FIXES

Non-Intentional Design: Investigating alterations of space/objects at the public/private boundary in suburban Tokyo, Japan. A resource by a-small-lab.com. Contact: Chris Berthelsen chris@a-small-lab.com

Don’t Come Through

PET bottles filled with water, a pot, a brick and a post all convey the message of the local residents to cars – “No Thoroughfare!”
P1170328
Materials: PET Bottle, Pot, Brick, Post
Location: Nakano, Tokyo

Dog Enclosure in Wire Rack and Breeze Block

The dog has the run of the yard – kept in check with wire racks on the gate and a breeze block for stability.

Dog Enclosure in Wire Rack and Breeze Block
Dog Enclosure in Wire Rack and Breeze Block
Dog Enclosure in Wire Rack and Breeze Block

Materials: Wire Rack, Breeze Block
Location: Nagoya

Junk Mail Delivery

Path through garden worn by junk mail delivery people trying to avoid the watchful eye of the apartment complex security/maintenance workers. It is not only the actions of the residents that slowly mold the building and surrounds over time.



Location: Setagaya, Tokyo.

This example is a note for a pamphlet on “Hand Made Aspects of Mass Produced Housing”. Subscribe to my somewhat-frequent letter HERE if you want to keep in touch easily.

No Parking/Private Parking in Cones and Junk

Keeping a section of the curb car free (or permanently reserving a parking spot for the local ‘boss’) is carried out with the use of concrete junk, traffic cones and barriers.

No Parking/Private Parking in Cones and Junk
No Parking/Private Parking in Cones and Junk

Material: Concrete, Traffic Cone, Traffic Barrier
Location: Nagoya

Storage/Security in Wood Planks

Storage/Barrier constructed from wood planks on sloping street (courtesy of Tokyo-based designer Edith Prakoso)

Storage/Security in Wood Planks

Materials: Wood
Location: Nogizaka, Tokyo

Gate and Wire

Garden gate held together with wire.


Materials: Wire
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

Support and Barrier

A construction of traffic cones and barriers held together with wire and plastic twine supports an old awning and cordons off the unused shop front.

Support and Barrier
Support and Barrier
Support and Barrier
Support and Barrier
Support and Barrier

Materials: Plastic Twine, Wire, Traffic Cones, Traffic Barriers,
Location: Nagoya, Aichi

No Parking in Cones, String

Traffic cones and barriers prevent parking in Shibuya side street. Flexibility (length, getting around power poles) provided by using string in place of rigid barrier poles.

No Parking in Cones, String
No Parking in Cones, String
No Parking in Cones, String
No Parking in Cones, String
No Parking in Cones, String

Materials: Traffic Cones, String
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

Display/Signalling Chair

Chair used to signal location of store, and display products…as well as possibly discouraging parking.

Display/Signalling Chair
Display/Signalling Chair

Materials: Chair
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

No Parking Chair

Chair + Sign = ‘Official’ No Parking Zone in Shibuya side street.

No Parking Chair
No Parking Chair

Materials:
Chair, Stock Sign
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

Barrier Secured with LAN Cable

A roadside barrier is held together with a LAN cable. I’m still not clear on the purpose of this barrier, however. I think it is to discourage bicycle parking, as seems to be the function of most ‘official’ barriers in the area.

Barrier Secured with LAN Cable
Barrier Secured with LAN Cable
Barrier Secured with LAN Cable
Barrier Secured with LAN Cable
Barrier Secured with LAN Cable

Materials: LAN Cable
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

Lunchtime Signage Over Railing

Signs advertising local restaurants lined up and stabilized over pedestrial railing. A system which also keeps them off the thoroughfare. Stabilized with tape and string.

Lunchtime Signage Over Railing
Lunchtime Signage Over Railing
Lunchtime Signage Over Railing
Lunchtime Signage Over Railing
Lunchtime Signage Over Railing

Materials: Railing, String, Tape
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

Trained Creeping Fence

Using many metres of plastic twine, a local coffee shop owner has trained a flowering creeper up and down both sides of the paved lane outside their shop.

Even though seemingly random, the complex web of twine takes a non-trivial amount of time, thought and effort to construct.

The web has been prepared to guide an independent creeper along the fence line of a vacant lot, creating a lush green waist high curtain.

I especially like the way the corners have been densely woven (images 8,9,10), enabling thick growth and thus a cool and shady habitat for insects, cats and other animals.

Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence
Trained Creeping Fence

Materials: Plastic Twine
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

(Originally posted on Tokyo-DIY-Gardening)

Keeping it together in rope

Residential fence held together with a length of rope. In a neighbourhood bordering a new subdivision.

Keeping it together in rope
Keeping it together in rope
Keeping it together in rope

Materials: Rope
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

Potplant Boundary Setting

Pot plants outside a suburban residential office demarcate parking space, prevent cyclist curb-cutting (safety), set the limits of the official office zone of use, and beautify.

Potplant Boundary Setting
Potplant Boundary Setting
Potplant Boundary Setting

Materials: Pots
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

(Originally posted on Tokyo-DIY-Gardening)

Gate in Wire and Rope

Rope barrier/gate reinforced, strengthened and given weight (helps stop it swinging in the breeze) with wire wrapped around its length.

Gate in Wire and Rope
Gate in Wire and Rope
Gate in Wire and Rope
Gate in Wire and Rope

Materials: Wire, Rope
Location: Tachikawa, Tokyo

No Thoroughfare

Upturned Coke crates signal “No Thoroughfare” between two parking areas.
No Thoroughfare
No Thoroughfare
No Thoroughfare

Materials: Crate
Location: Kamogawa, Chiba

Poor Shot Protection in Netting

Plastic bamboo poles and netting are used to add height to a playground/creche fence to help prevent loose soccer shots from straying onto the road.
Poor Shot Protection in Netting
Poor Shot Protection in Netting
Poor Shot Protection in Netting
Poor Shot Protection in Netting
Materials: Netting, Plastic Pole
Location: Tachikawa, Tokyo

Saftey Reflector at Intersection

At an Aoyama Dori intersection in Shibuya this reflector appears to act as a (not very effective from the amount of bashing it has taken) indicator of where the pedestrian saftey railing begins.
Saftey Reflector at Intersection
Saftey Reflector at Intersection
Saftey Reflector at Intersection

Materials: Reflector
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

Parking Signage in Cone, Chain, Perspex etc….

Parking Full signage in constructed on a cone base. Handle in duct tape and shoelace. Sign in perspex frame, attached with bulldog clips and chain. Magnificent!
P1170536
P1170537
P1170548
P1170540
P1170541
P1170544
P1170542
P1170545
Materials: Cone, Chain, Shoelace, Clip, Perspex, Duct Tape
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

Mega-Cities: Design Anthropology and Urban Landscapes
I'm delighted and honoured to have my FIXES work included in Jared Braiterman's Tokyo University graduate seminar on mega-cities.
You can download the syllabus [HERE]


Thanks to the URBAN DESIGN Lab 西村・北沢・窪田 都市デザイン研究室, Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo for making this a featured resource of their lab [LINK]

Vision Plus 2010
Thanks to the organizers of the conference for selecting this project as a featured resource, even though I was not able to attend.




Article: Small Places of Anarchy in the City: Three Investigations in Tokyo on This Big City

Article: The Non-Intentional Landscape of Tokyo - read at This Big City

Article: Framework for Neighbourhood Creative Climate - read at This Big City

Tokyo Green Space from Jared Braiterman is a great inspiration [LINK]

Urban Bricolage by @ehooge is an inspiring site on a related theme [LINK]

Treepolis by Christoph Rupprecht inspires me with investigations into informal green space, cities, and urban ecology with a focus on Australia and Japan [LINK]

Everyday Structures by @alanwiig is another fine site in the same vein [LINK]