KDa - funky buildings and PechaKucha!
13 Oct 2005 Category: Architecture, Features, Japan, Worldwide
Zany international superstars of architecture and interior level-upping and pioneers of the unique “Pechakucha” design showcasing events Klein Dytham architecture will be our guests for the pingSeminar tonight.
Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham studied architecture and interior design in England and France before entering the Royal College of Art in London, where they both graduated in 1988 with distinction in Master of Arts in architecture. After this, they both found themselves in Japan, working for Toyo Ito Architects & Associates - which started them off as the pair that would eventually become Klein Dytham architects only 3 years later, in 1991.
Astrid is showing us a picture which kind of demonstrates the different thinking of the east and west, or what she likes to call “Eats Meets Wets” (sic) (it’s a joke). It’s a picture of the interior of a taxi in Japan in which there is lots of stuff laid around like candy for the passenger to eat, books to read, a TV etc - Astrid tells us that this is amazing to foreigners…but to Japanese people, they probably see everything as totally normal.
Astrid is introducing KDa’s old office. At their old office they had a wide space that was separated by movable “screens” to facilitate meetings etc. However they thought it was a shame to waste the space on just meetings so they started having small events in the warehouse space.
Sidenote: on the pictures Astrid and Mark are showing us, an office art installation can be seen. There is a woman painted in gold, sitting in a bathtub full of feathers, suspended from the ceiling by wires. Occasionally she throws the feathers onto the people below…it’s all very quirky and KDa. Thankfully for the woman this was only a temporary installation :)
They had a range of different performances and installations in this space. They gave it the name “Deluxe” - like a kind of chic, performance night for friends to enjoy themselves at.
From this, a natural progression of popularity and a need for a bigger space led them to finding a new space - which they named “Super Deluxe“. This was an underground club-type space that is a stones throw from the bustling Roppongi Hills business and entertainment complex.
The problem with having the events at their own office was that whilst everyone would have fun drinking, smoking etc, Astrid says that often the next day they would have important meetings etc…which if your office reeks of cigarette smoke from 100 people puffing away the night before…is not a great thing.
They have had a wide range of different events at Super Deluxe - from Miss Japan-related events (unsurprisingly, extremely popular with the male Super Deluxe goers) to musical events, to live art, presentations, lectures and of course the famous PechaKucha nights.
PechaKucha Night is an original concept that Astrid and Mark came up with. The point of PechaKucha is to show 20 slides of your work, for 20 seconds each - with no pauses and no fast-forwarding. It is your chance to show a room of people your latest project, or stuff that you want to recommend to people, or show off your portfolio if you are a student looking for a job - the point of PechaKucha is that anyone who wants to can present (PingMag did just that, recently!)
It’s a mixed crowd at the Tokyo events so they have presentations in various languages, with little or no translation - the work, and how it inspires others, is the important thing.
They took the concept to London and as a “pilot” they did a show at the Apple Store on Regent Street in London, attracting a whopping 300 guests (even though the Apple Store Theatre is only designed to hold 100!). It is now a regular event at the ICA, happening every month - sponsored by ICON magazine.
Carrying on the theme of Eats Meets Wets, KDa created a fun idea for an exhibition at the AA in London, which took the form of a Japanese public bath - girls and boys separate, shoes off!!
You sit on stools just like in a Japanese public spa and look at computer screens, listening to info about the images via a shower head which you hold to your ear! In the “virtual bath” (in the place of water there is a comfy-looking mattress) you can sit and look at a large projector screen displaying art…and occasionally you’ll see a nice picture of a lady…(in the boy’s section).
KDa stress that “fun” is an important aspect to include in any project. If you are having fun, the client will have fun and the end user will have fun - it’s like a domino effect, Astrid says.
KDa try to make each project unique and fresh, to challenge themselves. For their own self-improvement as much as the client’s satisfaction.
Astrid says it will be nice if she is able to create things that stay in her memory, so that when she is an old woman she can think back and say “ahhh I remember we made that” etc - even though the building itself may not remain.
Mark adds that if there is no challenge then you get bored with the project - challenge, fun and uniqueness are all traits that they seek in the projects they undertake.
(Mark is doing a peace sign for Uleshka taking photos…)
The next project is the Wedding Chapel which was commissioned by Hoshino-san (chairman of Hoshino Resort, massive resort corporation). He approached KDa and asked if they had ever done a wedding chapel before. They replied “nope” and he said “then you are perfect”.
The overall concept for the chapel is a “leaf”. The entire structure is like a beautifully curved veil with an intricate pattern covering it, made from small perforated holes with lenses in them.
(it’s beautiful - the whole room is silent)
The veil opens and closes and can be used to enhance the scene when the mood fits, for example, when the bride and groom kiss at the end of the ceremony, the veil can open to show the beautiful garden behind it and flood the interior with light.
Mark tells us that the veil itself weighs 12 tonnes! But it is designed to resemble a light lace fabric.
The veil pattern is created by a series of lenses all embedded in the layers of the veil. When light shines through it creates a sparkling moire effect - it makes the 12 tonne veil really look like a light, wavy fabric.
The chapel does weddings in both the day and night so KDa had to create a design that looks just as beautiful in the night as in the day.
They are showing us the factory where the veil was made - on screen is a 400 tonne steel press where the veil was shaped. Cool :)
The engineering company, Kawasaki Juuko assured KDa that the veil would work - Kwasaki Juuko said they had done similar things on entire baseball pitches before so this would be no problem.
The first time the veil opened Astrid and Mark were elated - they screamed and were overjoyed that it actually all worked. They said that the engineers from Kawasaki Juuko were unphased - they KNEW it would work!
At the weekend they have 8 to 9 wedding ceremonies. When they don’t have ceremonies there are other events such as jazz nights etc. Mark’s 40th birthday was also held there :)
Another party space they created was an extension for a hotel. It’s like a “tunnel” that extends out into a forest with windows all around - sitting there would feel like you are sitting in a forest.
The main table (which seats over 45 people) is designed with a wide taper at the end, which allows everyone to see the head guests at the end of the table, when they look down it.
One of their new projects for a mountain resort is for the interior of a grill restaurant and they came up with an interesting idea to get across the idea of grilling food. They made a “brand” (the metal kind that you burn things with) in the shape of a leaf and invited people to burn the floor - it has left a beautiful floor of warm brown leaves, making the floor appear “seared” like a grilled steak.
In addition to the restaurants for this resort they created a book-reading area for people to relax in, with a friendly atmosphere - it’s become so popular that even people who live around the resort come there to read and relax.
Mark and Astrid wrap up by reminding us that the next PechaKucha Night (Vol. 27!) will be on the 26th of October - more info here. You can find a complete list of events at SuperDeluxe on their website and Mark tells us to expect some very special guests next month…
(big round of applause!)
Thank you Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of KDa for coming to visit PingMag! We hope to spot more of your work around Japan and the rest of the world :)
29 Comments
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The imac onsen needs to be appreciated. The environment of the public bath really needs to be further investigated as an installational environment.
The reaction of the Kawasaki Junko engineers was sweet too. As is often the case when the artist’s vision meets those with the technical confidence to make it happen.
Posted by: Euan Millar on October 16th, 2005 at 2:19 am
yes…. I wish they had a permanent iMac bath in Tokyo! Maybe Apple could build one?
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