photo: Noboru Morikawa
Taiza Studio is a house that embodies all the activities related to the passing on of knowledge, skills, and passion for art to the next generation over a period of twenty years, in the manner of the Ise Shrine, which carries over the skills and knowledge to the next generation by entirely rebuilding the shrine every twenty years.
The story begins with the immigration of a young man from the city after graduating with an architecture degree. He rents a two-story cedar-veneered house built a little over a hundred years ago on a site overlooking the Sea of Japan. The local people and a group of talented in food, crafts, art, architecture, and design work together to renovate the house to express the worldview of this young man through their individual skills. By becoming a place for learning, blending in with the local community, and becoming part of history, art will eventually become a part of daily life and circulate in society while linking to economic activities. The stage for the story of life and art that questions the meaning of living beautifully for people is Taiza Studio.
Jan. 12, 2021
We rented a hundred-year-old house that had not been lived in for nearly twenty years.
April 16, 2021
Cleaned out the interior of the house. We also removed the doors so that people could see our activities from the street.
July 17, 2021
Twelve disintegrating tatami mats need refurbishing or replacement.
August 10, 2021
In order to repaint the mud walls, we had to remove the original old walls by ourselves. It was hard work, scraping steadily with a scraper.
August 20, 2021
Shuji Nakagawa's first attempt at building residential building elements, installing the eaves.
August 24, 2021
Together with Akio Niisato, a ceramic artist, we dug up soil from a nearby field to be used for the newly painted mud walls. 600 liters total!
August 23, 2021
Removed the existing concrete blocks. It will be reborn as a kitchen.
September 6, 2021
With the help of Nakasu Plasterer, we mixed straw soot and water with soil dug up from the field, stepped on it with our feet, and mixed it.
September 7, 2021
Niisato helps Nakasu plasterer and be is taught how to paint mud walls.
September 8, 2021
The west wall was painted entirely by Akio Niisato from the ground up. Even though it was his first time painting a mud wall, he was able to finish it in half a day with tremendous concentration.
September 8, 2021
Yukio Fujita, mounting craftsman, painted the base of the paper wall.
September 16, 2021
We cleaned underfloor, which had probably not been cleaned for a hundred years. The mud walls are gradually drying out.
September 22, 2021
New tatami mats were delivered by Takamuro Tatami Industrial Factory. The room, which had always smelled damp and earthy, is now filled with the smell of tatami.
September 22, 2021
Satoshi Sato blew glass rondels to replace the broken glass in the existing doors, and Koji Aono's stained-glass technique was used to rebuild them.
September 23, 2021
Construction of Kozo paper walls by Yukio Fujita. The wall was constructed using the technique of underlining sliding doors.
September 25, 2021
Installation of the kitchen and shelves by Makoto Yasohara. We came up with a minimalist design for a single person.
September 27, 2021
Finally, two desks were coming! It made of Yoshino cypress by Shuji Nakagawa.
September 28, 2021
Phase 1 completion ceremony. To celebrate, we served chestnut and red beans rice prepared by Nawaya, local fruits, vegetables, rice, and sake. We are now preparing for the second phase, which will include the renovation of the northern part of the first floor and the second floor.
October 2, 2022
Construction of wooden room by Shuji Nakagawa and Tamon Nishimura, a sculptor of Buddhist statues; due to the narrowness of the second floor, components temporarily assembled in the workshop in advance were brought in and installed with handmade hoop.