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Favorite architect, still alive and teaching in Kyoto. His buildings are all formally bizarre in terms of structure and ratio and there’s a theory that him and other Japanese architects of his generation purposefully do not adhere to western architectural proportions and aesthetic ideals as a silent protest against the west because of the war and the nuclear fallout that many of them endured as children. He is also a terrific fiction writer. I’ve been trying to get him to write for the magazine for some time now. Apparently he used to beat his employees with a T-ruler.
May 10, 2023
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Ishigami is one of my favorite architects and I recommend you check him out. I love these conceptual drawings he makes using plants define the architectural space. Two of my favorite buildings of his are the Kanagawa Institute of Technology Plaza and Workshop.
I think about the workshop a lot. Columns of varying sizes scatter through the open space on seemingly random points, inspired by constellations. Because the columns are stark white, from the pictures I've seen, it reads as a redactive collage where these thin bars remove parts of the image. The columns define spaces in the otherwise wall-less structure. The plaza similarly carves out spaces, but by using light and undulating surfaces.
Jun 29, 2024
Jan 5, 2025
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great essay on the importance of shadows as well as the importance of preserving Japanese aestheticism in the wake of American imperialist influence
really puts things into perspective re: how we can conceptualize light + darkness as well as the practicality of darkness in rooms
Mar 27, 2024
Top Recs from @patrick-mcgraw
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This is probably less of a choice and more of a personality defect. It’s ultimately an alienating and soul crushing way to live your life. But there is no way to be successful without being highly critical, at least as an editor. The danger is when you turn it on yourself and people you are close to (inevitable). In a culture where we’re sold blind positivity (profit motive), it's important to stay critical, to stay on your toes. As an editor this is most important. But it’s also important to be an “A-type” thinker instead of a “B-type” thinker: you have to offer ways to improve what it is you’re criticizing, and not just be critical for the sake of criticizing.
May 10, 2023
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Network spirituality etc etc etc. One of the only books I have ever read twice.
May 10, 2023
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A near perfect vampire anime that I was turned on to by my emo Latino friends in Orange County (California) as a teen. It was originally drawn as a hentai manga by the Rubenesque Kouta Hirano, who eventually replaced the sex with extreme violence and sold it as a show. I bought a bootleg Hellsing shirt in London a few years ago and was stabbed the first night I wore it out. The shirt is still covered in dried blood on the sides. I wore it for the first time in years a couple of weeks ago.
May 10, 2023