takamine, Mr. Tsutchiya and Mrs. Hadravova from no. 4 ...and more and more architecture for their great willingness and effort, so finally all three could join this fabulous trip (according to the fact, that it didn’t look promising in the beginning). no. 5 The food diary

I would also like to thank Rahman, Yoko-san, Miki-san no. 6 Travelling by shinkansen and others from The Raymond office, who did a great job while taking care of us during the two unforgettable weeks. no. 7 Cherry blossoms The whole journey was a great experience! no. 8 The Raymond office and the Farewell party Thank you. no. 2 Japanese reunion with Tadeáš (...and Nikola) no. 1 Tokyo revisited (back in Japan after 2 years) Tadeáš studies a master’s program in Delft, Netherlands. Me and Martin, we therefore see him just a few times a year. This time we met in Tokyo to spent two weeks together studying Raymond, I’ve already visited Tokyo in 2012. I spent great knowing Japan and enjoying our journey, we’ve won. That was really nice! Nikola, another one four months there studying architecture at of our classmates, moved recently to Hong Kong, where he studies and works as well. He doesn’t the Hosei University, travelling around Japan come home frequently because it is quite far, so we see him even more rarely. He heard that we are and meeting nice people. When I was leaving going to be in Tokyo in April. He took advantage of this opportunity and found us there. From all Japan I thought for myself, I won’t be able to over the world we chose Japan to have a reunion :) come back since it is so far from home, quite expensive and I couldn’t imagine the reason for coming back that soon. Nevertheless I hoped to In front of the main entrance to the campus, to the school come back one day..

I didn’t even imagine that I could come back that again in 2014. I already missed the atmos- phere of the city, the nature of Japanese, the food etc. while all my memories were becom- ing more and more hazy... So I was really lucky, when I heard the news, that we were able to go.

1955-58 building which is unfortunately planned to be demolished soon and replaced by a newer one One of the funniest moments of the Tadeáš’s arrival to Tokyo was his famous broken suitcase! On one evening I have decided to visit the Since the suitcase didn’t work and the only way how to move it from place to place was to carry Hosei University campus, where I used to this heavy thing in hand, Mr. Tsutchiya solve this problem readily with the idea of a temporary spend a lot of time. I was really surprised, that “wheelchair” they have demolished the quite recently re- stored courtyard. They are going to build an- other school building there, as I realised later.

Meeting with my friends and professors from the Hosei University We haven’t seen each other for two years... This was really very nice and cheerful evening in an Okonomiyaki restaurant in Kagurazaka.

Me with my friends and prof. Shimohigoshi Nikola, me, Tadeáš and Martin after the first sushi lunch grinning to the sunshine on the top of the Marunouchi skyskraper (accompanied with Rahman-san, Tsutchiya-san and Yoko-san). no. 3 The architecture of Antonin Raymond Tokyo Women University

Antonin Raymond is quite a mysterious personage. If you ask anyone in the , usu- ally no one knows exactly who he was and what he has done. He is not very famous even among architects. The first time I have heard about him was when I found out that the student competition took place in Kladno in 2011. Then when I came to Japan, my professor at the design studio was talk- ing about him a lot (he really appreciated his work) and it seemed to me that all the students were familiar with Raymond and his work. I realised back then that he is considered a founder of the in Japan and was quite surprised, because, as I said before, he is unfortunate- ly not that renowned in his homeland.

We have visited a nice sample of Raymond’s works especially thanks to Mr. Tsutchiya and the staff of the Raymond office. His work comprises different styles from pure deco through functionalism and brutalism concrete structures of the 60s to inimitable fusion of the modern and The frontage still has something in common with the Wright I liked the colour of the window frames, but I am no sure if this architecture... is the original colour the rural in his wooden houses. It seems to me like he was examining some of the western principles freely, with no need to respond to the European critics. I really like some of his buildings, some of them are not that stunning for us I think, compared to the similar Euro- pean works. Most of all I admire the wooden buildings, where he combines European and Japa- nese traditional carpenter details. Those artworks are modest and comfortable at the same time, contextual but still original and ageless. One could imagine living in such a similar house even nowadays. I also appreciate his ability to accentuate the atmosphere in sacral architecture of the churches, doesn’t matter what material or structure he had chosen.

However, I think the most interesting and memorable characteristics of his work is that you can find traces of the European architecture in every building he designed, mixed with the Japanese experiences, resources and local customs. That is really amazing, because I think if you join differ- ent cultural approaches sophisticatedly, something very strong and fresh can develop. I think he must have been a great charismatic and influential personality so that he was able to I really liked the environment of the university. The exact The detail of the stained glass, the abstract rendering of a pine gather the local engineers, builders etc. and convince them to built according to his point of view, concrete paths winding through the wild but well-cared nature twig with a cone. It reminded me of similar F. L. Wright’s ones to fulfil his ideas.

The external side of the concrete wall of the chapel covered with The internal side looks even more Gothic - as it was made of the white plaster. The ornamental glazing resembles a Gothic stone. There is a nice play of light going through variously church coloured stained glass Hoshi Pharmaceutical School Gunma Music Center

The first Raymond’s independent project, and one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in A huge multifunctional building from the 50s is placed on the site of the original Takasaki castle. It Japan. There are no stairs at all in the main building. The access to the upper floors are the ramps, is remarkably rough from outside like a shell of a giant crustace and expressionist piece of art from which were probably useful for some school events or parades as well. Instead of the raw beauty the inside. The effect of the light that goes through the massive concrete structure is similar to the of the exposed concrete, the structure was covered in plaster and wooden panelling, I can’t one that is used in St. Anselm church in Meguro as well. The facade always tells you how the inner remember, why the ad decided to cover the structure, maybe it was a wish of the investor, or the space looks like - obverse and reverse, but the shape remains the same. Raymond obviously dealt quality of the concrete wasn’t good enough to be exposed. This combination of dark brown and with the concept of a folding or stacking the monolithic concrete structure as it was one light piece white looks like very traditionally and very Japanese. of origami paper to create natural rhythmic openings in the folds that could let the sunlight in to I saw a nice photo taken during the construction, with the young confident Raymond supervising model a unique atmosphere of the interior. We were lucky that we could see the building from the the workers. I think, that even though Raymond was already an experienced architect trained top, accompanied with Rahman and Yoko we enjoyed a public view from the skyscraper located in the internationally famous studios, the whole demanding building process must have been next to it. yet something new - a kind of an experiment not only because of the fact that the structure had been intended to withstand the earthquake. We have also visited the former swimming pool (unfortunately) used as an archive nowadays. Our team guided by the director of the museum

the typical detail - joint of a half-log beam and the log column Western style of the furniture together with all the wood and relation of the house to the nature evoked me also a Scandinavian architecture

Another Raymond’s building waited for us after we visited Gunma Music center. Hidden behind the fence of the museum stands one of the Raymond’s economically effective houses constructed for a wealthy builder, friend of Raymond (I suppose). It is the only Raymond’s family house that we saw. I appreciated the pleasant atmosphere of the house, which met my expectations and I really got a similar feeling which I knew from the black and white photographs from the article in magazine. It must have been a comfortable house, judging by the well-preserved equipment. The house has a pleasant human scale and is that’s smoothly connected with its surroundings, with the nature, both operationally and aesthetically. The garden and the house create a whole. I could imagine to live in anything like that even nowadays. It is a beautiful euro-asian fusion.

A nice semi-outdoor social space for dining, working etc. In my mind, I had a photograph of elderly Raymond and Noemi sitting in a similar one St. Anselm Church no. 4 ...and more and more architecture

We have also seen nice samples of contemporary architecture during our stay. I have always want- ed to see the famous Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito. I missed it last time, so I am glad I got this great opportunity and could go there and even with such a great service (taxi and lunch with Miki-san and Yoko-san:). Otherwise it would be quite difficult to get there. We would proba- bly be lost, because it’s located in the outskirts of Tokyo, not easily achievable by public transport.

Me and Martin we made a trip to see a Hiroshi Bato museum by Kengo Kuma, another one of my favourite pieces of architecture. Funny was that the museum is located in a very rural local area, the place is served just with one or two buses couple of times a day. We have missed this bus, so we had to hitchhike to get there. Eventually the museum was worth it. There is a nice collection of Ukiyo-e and the horizontal simple contextual house is beautiful.

And again the elegant original window system enabling the I think that all of us enjoyed the visit of the Fuji kindergarten by Tezuka Architects. It was not only dynamic dramatic play of the daylight according to the sun about architecture but we also got a notion of a kind of a Japanese preschool education. The visit position was very interesting and very inspirational. I realised that children are led up there to a greater self-reliance and they are taught in a very natural way. The oval shaped house with all the rooms located around the central courtyard and the walkable roof create very nice and legible environ- ment for children, platform for finding out how the things work, how the world works.

Garden & House, Tokyo (Ryue Nishizawa)

My favourite sculpture - it could be a crucified Jesus, or just a Enlightened Tadeáš... canopy depends on what you want to see. Nicely done.

This was quite hard to find in such a quiet street. We got this There “crouches” this atypical house in the gap between the top secret tip from our friend who also studied in Tokyo buildings Hiroshige Museum, Bato-machi (Kengo Kuma) Fuji kindergarten, Tokyo (Tezuka architects)

The head of the Fuji kindertgarten, smiling but strict guy, showing us how the protection net covering the hole in the roof worked and explaining why the tree grew through the roof. He also told us the story of the kindergarten, the functional aspects of the design and what kind of educational methods do they use to teach children. Thanks to the circular shape of the building, there is a great overview from the director’s office.

Calm and elegant horizontal shape corresponds to the The detail of the wooden cladding mountains behind

Tama Art Library, Tokyo (Toyo Ito)

Musashino Art University Library, Tokyo (Sou Fujimoto)

Impressive from outside, less impressive from the inside. Perfect work with the concrete and the surroundings. It must The shadow-play of the trees on the smooth compact facade Tama Art Library versus Musashino Ar Library 1:0 be very tough and expensive to built such house... no. 5 The food diary

I love the Japanese cuisine. It is an indispen- sable part of the culture, important part of the experience and sometimes it is a social event as well. That is the reason why I can’t help myself from wasting the time and paper on something like a “food diary” in my report. The food is not that expensive (compared to the prices of the public transport for example) so you are able to eat out quite often Furthermore, the dishes are not just delicious, but also photogenic.

The first meal in Japan we had the first day after the meeting This is the legendary delicious sushi lunch, where we were This was one of the most surprising meals we had in an izakaya After long wandering through the streets of old city of Nara, with Rahman and Watanabe-san was paradoxically Japanese kindly invited by Tsutchiya-san. somewhere near Shinjuku station. This pyramid cooked down searching for the place to have a dinner, we finally ended up in Indian curry with the great delicious butter naan little by little and finally a hot pot was on the table a Vietnamese restaurant

The lunch in Hiroshige Museum Cold soba noodles lunch after the visit of the Raymond’ s Okonomiyaki near Kagurazaka, prepared by my Japanese Tadeáš tastes the unusual flavor of the fermented sea weed Hoshi University Campus friends (skilled Okonomiyaki chefs)

Unforgettable culinary squid experiences from Nagano Yaki-niku with Miki-san and Yoko-san. That was a great lunch, The delicious Ramen in a cozy little restaurant near Asakusa even though we’ve almost made a fire) no. 5 Travelling by Shinkansen Nagano

For the first time in my life I tried the renown comfortable travelling by shinkansen. It is really useful to buy the railpass, one-week ticket with a special price for tourists. If you own this railpass you can use shinkansen and other trains for one week no matter how many times you get on and get off. But, you can buy it only with the tourist visa in the passport. Unfortunately you are not able to buy the railpass if you are going to study or work in Japan (because you have a different visa). That is why I had to travel around Japan only by the This is the photograph I took during the journey to Nara. I saw I was surprised by the quality and the European aesthetics of One of the Hanami party tents, where we spend a little time slow local trains or by night bus two years ago. the Fuji-san with the snow cap so close for the first time the main street leading to the temple as well tasting the local atmosphere, sake and different small We tried to enjoy our railpass as much as dishes possible. It enabled me ti see places that I haven’t seen before in a quite short time. We used shinkansen to travel to Gunma and Nagano, to Nara and to Aomori and Hokkaido. It was a great experience.

Nara

It was more like a quick evening trip. It was already dark, when Nagano 1998 means a lot for Czechs. It is a synonym for a we came to the temple. The stronger was the feel... historical event - the Olympic golden medal for the Czech ice hockey team :)

The trip to Hokkaido I really wanted to see the north of Japan, so why not Hokkaido. So, we accepted the challenge and Full of tourists, but still nice to walk through the historical I couldn’t resist and bought the special crackers for the local went there for a two-day trip. It was very interesting, despite the fact that he snow melted recently, sites deers, the biggest attraction on the way to the main temple so the nature was muddy, brownish like in the very early spring.

The fascinating rhythm in the architecture and elements of the We stopped for two hours in Aomori. Fresh air, cold and a We couldn’t miss the typical view of Hakodate from the sacred places Nebuta museum by the Canadian studio called Molo behind me. mountain above the city. The city is quite big, but the atmosphere is very calm, very local Hakodate no. 7 Cherry blossoms

From my point of view, spring is the most beautiful time of the year in Japan, especially for travelling. Both the temperature and the humidity are still nice . Unfortunately the cherry blossom season in Tokyo was almost over in the mid-april. I was a little disappointed of the fact that we came late and saw just the rest of blooming sakura trees there. But luckily we finally experienced the peak of cherry blossoms season in Nagano and even caught the most beautiful romantic sakura trees in Nara.

By the sea... Former warehouses transformed in 90s into a shopping centre are a bit dingy as well

The openness of the port and the contact with the west A weird ugly onsen for the monkeys in the local botanical influenced also the architecture of the city, which is very garden was a bit depressing, even though the monkeys are specific, different than anywhere else in Japan. It feels like funny little creatures mixture between Japanese and American, San Francisco style

Pure beauty. Fleeting beauty. I finally enjoyed the view on the blooming cherries in the park in Nara.

Toya-ko (Lake Toya)

The lakeside promenade with quite a sad scenery of the empty The Hokkaido landscape - a vulcanic island in the middle of the We missed the Yoyogi park full of people having picnics there, We found the Hanami stands in Nagano by chance - the more hotels from the bubble-era lake but watching the cleaning crew was amazing as well we liked it, the more we enjoyed it no. 8 The Raymond office and the Fare- well party

It was an honour for us to visit The Raymond office headquarters, to know how the office works, to meet its employees and last but not least to see the reconstructed Raymond’s room in the top floor. I liked how carefully you keep all the documents and drawings of Raymond. The most significant moment for me was the Farewell party that was arranged for us. It was very kind even though we were not prepared for having a presentation of our Kladno project (A photo taken by Mayu Kouba) in front of all the various guests. But finally it was an interesting round table discussion, nice banquet and we’ve met new remarkable people.

That is the end of my (photo)report am glad you went through it up here.

Viewing the original Raymond’s drawings Thank you again.