a japanese visit to openhouse : design & architecture : ikko yokoyama : jo nagasaka : yoshihide kobanawa

i was very proud to get a visit on saturday by 2 top architects and a curator from japan. i had contacted ikko a year or so ago when i had seen the work that she is doing with editions in craft, with african ladies which were being exhibited in rossana orlandi. this summer i had a visit by pieke bergmans, and after i wrote about her, and the work she had done at the llove hotel in japan. after i wrote again about the whole llove hotel project.

a couple of weeks ago, ikko wrote to me and said she was coming to barcelona with her friend, architect, jo nagasaka. she said that he had seen that i had wrote about him and his projects in japan with schemata and that they would like to meet me and see the openhouse project. they came saturday evening with a friend, yoshihide kobanawa, who works here for rcr aquitects, and is also a friend of my flatmate nobu. it is a very small world.

we shared a wonderful evening of talking and wine. it was a pleasure to have them at home, and to find out about their new projects. photo : mari luz vidal

cut cloud : fashion : interior design : ken okada : boutique paris

first a little apology that for the past month or so i haven’t been posting very much. with the closing of the shop, holidays and plans for the future and new work, i haven’t had much time. but now i’m back. while i was on a little research trip in paris, just off the rue grenelle a stumbled across a little white cloud of a boutique. with a thousand layers of fine white fabric that had been cut away to leave the window and shop space, ken okada has made a little piece of heaven. focusing on shirts ken is a japanese born designer who studied at the same school as yohji yamamoto                      .

from an architectural viewpoint : photography : noritoshi hirakawa : casa barragan : mexico city

set in one of my favorite houses, casa barragan in mexico city, this is the first european showing of photos by the japanese artist noritoshi hirakawa, shown at christophe guye gallery, zurich   .

Openhouse Project : gallery / kitchen / magazine : barcelona

so exactly one year after i opened openhouse, the next stage is evolving. together with my flatmate, photographer marl luz vidal, we have started the openhouse project. first we are opening our home as a gallery. with ana schulz, we will have a program of exhibitions, talks and workshops about photography. the second is a kitchen. with nobu kawagoe we will prepare an intimate japanese dinning experience for a small group of people once a month. the last part is an on-line magazine about people around the world who open their homes to the public. please feel free to contact us for more information or if you would like to visit us, you will be welcome to a nice cup of tea. we would also like to hear from you about anyone who opens their homes to the public. follow us also on facebook    .

tradition is the only way forward : design : siwa by naoto fukasawa

i love design, new ideas, cleaver thoughts, however the most intelligent of ideas are taking a tradition and bringing it into the future. siwa is the product between onao, one of the oldest japanese paper factories, and naoto fukasawa, a leading japanese designer. working together they have developed a paper, made in traditional ways, but with new technologies. they found by adding recycled plastic, that it became so strong and even water resistant, yet still incredibly soft. the name siwa, is derived from shiwa which means wrinkles, and is the reverse of washi, which means paper in japanese. naoto fukasawa’s designs are so simple and practical. perfect. for me at openhouse, this is the way to the future. a new natural product that has traditional roots. all photos siwa. all available at openhouse, barcelona, or at the online shop 

    

a japanese excursion

 

don't get lost

the most wonderful thing about living in barcelona, is that within an hour or so you have magnificent places to visit. just one hour south near the town of la mora, you have a forrest and 3 hidden coves, and because it takes near 30 minutes to walk there, you are sure to be away from the crowds. then if you go with a pair of japanese girls, and one columbian, you are sure to eat well… and note how they wrap up the lunch boxes, you can’t get any more japanese than that!!