Vedasri Siddamsetty

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American architects have a great love for the Japanese sensitivity to design and architecture in general. Or let me rephrase, architects have a great respect for the Japanese sense of building and quite rightly so. From the mid-80s architects have thronged to Japan to study Tokyo and in general visit the country that is magnificently steeped in natural beauty, hit by disaster unlike any another and yet emerged a rising sun every single time. The greatest American architect who is deeply inspired by nature, likening it to Godliness, who was the inspiration to Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead and a man who dared to think for himself even if it was different, Frank Llyod Wright. Born this very day roughly 149 years ago Wright designed several buildings including my favourites, the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Falling Waters Residence in southern Pennsylvania.

Wright made his first foreign trip in 1905 at the age of 38 to Japan, he was deeply influenced by the perspective of the Japanese when it came to building and his architecture ever since bears a reference to the Japanese love for nature and building with sensitivity to the environment. Though the Imperial hotel is Wright’s most popular building in Japan, precisely in Tokyo, built for the increasing number of western tourists in the 1910s at the behest of the Japanese aristocracy, the Yodoko Guesthouse in Awaji is a fine example of the architecture of Frank Llyod Wright. Built as a summer villa, the guest house was designed in 1918 and built 6 years later. The architectural expression of the guesthouse includes high quality woodwork, small windows that dot the upper level of the rooms and several enclosures divided by screens and furnished with Tatami mats.

Though parts of the guest-house has been refurbished since, the main drawing room and dining rooms are intact as designed by Wright. Known for his love of detailing, Wright designs not just the house but also every integral part of the interiors including furniture and products, even influencing mostly the kind of art exhibited on the walls. The layout of the guest-house is not the usual with the public spaces of the house including the drawing room and the dining room levels sandwiched by  level of private living spaces.  A very classical staircase is also included providing a vertical connection between the levels. The drawing room as first envisaged is filled with octagonal tables and art-deco chairs with an attached pantry. A level above are the private areas of the house above which are placed the formal dining and kitchen on the highest level. The dining room opens into a terrace that is adorned by a spectacular view of the Awaji island and the sea.

The house is further towered by a chimney that runs through the height of the building warming up intermittently the indoor spaces. The Yodoko Guesthouse has several Japanese characteristics but it essentially is American in spirit, mostly FLW in make. The attention to detail is immaculate and the finish adorably art deco. The smaller windows aid ventilation and the larger ones bring in ample sunshine into the indoor spaces. Covered in Oya stone, an igneous rock created from lava and ash the house shares its facade material with that of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. The stone is fireproof and very vernacular to it’s context. Wright excels as an architect with a vision whose buildings stand the test of time both qualitatively and quantitatively!

Just as the master says,

“Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to Nature everyday for inspiration in the day’s work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in it’s domain.”

and decidedly, the mother of art is architecture!

Off the fashionable city of Kobe, a train-ride away is the Heron-like coloured in white Himeji Castle, perched on a hill likened to a white egret against the backdrop of the blue sky. Its remarkable history also holds tales of how it was covered in black during the Second World War to prevent it from being bombed by the Allies. It has survived even the deadly Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. Credit to the many safeguarding measures the castle is now one of the only surviving prototypical Japanese castle architecture. The castle complex consists of a network of 83 buildings with advanced defensive systems from the Feudal period. Its nicknames come from its brilliant white exterior that looks like a bird taking flight.

 

The castle is very Japanese in regard to the extensive use of wood. In fact two large elm trunks are used as the main columns of the Castle that run all the way from the base to the top as the primary support system of the structure. The trunks and all the other wooden elements in the Castle structure including rafters, doors, windows are all fine wood, weathered to hold up against the elements. Though not surviving the termites, the Castle currently is undergoing a series of restorative measures. Climbing up the six floors of the castle is quite a hike with steep steps connecting the levels vertically, while every level has the soldier platform intended to be used to wage an attack on the offenders or enemies approaching the castle. The views from each of the level look out to the town of Himeji, the Koko-en gardens and a host of other natural landscape.

The family crest of Ikeda Terumasa is emboldened on each of the roof tile endings. The castle holds the museum and each of the building material can be seen in close quarters. Once at the highest level of the castle one is greeted by the prayer chamber. The royalty too lived with the famous wooden screens and tatami mats much like the commoners. Unlike the gilded emperors of the west or even nearby China, Japan was ruled by several emperors who lived simple, mostly. The samurai clan were the warriors and their rule changed the built landscape of the country. The Koko-en garden next door is a typical surreal Japanese garden with the koi pond, fish, the genteel colours of the plants and a host of other features that are not Zen but traditionally Japanese. The Himeji town is simple and touristy with the castle being its main feature. A glimpse into the Japanese traditions, architecture and life shows one how deeply layered the Japanese people really are and how supremely culturally refined.

 

Like all castles, the Himeji is also robed in folk-lore and stories of scorned women, brave men and a populace who worshipped their emperors. Though a spectacle set in a peaceful surround the Himeji castle has witnessed it’s own share of despair but emerged like a beautiful white Heron flying into the bright blue sky. Like a lotus that emerges spotless in murky muddy waters, the White Egret or lovingly called White Heron castle emerges from the pages of Japanese history spotless and unnerved. It is gorgeously beautiful. Ignorance may well be bliss!

Ps. But of course!

Suddenly at a noted monumental structure I watched a woman click away incessantly at something that caught her fancy and I thought, all those pictures, first on her phone, then her system, then instagram and then all over social media, all that information, well something I would do too. Quite normally, this incessant desire to share, this information overkill, this desire to be not-forgotten, this relay of personal information all over social networking, this sharing of opinion rather over-sharing of information dulls out the life of the moment. The moments spent on documenting life for future reference kind of shortens the joy of the present or even the sadness of the present, its like constantly taking notes in class instead of simply being in the moment and listening. What a pity!

True one can always look back on the gazillion journals, the impeccable documentation with pride and understand for the record musings of the past. Drawings for instance, or work for that matter. It would be selfish to not share one could argue. After all information is power, and lending power to others is a noble thought. But psychologists say its not all facebook’s fault, oversharing often happens when we try to control our anxiety! There you go, its all a matter of comforting our nerves. The ease of storage of data makes one hardly filter, purge or weed out and keep only what is absolutely essential, much to our chagrin inspiring the hoarder in us! The art of curating needs to now make a steady comeback.

Its true, the best moments of my life, the most memorable ones have happened when I didnt snap a picture of it coz you can guess where exactly my mind was then – in the present! Not planning for a documentation of the future. Life isnt meant to be documented and looked at, its meant to be lived in the present, and happily.

P.s lessons on the road. Urban scape. Roadspirations.

The capital of Japan and home to over 30 million people, Greater Tokyo is a mega-metropolis, one steeped in history and doused with a salubrious dose of technology like little else. It also is unapologetically and brilliantly, Asia, thereby making it a cauldron of values, that are specific to the eastern part of the world. The first impression at Narita and one to follow suit until much later is how spotless and neat the entire city is, a defining characteristic of such a huge city. And how mannerful Tokyoites or rather Japanese people generally are! Manner-ful and melancholic ofcourse, like the air of gloom is governed by the mature approach that everything is impermanent, and subject to great change, the attention to detail, whether it’s the minuest change in weather, the shifting of winds or in design. Though walking with an air of seriousness, and very proper, when asked a question, the denizens break into an instant smile, answer the tourist’s frenzied query, nod, help, at times walking all the way and strike up a very polite conversation, that’s mostly to the point before bowing graciously and getting on their way.

Women with rose-tinted cheeks, bows, scaling high-heels, mostly false eye-lashes though sometimes not, and men in business suits, Hermes belts and man-bags, dot the landscape of this mega-city each day. Raking in a GDP that was at one point, sometime in the 90s the highest in the world, the Nikkei even surpassed the New York Stock exchange then. Though this is the second decade of what can be termed as a recession in Japan, the capital city remains one of the most expensive cities in the world! As people teeter about clicking heels, the Shibuya crossing mimics the Times Square as one of the busiest crossings in the world. The mega-brands scream out through inventive hoardings selling not just a brand but also a persona. The nearby Shibuya station also pays respect to Hachiko the dog whose faithfulness to his master is legendary. An example of how the canines are such a figure of popularity in Tokyo! Sitting across of Tokyo’s very own Harjuku Champs Élysées in the Omotesando area watching the cars zip by and people walk past, I was greeted by such beautiful and friendly dogs taking a long stroll with their very indulgent masters! The walk to the Nezu museum is a treat as one is greeted by flagship stores that boast of inventive and innovative architecture just as much as symbolise a design identity. Miu Miu, Issey Miyake, Prada are just a few who show a philosophy and a take on good design, competing not just with merchandise but even in architecture. It literally is fashion’s architectural runway unfurled out there in Tokyo.

The Nezu museum is breathtaking in its extreme simplicity and hence sophistication. The finesse of design gathered is supplemented by well planned structure with integrity and poise, a perfect underscore for a genius creation. Irises on display at the museum with the exquisite waka poetry is a must see, along with the scroll that reads right to left and the estate of a beautiful Japanese garden on the huge property. But Tange’s architecture details trumps any collection that the museum may have, the landscaping with all the beautiful, moss collected and deliberately placed plants create an aura and force the ascent of zen moments. Rolling Stones gather no moss, is not the point, the point is understanding whether you’re a stone, a babbling brook, a tethered leaf or a full blown maple tree, and being okay, accepting the you that’s you! Dr Suess did get it right with his rather famous quote!! Much refreshed by the beautiful architecture and the even more stunning garden with quaint tea-houses, the brooks, the waterfalls, spouts, koi ponds and the art the rest of the Tokyo design experience is truly thrilling. Personally I did dig Tange’s exquisite detailing even apparent in a simple bench, and one that translated into every aspect of the building! Walking back on the very upmarket street, a short detour to the Sunny hills is totally worth it, a birdcage of a structure with nearly blocked teak wood.

Issey Miyake’s overcoats were stunning as was the Miu Miu rain chain with ingenious detailing to drain rain water! Ahead on the street, Hugo Boss sports an exposed concrete structure, Tods, experiments with concrete and glass while Chanel brings in a medley of wood, glass and concrete, my favourite on the street was Chanel ofcourse. The others worthy a mention ofcourse are the Tokyo plaza, with a stunning rooftop, Louis Vuitton, Coach, and so many more, making the road to Harajuku an architectural runway I tell you! Much later in the evening Ginza sported the same vocabulary with the same stores displaying a whole new design, retail design does not literally get better than what is around in Tokyo, both individually and collectively! In Ginza the Itayo store, Armani, H&M create a glorious impression as do the Caretta Shiodome and the much humbler Capsule tower.

Of food, the hectic day of architectural delights and wonderful sights not to forget  the cheery cherry blossoms in April, were punctuated by what are strong recommendations now, the Crepe at Cafe Crepe, Hot Chocolate at Cup Cafe and Vegan Ramen at Ramen Street in Tokyo station. The crepe is stunning, the Strawberry cheesecake crepe is delicious, the Hot Chocolate as energy-giving and forgiving as ever and the Vegetarian Ramen with broccoli, carrots, cabbage, porcini, topped with a boiled egg, stewed in carrot and tomato purée and a basil paste is absolutely divine!

With so much commercial and retail aspect to Tokyo, the very modest parts of it could be greatly overlooked but cannot be missed. Like the Bunkyo residential area for instance, home to the St Mary’s cathedral and the Shinto shrines that dot the neighbourhood. While the cathedral is spell-binding and a poetry in concrete the Shinto cemetery is rather grounding and a place of reflective solitude. The confluence of the present and the departed, a rather grim reminder of the present and the recollection of how one’s time is limited, long or short. The bell tower of the St Mary’s cathedral is a hyperbolic expression that calls out to the heavens, Lord good God, bells curated in Germany but designed to echo the Japanese sentiment. Covering over 26 km in a day, duly recorded by my ever efficient phone, the entire experience of feeling up architecture in Tokyo and mind-blowing design intelligence guarantees an adrenaline rush, that keeps one going for more and more, one that kept my body absolutely sane inspite of the sudden half-marathonic adventure  and sleepless gushing over the sights of the day!

Tokyo, once Edo, nowadays city with many many layers is delightful and mysterious, modern and old-world, funky and dignified, spotless and clean, tied-down and free, all the same. It is if not anything else a testimony of time, of nature, of human nature, of resilience, of survival and of holding fort. A city that was massacred by ruthless acts of God, typhoons, tsunamis, fires and ruthless acts of man through world-wars and fights for empires. But yet a city that rebuilt itself everytime, forgetting each time the past, the Japanese for instance feign a memory loss each time the world war 2 is mentioned. A trait that helped it grow anew each time, a trait that makes it a crucible for constant innovation, experimentation and delightful observation that scintillates the senses at every turn and every corner. The city that chugs on with its huge populace, that is clean, efficient, culturally inclined, is firmly rooted, aspires for a future that’s greater than its past and that is learning and teaching at the same time!

As I type this on the Shinkasen Nozomi or the fastest bullet train in the world, rather the fastest consistent bullet train touching about 250 kmph over superceeded once by the French TGV, having a sense of déjà vu, I can’t help but wonder how Tokyo puts an optimistic twist on the Japanese philosophy, that if the traditional belief holds that nothing is permanent, the modern belief lies in the living in the moment. That may well be the very essence of life, and the true purpose of living!

There is no better way to learn than at the Smithsonian! From art to flight, from the natural world to the science fiction aiming at the future, the Smithsonian group of museums in Central DC are every bit informative as they are fascinating. Lined up along the axis from the Capitol Hill to the Lincoln memorial the museums are a wonderful extension of the public space alongside the cherry-blossoms blooming in all their glory. As a planned city, Washington DC is winning with its urban design, high score of walkability and powerful buildings. But like a lot of world capitals the commanding buildings lend to a loss of human scale, a fact balanced by well marked footpaths and pedestrian avenues. The circuit buses running frequently in a loop save some of the walking but the city is undoubtedly best experienced on foot. Again with so much to see at the Smithsonian, one takes more than a day to largely imbibe the store house of information. For the plane loves the museum of flight is a treasure house, but the Museum of Natural History is definitely the best of the lot.

And once done with understanding the earth, living specie, how man has evolved, what the future has in store for us, basically a confluence of high school biology, chemistry and physics, the gemstone gallery with the notorious Hope Diamond, the photographs at the National Geographic exhibit make one stop and take a good look at how beautiful our planet and the world really is. We do live in a beautiful world, much as Coldplay’s lyrics go and the balance of nature is a miracle. Nature gives us enough, and is a tool of inspiration for everything that Man does, including art, science or the acts of annihilation! From music to visual art, principles of science to basic survival instincts, we are all greatly inspired and motivated by nature. And in the Museum of Natural History one begins to get closer to understanding the glory of nature.

Along the central axis of Washington, along with the Smithsonian are also the war memorials, beautifully designed to be embedded within the landscape of the capital city. All the wars that the United States has fought is grandly remembered with an ode to the soldiers in stone. But overlooking the Washington monument, the memorials, the museums and the centre of legislature at large is the Lincoln memorial commemorating the greatest president of the United States. His work for civil rights, abolishing of slavery has definitely made the world a lot better place to live it. He did leave it better than it was, pre-Lincoln time! Moreover personally am impressed and hence inspired with his ability to rise above every failure in life to finally succeed as the President of the United States. Of all capitals in the world, Washington is the most spectacular, with no history to be chained by, it wins with its alacrity to the future, to its ideals. It was literally a blank slate, a green-field capital city, and every monument is a vision to ideals, to a country that takes the values of liberty, equality and fraternity quite literally.

Fifteen years and a dozen world capitals later I’d still say New York is the greatest city ever, an adjective attributed to it mainly because of the sheer energy the city holds forth and displays! Its energy, enthusiasm and dynamism is what makes it very beautiful and charming. While my love for the city does not sprout from the very many sit-coms based in the city or even FRIENDs for that matter, it does come from the love for those vast skyscrapers, the cheery Central Park and meticulous urban design, one with heart and soul. As home to the Chrysler Buildings, the most beautiful skyscraper in reference to it’s art-deco spire and proportion, New York boasts of buildings that add beauty to the cityscape and denizens who are stylish, professional with the joi de vivre for life in general. The vegetarian falafel wraps for lunch or the North Indian meal for dinner at an A rated restaurant, mini-bite sized cupcakes for in-betweens, Magnolia bakery with its lemon cheesecake and reese for that chocolate fix is just enough energy to match up with the New Yorkers!

Manhattan, one of the five boroughs is literally the hotbed for action, with something up every corner or a place of significance at every turning, there is a lot going on in this densely populated city of the United States. The New York apartments are known for housing celebrities like Lady Gaga, Donald Trump and the likes, they are even known for the very inconvenient concept of match-box living! Tiny apartments mean public places become extremely valuable, like the Central Park, a beautifully landscaped park right in the middle of Manhattan all equipped with its own zoo! The mid-town as it is called is vastly different from the wall-street holding downtown and Tribeca. Though the financial capital, New York has it’s share of art, making it a paradise for the average culture-vulture. The cosmopolitan character of the United States is further amplified in New York. In food, clothes or art there is a regality in the city that makes it a microcosm of the world at large.

The circle line ferry presents the skyline of the city inadvertently and at the same instance showcases the Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, almost giving the impression what a novice immigrant may have had in the early 1900s while setting foot for the first time into the land of opportunity. Traditional jews are not an alien sight in the city, who even today on the day of Sabbath or Sunday, shun the use of electricity. Dressed in crisp traditional garb they are constant features in the urban-scape of the city and have been since time immemorial the movers and shakers of the financial capital of the world. To be fair I missed seeing even one over-weight person in NYC, if not for my lapse in vision it may have something to do with the tiny living spaces! Crisply dressed, bagel eating people make their way to work, make their contributions to the betterment of the world, let loose in the evenings, and get home after being treated to the visual sparkles of the lit up town. It is a different way of life, all big cities are, idyllic in its own term and busy in its own term. Its not like one cant sit on a bench and watch the world go by just like in the outback but its just that one wont. Just like energy, human ambition is contagious. There is always more to do and more importantly energy breeds energy.

What is truly amazing is that the city is never sapped of it’s energy, right from the 1800s! There seems to be no loss of enthusiasm in New York or the New Yorkers for living, for doing things, doing them right or doing them wrong, for going from one success to another or one failure to another with an iron-clad grid-locked sense of enthusiasm and thats where I think the city is a rather grand success. Several recessions, collapses, attacks and political insignias later too, New York trudges on open to the world, experimenting and coming up with something refreshing every signal day. Unlike other big cities it does not boast of a particular bias of its own towards art, literature or culture but is a melting pot where each vertical bounces off the other to get better. The wolves on wall street, the pop-stars of Tribeca, the entertainers on Broadway or the average artist in Brooklyn all contribute to the city, that magnifies human instinct and sustains with passion the zest for life.

Its too big, its too active, its too fast-paced, its too extreme, its too stylish, its too effervescent, its too spectacular, its a world of hyperlatives, its a place of superlatives, the address for the tallest, the leanest, in buildings and people, its the manifestation of several hundred years of styles, architectural styles, fashion styles, trends and classics. Even today there is flurry of construction activity, urban redevelopment, gentrification. Mayor Giuliani did his bit in cleaning up New York, and today its a city with much lesser crime rate for a big city, albeit a fellow who did try to grab by bag(!) and didn’t succeed thankfully, its a lot less alarming! A price we pay for a society that has unemployment and rising costs! However the city does have its charms, and as the populace return to surrounding suburbs looking forward to a peaceful weekend or evening, the charms of the city are quite inescapable. Whether it sets you in a tizzy, or gets you overwhelmed, the big apple with its towering skyscrapers or laudable architectural marvels like the Guggenheim or the High-line add a fizz to human existence. From up on the observation deck of the Freedom tower New York looks like a concrete jungle, with only buildings, buildings and more buildings, but take a walk on the streets, the human scale is retained quite observably and the line of sight catches a tree or two at a palpable distance. Do not judge a city by its observation decks, alone, but by the sense it renders while walking through its streets, the energy it rubs onto to you, the vibe it gives, cause energy does not lie!