Interviewing Japanese.

Husband recently bought a used book entitled Shaking the Foundations: Japanese Architects in Dialogue. It features interviews conducted in 1997 by Christopher Knabe and Joerg Rainier Noennig (editors) of 15 Japanese architects. What's interesting about this book, as my husband also mentioned to me gushing about this, is that each of these architects were made to comment on the philosophy and/or works of other architects featured in the book. Some were not intentionally asked to comment but in the course of the conversation eventually did.

Japanese are by and large, not very confrontational. When they comment, it's usually so meticulously edited of any form of negativity that if not read or heard well sometimes sounded like praises. In my experience working with a handful of them, they do not comment, especially if they have nothing better to say.

I've finished reading interview with Kisho Kurokawa, Riken Yamamoto and Kengo Kuma -- all very varied in their philosophy. I especially enjoyed Yamamoto's interview because he talked mostly about city planning, of how architecture directly affects the social structures in the community, and how the government failed . He told of how the mere widening of the street disrupted the social activities of his community, virtually erasing all of what he's known his community for. It probably was the same feeling when the flyover along General Luna was built. it created a virtual wall that created a permanent demarcation between Melly's and UP. Now, very few university students go to Melly's and Melly's has stopped being an influential shady shanty to the high school kids. The UP High are starting to miss a lot of high school now that the flyover is there.

Yamamoto discussed a little about architectural education in Japan. Yamamoto said that Japanese architecture education is engineering and not design oriented which is surprising considering that a handful of them have been well-praised for their designs.

Meanwhile, Filipino architects are now mostly in Singapore or in the middle-east, working as CAD monkeys so they can afford iphones and macbooks. That is the kind of architecture education that you get from Iloilo universities.

Apparently, Architect/Architecture is just some high-falluting title for a profession that could render one virtually penniless. And if one would really choose to become an architect, a lot of sacrifices are made. I understand PF's choice of wanting to practice his profession in the city because if i were in his shoes, i would certainly make the same decision.

as to why, i will discuss tomorrow.


UPDATE:
Somebody from pushpullbar is actually interviewing Kuma-san tomorrow (February 4)! The real interviewing Japanese. Wow, if that forum is not the best forum in the world, i don't know what is.