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

Parked Bicycle Stabilisation System

Particularly intricate stabilisation system for parked bicycle. Prevents the bicycle blowing over in the wind, or being toppled by other errant parkers. It also provides a central stable element to prevent the whole row of cycles from falling in a strong wind.

A laundry pole is fixed to the parking structure with bungee cords at the top end. The bottom is stablised with breeze blocks and blanket scraps. The bicycle is attached to the makeshift structure with another bungee cord. The number written on the breeze block denotes the owner’s apartment number. I’m not sure of the function of the pegs and gloves.

Materials: Breeze Blocks, Bungee Cords, Blanket Scraps, Gloves, Pegs
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.

Blue Tyre Bumpers

Cut-off tyres guard against parking mishaps.

Blue Tyre Bumpers
Blue Tyre Bumpers
Blue Tyre Bumpers
Blue Tyre Bumpers

Materials: Tyres
Location: Nagoya

Coin Parking BMX Training Update

As noted in Deadspace Parking as BMX Training Course these income-generating asphalt plots become obstacle courses for budding and/or PRO suburban Tokyo BMXers from 12:30am onwards. Tonight as I return in the Dark Hourz I find the same man in a different coin parking space. I wonder whether he moves around to avoid detection or whether these spaces offer a valuable diversity of terrain that I have not before detected….. I need to look at those wheel clamps, judder bars and smooth asphalts more carefully.

Deadspace Parking as BMX Training Course

We often decry Tokyo parking lot deadspace as an unimaginative and underused default money-making use for vacant lots but this stance exposes our own prejudices against concrete and blinds us to the diverse possibilities that the rugged terrain may offer.

Here, a half-empty suburban Tokyo pay-parking lot is the scene of a solo BMX training session in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

It is easier to record the remnants and artifacts of human(e) use of the city than it is to record use-in-action, but this example encourages me to spend more dark hours wandering the streets.

I wonder how these deadspaces by design are used when prying eyes are asleep: Deadspace by Design ONE & TWO on Tokyo Green Space.







The site in daylight:








Extra Bicycle Security

Extra security by chaining bicycle to parking structure. Uncommon.

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.

Forward Parking

Perhaps these residents park their bikes further into the parking structure than planned (notice the front wheels over the back pole) to (1) keep their seats dry and/or (2) allow more room for thoroughfare.

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.

Children’s Cycle Care

Wet wipes on the handles of a child’s bicycle – for clean hands or clean handlebars?

Materials: Wet Wipes
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.

Children’s Cycle Parking

Parking space for children’s bicycles. Bicycles locked together shows they are owned by a single family.

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.

Bicycle Support

End piece added to bicycle parking port after complaints from residents about wind blowing over bicycles.

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 Collage

“No parking” sign + prevention fashioned out of breeze block, wire, metal grill and ubiquitous no-parking sign.

No Parking Collage
No Parking Collage
No Parking Collage
No Parking Collage
No Parking Collage
No Parking Collage
No Parking Collage
No Parking Collage

Materials: Wire, Breeze Block, Metal Grill, No Parking Sign
Location: Nagoya

Parking Fix in Cone and Wire

Problematic barrier post made more visible by affixing an old traffic cone with wire.

Parking Fix in Cone and Wire
Parking Fix in Cone and Wire
Parking Fix in Cone and Wire

Materials: Wire, Traffic Cone
Location: Nagoya

Parking Protection in Foam and Two Types of Duct Tape

Foam and duct tape create a safe + scratch free parking spot in a tight location.

(Note also how in the left-hand space storage trumps cars)

Parking Protection in Foam and Two Types of Duct Tape
Parking Protection in Foam and Two Types of Duct Tape
Parking Protection in Foam and Two Types of Duct Tape
Parking Protection in Foam and Two Types of Duct Tape
Parking Protection in Foam and Two Types of Duct Tape

Materials: Duct Tape, Foam
Location: Nagoya

No Parking in Beer Crates

Beer crates placed in front of stop entrance create no-parking zones on days off.

No Parking in Beer Crates

Location: Nagoya
Materials: Beer Crates

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

No Parking in Potplants

A bit of greenification helps keep this inner-city commerce spot free of parked bicycles.

Nice contrast with residential areas, where pots trump cars – see [HERE] and [HERE]

No Parking in Potplants
No Parking in Potplants
No Parking in Potplants

Materials: Potplants
Location: Central Nagoya

Roadside Brick Planter

Long roadside planter constructed of loosely packed bricks also functions as parking deterrent on residential street.

Roadside Brick Planter
Roadside Brick Planter
Roadside Brick Planter
Roadside Brick Planter

Materials: Bricks
Location: Akishima-shi, Tokyo

Traffic Cone Reuse in Marker and A3

Traffic signage put to a different traffic related use with the help of marker and paper.

Traffic Cone Reuse in Marker and A3
Traffic Cone Reuse in Marker and A3
Traffic Cone Reuse in Marker and A3

Materials: Paper, Marker
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

Parking Tape

Small space + oversize auto = reflective parking tape on a dangerous corner.

Parking Tape
Parking Tape
Parking Tape

Materials: Reflector Tape
Location: Akishima-shi, 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

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]