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

Playing Camp in Beer Crate and Rocks

Children play camp – an upturned beer crate rocks, concrete and plants form a roaring campfire.
Playing Camp in Beer Crate and Rocks
Playing Camp in Beer Crate and Rocks
Playing Camp in Beer Crate and Rocks

Materials: Beer Crate, Rocks, Concrete, Plants
Location: Tachikawa, Tokyo

Step Up in Concrete Blocks

Over 1/2 a meter ‘step up’ to the front door eased with concrete slabs.

Influence of the ‘flat plot at all costs’ ethic in full effect.

Step Up in Concrete Blocks
Step Up in Concrete Blocks
Step Up in Concrete Blocks
Step Up in Concrete Blocks

Materials: Concrete
Location: Nagoya

Step-up in Breeze Blocks

Easier access step created with breeze block and concrete.

Step-up in Breeze Blocks
Step-up in Breeze Blocks
Step-up in Breeze Blocks

Materials: Breeze Block, Concrete
Location: Nagoya

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

Curbside Garden Space in Concrete and Rocks

Garden space is created on the curb in front of a residential wall on a narrow street. The owner of the property did not want to encroach on the already scarce road space so she constructed a planter from rocks and concrete right on top of the curb. The limited volume of the created space necessitated hardy succulents (the owner noted that she had tried to grow other flowers but they didn’t work out). She was so confident of their hardiness that she picked a few off and offered them to me to take home. Fantastic!
When quizzed about the origins of the design, she confessed that she hadn’t seen the idea anywhere else – it just ‘popped’ into her head as a suitable solution.
P1160983
P1160984
P1160985
P1160987
P1160988
P1160991

Materials: Concrete, Rocks
Location: Akishima, Tokyo

Structure Support in Wire

The supporting post of the front door overhang braced up by wire secured to the ground by a nail in the concrete slab. Poured concrete addition to stabilze.



Materials: Wire, Nail, Concrete
Location: Ome, 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]