a-small-lab by Chris Berthelsen. Based in Tokyo
email: chris@a-small-lab.com
twitter: @a_small_lab

newsletter: new work, calls for collaboration & work, bits and pieces of note Sign Up Here

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Recent Updates: [view complete(ish) project list]

**Playtime in Africa: Site and global supporters**
I'm honoured and delighted to start to play a small part in this project that aims to "turn two acres of land in the Dzorwulu neighborhood into a groundbreaking natural playspace".
Global supporters map [HERE]
Playtime in Africa WEBSITE

**Tokyo Local Food Presentation @ Pechakucha Tokyo**
Presenting parts of our Tokyo Local Fruit project.
Our presentation for Pechakucha Global Cities Week (Tokyo) on Tokyo Local food is now up on the Pechakucha site
VIEW the presentation slides on SLIDESHARE
VIEW the Ustream of the presentation [HERE] (starts about 4:40).

We've also completed a short text, diagrams, images titled "Fruit Layers of Tokyo" for LIMNO's Collabora on stratification, nature, landscapes. To be published soon.

**Seven Ideas from Tokyo for Child Friendly Spaces**
A short article summarising City at Child Scale study on ThisBigCity.net - HERE
And in Chinese: 孩童空間的七種構想

Noted in Megan Rosker's article on play for Huffington Post [HERE]
Quoted in The Atlantic Cities article on walkability, food deserts and obesity [HERE]
Featured on Kaboom.org (a national nonprofit dedicated to saving play for America's children)

**Study on the City at Child Scale**

"......These safe and slow pathways are perfect for tiny feet and their larger commute-weary companions. Dense greens and colourful scented collages reside at the height and scale of little eyes and noses. Irrepressible hands thrive on the mixture of gravel, sand, grass, rocks, sticks and fallen fruit that compose Tokyo carpets. In summer developing ears drink in crickets, cicadas and neighbourhood rustlings...." A small study on the child's perception of the street. This document traces the everyday treasures of a rainy day walk to the local sento in suburban Tokyo. It is part of a broader and slightly wonky research and practice agenda on the hand made, everyday creativity, play, and usable environments. Extracts, Full Download, etc [HERE]

**Patterns of Play Research**
Rough categorization working draft of gender/age/materials/concepts for Patterns of Play research. 108 examples of self-initiated, non-commercial play: View Data Sheet.

**Dots and Nets game with MAMMOTH**

Produced in collaboration with Mammoth School and Knee High Media for the fourth issue of the Mammoth School free paper, "Dots and Nets" builds on the traditional dots and squares game to introduce creatures of the sea. Illustrated by Mika Inohara. Details and video [HERE]

**Hand Made Play**

Notes from a collaborative + open research project investigating, enjoying, and learning from the self-initiated and non-commercial play of children in Tokyo. > http://a-small-lab.com/hand-made-play/

**Tokyo Local Fruit Study**

A public project looking at non-commercial fruit in Tokyo private gardens and public spaces. We hope to learn about what is being grown, where, and how it is being enjoyed and shared - the simple, everyday tastes, stories and memories of fruit in Tokyo. > A collaboration with Jared Braiterman and Jess Mantell. > We presented this project at the Pechakucha Global Cities Week (Tokyo) on Feb 23 [HERE] - and you can view the UStream [HERE] > Parts of this project will be published in ALL YOU CAN EAT! - a book about using food as a tool for urban development - [HERE] (when they find a publisher). View the PROJECT PAGE

**Framework for Neighbourhood Creative Climate**

New post on This Big City [HERE]

**Building for Plants and Play**

Turning an unusable and unfriendly suburban jungle/rubbish dump into a usable space for children, plants and parents. > View progress [on Flickr]

**Workshops for Kids**

> HAPPY DUTCH WORKSHOP x WA WA PROJECT: Dutch house making workshop / Dutch tulips & coloring journal in collaboration with Tanemaki Project [HERE]. > TULIP JOURNAL in collaboration with Tanemaki Project [HERE]. Both of these in collaboration with the great Hiyoko Imai and Jared Braiterman

**Article/Interview**
Piece on the Olympus cover-up featuring my ex-pat management research.
View [HERE]

**Human(e) Aspects of Tokyo: Creative climate, small places of anarchy, stigmergy.**

Notes and a few projects for a guest lecture at Dr. Christian Dimmer's Public/Private Seminar, Waseda University (Nov. 16, 2011) Download/Viewing Options [HERE]

**Recent Articles (Nov)**
The Non-Intentional Landscape of Tokyo - a collage/sketch text on This Big City
Fixes study featured on Archinect

**Patterns of Japanese Creativity**

This ongoing study reviews the Japanese business and management literature to uncover the principles, strategies and circumstances at the heart of the creative successes of Japanese companies. NEW: Page Samples and Exercises from forthcoming book [LINK] Project Resource[LINK to Project Resource]

**Tokyo Colour-In Preview and Activities**

Tokyo colour-in. The colouring-in book of Tokyo street art (180p) A colouring-in book of Tokyo street art created to introduce little hands and minds to the fine-grained hand made aspect of human(e) creativity on the street. Take a look at the preview [HERE] and check the slowly growing set of activities for use with the book [HERE]

**Amidakuji - Storytelling Game**

Produced in collaboration with Mammoth School and Knee High Media for the third issue of the Mammoth School free paper, "Amidakuji" builds on a traditional Japanese game for fun and weird storytelling. Illustrated by the fantastic Hiyoko Imai. Downloads and video [HERE]

**Recent Articles**
Small Places of Anarchy in the City on This Big City
無政府的小處 | This Big City 城事
Featured on Planetizen
Collaborative Mental Mapping on Engaging Cities
Photo-Realistic Model of Tokyo on Polis
Featured on Archinect
Featured on Green Japan - Tokyo’s Creative Greenness Revealed

**Part of Mega-Cities: Design Anthropology and Urban Landscapes, a Tokyo University Course**

I'm honoured to be a guest speaker at, and have my research included in the syllabus for Mega-Cities: Design Anthropology and Urban Landscapes, a Tokyo University graduate seminar on mega-cities taught by Jared Braiterman. My FIXES research is part of the syllabus.

**Hand Made Tokyo Book Preview & Download**

Lots of preview images of the Hand Made Tokyo document of the 3331 Arts CYD Tokyo mapping workshop we did last summer. A5, 126 pages Take a look at the preview [HERE]

**FIXing the Neighbourhood: Investigations in Suburban Tokyo / Sketching for Usable Cities**

A scrambled, semi-off-the-cuff presentation for the Institute for Information Design Japan workshop “Transforming Neighbourhoods - Tokyo/Berlin" organised by Jan Lindenberg. View the presentation On Slideshare View the presentation: On Scribd

**Managing For Creativity in Japan**
View the resource page [Managing for Creativity in Japan]
Risk and Creative Climate in Japan: An annotated framework [PDF]
Risk and Creative Climate in Japan: An interview collage [PDF]
Being a Successful Manager in Japan: An annotated framework [PDF]

**CITIES Magazine: Tokyo Focus**
I'm delighted that Cities Magazine is devoting a 'Tokyo Focus' week to projects from a-small-lab.
"CITIES (with offices in Amsterdam and Stockholm) explores local practice in a global context. It goes beyond academic vocabulary such as industrial renewal, gentrification and densification, encouraging urban explorers to tell their own stories and to share their perspectives and experiences of life in the city." Visit their site [HERE]

**Keep Your City Delicious!**
Keep your city beautiful? How about keeping it delicious for a change!
Short examples from 'Keep your city delicious' (街をおいしく！）activities in Tokyo.
View the slideshow: [ON SLIDESHARE]

**A Board Game about City Accessibility**

Produced in collaboration with Mammoth School and Knee High Media for the second issue of the Mammoth School free paper, "Look-A-Round" is a board game which encourages learning about city accessibility. View video, photos, and download [HERE]

**Structures and Textures of Nagoya (2003-4)**

A resource, a toolkit, of rare images of the structures and textures of the gradually decaying city of Nagoya, Japan (735 images) This image resource is available for purchase for commercial (no use restrictions) and non-commerical use - Click here for more details.

**Kokonohanashi (ここの話）Experiment**

The kokonohanashi (「ここの話」 lit. 'talking about here') project works locally with a combination of analogue (notebooks, pens, laminated A4 posters, wire, legwork) and open low-tech digital tools (QR codes, stripped down Wordpress, email, smart-and-not-so-smart-phones) to investigate the development of a platform for discussion about, and positive action in, city space by the people who most matter - those who experience and use the place in their everyday lives. View the project page: [Kokonohanashi Project] Download the project introduction: [PDF file, 5.5mb] Download a brief project report after the first iteration: [PDF file, 3mb] Read a nice write up of the project at Tokyo Green Space [HERE]

**Small Report: 好きな公園 (Parks I like)**
A small report on aspects of loved neighbourhood parks with the help of a group of neighbourhood kids.

**City Blocks: An as yet unannounced collaborative public art/education project with a Tokyo-based publisher**
“Become familiar & comfortable with your environment, share and discuss, develop the facility to play with, rearrange, reimagine, create spaces and places. Explore the neighbourhoods of Japan through the eyes of other children, discover what they care for and have fun with."

**FIXES: The non-intentional design of Tokyo - a card game**
Based on the images and research of the FIXES: Non-Intentional Design (NID) Research in Tokyo project, this card game/resource aims to increase awareness of NID thinking and practice and to act as an entry point to a deeper experience of Tokyo as a lived city.

**Berlin Design Resource**

A photo resource and book was made for a major Japanese clothing design/retail company (800+ photos, book, context/translation). Take a look at a couple of photos here [LINK]

**A long collage/essay on Tokyo**
Three out of seven nights, From 11pm-2am.

**by Hand**
Starting to post rough collage notes/writing on the hand made city and Tokyo. Frequently updated.
> http://a-small-lab.com/text/

Photo Credit: Lin