Architecture Misfit #44: Shigenori Uoya (魚谷繁礼)

Last year’s 3rd Misfits Triennal¹ featured many adaptive re-use projects, conversions and additions. The first week had the relaxed T-House Renovation by Fumiaso Architect and Associates, the repurposing of a former shop into House with a Small Library by Hiroshi Kinoshita and Associates, the elegant Renovation of Somekh Building by SHISUO design office, and the heavy-handed Pachtwoning House by jo taillieu architecten.

Week two² had an unconventional conventional refurbishment of PLATO Contemporary Art Gallery by KWK PROMES, the Office Nomura-Sanko by note architects that used salvaged timbers, the slightly bonkers Bookstore in a Blast Furnace by hyperSity architects and the defiantly ad-hoc aesthetic of House for Gonda by Office for Environment Architecture.

Week three³ had a few projects by Jo Nagasaka + Schemata Architects. Their Le Labo Kyoto Machiya was everything you’d expect of a Kyoto machiya (townhouse) being remade as a cosmetics store. Some might think it formulaic but I just see it as following a set of rules that work with simplicity (sabi) and economy (wabi). There’s nothing wrong with elegance falling into place so easily and without apparent contrivance.

Not every building in Kyoto is a cultural treasure but many of those that aren’t become one when considered as part of an environment. No architect wants a reputation for trashing the city. A certain type of architect and architecture won’t suit much of the city. Yet, buildings still need to be repaired, sometimes need adapting to new uses, and occasionally need to be demolished when they can’t be retrofitted and made safe. It’s that old problem of how far should one go? How much is enough? This thing called repair encompasses many approaches. Up in Tokyo, architect Fuminori Nosaku believes in doing as little as possible.

Most of the repair and reuse projects above were from Japan and this wan’t just because of probable selection bias on my part. HIstorically, re-use and repair was culturally ingrained and, the resurgence of this idea of repairing and re-using old buildings seems most natural in Japan, as if it’s nothing to make a fuss about as we have been doing these past few years. The website of Shigenori Uoya Architects and Associates is sparse. Below is the splash page and the first and last time you’ll see any English. After that is a page with some information on Uoya (born in 1977, Kyoto University masters degree in 2003, etc.), the site index page, and the project list page. It’s rare to see a site index page include a description of work carried out. (1) Architectural design and supervision, (2) Regional and urban surveys, research, planning, and planning, (3) Outdoor environment design and supervision, (4) Indoor environment design and supervision (5) Furniture and other equipment planning and design and (6) Surveys, research, consulting, planning, maintenance, and all other ancillary work related to the above. The project list page is just that –a list of projects with no obvious links to further information and no description other than Name of Project, Type of Project, Location of Project and Date/Status of Project. The list of projects is an infinite scroll. I counted 150 projects in 22 years.

Of the 150, about 100 are in Kyoto, 40 are elsewhere in Japan, four in Hong Kong, one in Thailand and one in the US. This tells me that this architect has no need for marketing and publicity. I checked and there are only two of his projects on ArchDaily. He probably obtains new commissions by word-of-mouth, and is content to work in Kyoto but will accept commissions from other places if approached. I expect he’s happy doing what he does and, like Akio Yachida [c.f. Role Model] would be happy to do the same thing forever.

Uoya is a man of few words so I expect he was probably approached by TOTO to make the book SHIGENORI UOYA Architecture Works – Layering Time in the City. Each project has slightly more description (in both Japanese and English) and there are also half a dozen short essays interspersed. Images are of course descriptive but there are also plans, sections, site plans and diagrams, depending upon the project. Many of them are much smaller than we’re used to. It’s almost a reluctant book. All Uoya seems to want to do is show us how he’s been keeping himself busy in this city he clearly cares about a lot. The publication of this book won’t change Uoya’s life or work, but it might make us think about architecture as a type of urban maintenance somewhat akin to gardening or perhaps dentistry.

In the foreword, Uoya writes that he’s been mainly restoring Kyoto machiya for about 22 years, and that he wants “to create architecture like a living urban legacy that will be passed on to future generations by adding new relationships and layers.” The book is ordered chronologically, with separate sections for Kyoto, Japan and elsewhere. The first house is called House With Three Walls. It’s from 2007 and is an attempt to create a new housing model for Kyoto in the modern era – a huge ambition in itself without also trying to give new business to traditional industries. The difference between the front (omote) and the back (ura) of the house is a characteristic of the old city. The transition from buildings at the front to Nature at the back is something Uoya attempts create in his projects whether new build or renovation. Have a walk around the plan.

House in Kashira-cho is two rooms accessed from a covered outdoor corridor opening off an alleyway.

House in Nagakura-cho (2012) was on the verge of collapse.

Nagaya (row house) and Historic Alley With Containers in Kyoto is a 2020 project for a steel frame around and over a 100-year-old row house. The rooms are made from used shipping containers. The decision to use containers seems to result from the need to crane the structure into position. The front cover of the book has a photograph of this project. I think I know why. Although the materials aren’t historic, the scale of the building and the density of accommodation are. This idea of repairing old stuff isn’t just about the physical buildings that architects like to call the “fabric of the city”. Uoya doesn’t use terms like that.

The 2011 House in Mibuhigashinoki-cho is a conversion of what looks like it was once a shop, unpretty and unremarkable. After the conversion, the outside remains unassuming and I think this too is telling. Caring for a city means caring about all its buildings, not just the charming old ones. Uoya likes to create new sections inside buildings so they open up towards the Nature side. With this building, a grand staircase links the entire house to the garden. The bathroom is beneath the stair and opens onto the garden. There’s something very humane about all of Uoya’s projects.

This last project I’ll describe is the 2022 Kakkyoyama Common Center for Gion Festival. The Gion Festival is a 150-year old festival that, each year, was planned from this building. Road widening in 1907 caused about one hundred years of inconvenience as the middle building connecting the front with the storehouse behind was demolished. This project corrects that with a new central building linking the two. This website can tell you more about it. This project represents yet another approach – adding to two buildings to make them more than the sum of their parts. It makes no fetish of the new construction but nor does it hide it.

I could describe more projects, each of which can’t help being unique. Uoya has never had a problem with architecture. For 22 years now he’s been repairing old buildings, making new ones, making new buildings out of old buildings, and sometimes using old techniques to make new buildings. Many of the photographs in this post are from Uoya’s website, but accessed from this link http://www.uoya.info/ao/project/kashiracho.html I stumbled across when searching for images. I recommend you explore this link and, in doing so, explore some corners of Kyoto you might otherwise not know about. If you want to see some plans and some of Uoya’s masterful sections, you might have to buy the book.

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Shigenori Uoya
For caring,

misfits’ salutes you!

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1. The 3rd Misfits Triennal: Week 1 ↩︎
2. The 3rd Misfits Triennial: Week 2 ↩︎
3. The 3rd Misfits Triennial: Week 3 ↩︎