LAB #3(42) 2008

Curiosity _ a cell in an ant heap | Photo courtesy of REIKOMIYAMOTO, CURIOSITY | Text Eugenia Bakhturova | There are cities that never sleep, but eat all the time – they eat people, digest- ing races, social strata and cultures. Tokyo is one of such cities; it is a mythological sphinx, a riddle not easily guessed. And this monologue will not be discussing its comfortable housing, it will discuss the experience of this crazy city. The meaning of loft has been changing. Earlier, tatty brick walls, a lot of metal and a lot of free space were a must, these days only the floor space remains of the old image. Brick has been replaced with plaster and wood, and metal has been changed to plastic. As many people say, in Tokyo this process has particularly escalated, just as all other processes do here. It is a must for this city to be in the avant-garde of the international architectural thought, and the city has to be in accordance with its status. French architect Gwenael Nicolas has found home in Japan – having become famous thanks to his C-1 house, which was mentioned in nearly every publication,

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