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

Fire Extinguisher Storage in Duct Tape

Street fire extinguisher storage secured with duct tape.

Fire Extinguisher Storage in Duct Tape
Fire Extinguisher Storage in Duct Tape

Materials: Duct Tape
Location: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Annotated Map

Street map in Shibuya annotated with print labels.

Annotated Map
Annotated Map

Materials: Print Labels
Location: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Lost and Found

Impromptu and hard to miss lost and found repository.

Lost and Found
Lost and Found

Materials: Post
Location: Akishima-shi, Tokyo

Most Effective Route

With the completion of a new rotary/taxi stand the route straight out of the station, to the convenience store and up the main street was cut off – necessitating a 2-3 minute detour around the side. For the time scarce suburban commuter this is not obviously not acceptable.

The state of the shrubbery is evidence of the foot-made solution – two well worn paths between the bushes leading in a straight line from the bottom of the stairs to the convenience store. Rule-abiding minds have attempted to discourage this use by placing traffic cones in the way, but to no avail…..

Most Effective Route
Most Effective Route
Most Effective Route

Materials:
Location: Akishima-shi, Tokyo

Park Sound Restrictions in Laminated Paper

Signage requesting low volume usage of radio/CD players in the park.

Park Sound Restrictions in Laminated A4
Park Sound Restrictions in Laminated A4

Materials: Laminated A3
Location: Akabanebashi, Tokyo

Streetside Rubbish Net Storage

Streetside storage for net used on rubbish day.

Streetside Rubbish Net Storage
Streetside Rubbish Net Storage
Streetside Rubbish Net Storage
Streetside Rubbish Net Storage

Materials: Shopping Basket, Plastic Twine, S-Hook
Location: Akabanebashi, Tokyo

Watch out for purse-snatchers in laminated A4

Signage in subway station warning of purse-snatchers.

Watch out for purse-snatchers in laminated A4
Watch out for purse-snatchers in laminated A4

Materials: Duct Tape, Laminated A4
Location: Akabanebashi, Tokyo

Community Safety Signage

Community saftey signage in subway station – watch out for purse snatchers, “Ore Ore” sagi, and break-ins.

Community Safety Signage

Materials: Duct Tape, Laminated A4
Location: Akabanebashi, Tokyo

Pot Plant Bicycle Parking

Pot plants along footpath used as bicycle parking.

Pot Plant Bicycle Parking
Pot Plant Bicycle Parking
Pot Plant Bicycle Parking

Materials: Pot Plants
Location: Akabanebashi, Tokyo

Bicyle Parking Nameplates in Paper and Tape

Apartment bike parking, which is often free-space, ordered into fixed parking spaces with paper and tape.

Materials: Paper, Tape
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

Tokyo Tower Direction Collage 2

Direction sign for Tokyo Tower at Akabanebashi Subway Station. Constructed of tourist brochure cut-outs and classic Tokyo public trasport duct tape lettering.

Tokyo Tower Direction Collage
Tokyo Tower Direction Collage
Tokyo Tower Direction Collage
Tokyo Tower Direction Collage
Tokyo Tower Direction Collage

Materials: Duct Tape, Tourist Brochure
Location: Akabanebashi, Tokyo

A3 Station Signage

Clarification signage in laminated A4.

Bilingual Station Signage

Materials: Laminated Paper
Location: Shinjuku Station, Tokyo

Tokyo Tower Direction Collage

Felt tipped pens, photocopied map, and tourist brochure combined to form an official information sign in a subway station near Tokyo Tower.

Tokyo Tower Direction Collage

Materials: Felt Tipped Pens, Tourist Brochure, Photocopied Map
Location: Akabanebashi Subway Station, Tokyo

Bilingual Station Signage

Shinjuku station signage, bilingual in all the important places.

Bilingual Station Signage
Bilingual Station Signage
Bilingual Station Signage

Materials: Tape, Printed Labels
Location: Shinjuku Station, Tokyo

Lost and Found Fence

Fence as lost and found display for key.

Lost and Found Fence
Lost and Found Fence

Materials: Fence
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

Lost and Found Fence

Fence as makeshift and adequate lost and found center.

Lost and Found Fence
Lost and Found Fence

Materials: Fence

Location:
Akishima, Tokyo

Flying Fox Duct Tape Fix

Flying fox in a playground casually fixed with duct tape.

Flying Fox Duct Tape Fix
Flying Fox Duct Tape Fix
Flying Fox Duct Tape Fix

Materials: Duct Tape
Location: Nagoya, Aichi

Towering Tethered Sunflowers

As I rode my kick scooter across Tokyo from Shibuya to Ochanomizu, on the way to the Tokyo Mapping Workshop in the heat of summer I turned a corner in a deserted backstreet and ran straight into these monsters…… so tall they need to be tethered to the chain link fence for support as they wither.

Towering Tethered Sunflowers
Towering Tethered Sunflowers
Towering Tethered Sunflowers
Towering Tethered Sunflowers
Towering Tethered Sunflowers

Materials: Plastic Twine
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

Lots more Tokyo sunflowers [HERE] and on Tokyo Green Space [HERE]

Originally posted on Tokyo-DIY-Gardening

Laminated Signage

Laminated signage in an inner city apartment complex.

Laminated Signage
Laminated Signage

Materials: Duct Tape, Laminated Paper
Location: Minato-ku, Tokyo

Neighbourhood Patrol in Laminated A4 and Wire

Neighbourhood parent patrol sign (laminated A4) attached to bicycle with wire. With this set up, every time you use the bicycle you are performing a casual security check (Note: My bicycle)

Neighbourhood Patrol in Laminted A4 and Wire
Neighbourhood Patrol in Laminted A4 and Wire
Neighbourhood Patrol in Laminted A4 and Wire

Materials: Laminated Paper, Wire
Location: Akishima, 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]