'some ideas on living in london and tokyo by stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa' at the canadian centre of architecture.............................................................................



some ideas on living...
in london and tokyo by stephen taylor
and ryue nishizawa

may 14, 2008 - october 26, 2008
the canadian centre of architecture, montréal, canada
http://www.cca.qc.ca
exhibition website
http://someideasonliving.org

the first north american exhibition of residential projects
by architects stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa is taking
place at montréal's canadian centre for architecture.
the exhibition highlights the innovative approach both
architects bring to the design of housing in their
respective cities; taylor in london and nishizawa in
tokyo. 'some ideas on living...' is curated by CCA
curator for contemporary architecture giovanna borasi
who worked in close collaboration with the two
architects to realize the exhibition.

'some ideas on living...' fills six galleries at the canadian
centre for architecture, divided between the two
architects. the adjacent rooms are open to one another
and contain one architectural project each, displayed
using a variety of mediums and original display furniture
by the architects. specially built large-scale models of
each residence are the centre piece of the displays,
accompanied by drawings, renderings and photographic
prints of the projects. this arrangement is intended to
establish a connection between the two architects and
their projects, which helps to identify differences
and similarities.

the exhibition not only highlights the work of the two
architects but also their respective cities and cultures.
tokyo and london are two cities rich in history and
contemporary importance. they are both dense
urban areas of a similar scale and complexity.
as they deal with growth related issues, london and
tokyo are redefining living in an urban environment.
the work of nishizawa and taylor highlights the evolution
each city is currently undergoing as they aim to find
a new identity for the 21st century. using architecture
as a basis, larger cultural perspectives on the idea of
home, privacy, community and other themes can be
extrapolated from the exhibit. the origins of these
emerging ideas serves to highlight the differences
between the two cultures and also underlines the
similarities between all people. overall 'some ideas
on living..' provide us with just that, some ideas on
living, no absolutes. the exhibit underlines the fact
that the idea of home is different for every individual,
and will continue to be.

ryue nishizawa
three of nishizawa's tokyo houses are shown in the
exhibit; 'moriyama house', 'house a' and the unbuilt
'garden and house'. these works help illustrate the
japanese architect's philosophy of living that has a
distinct japanese basis while challenging his culture's
conventions. nishizawa's residences demonstrate his
desire to bring the city into the home, by connecting
the inside and outside and designing the home like a
community.

'moriyama house' is multi-building residence that was
completed in 2005. the house has 10 separate buildings
that are used as a main residence, maid's quarters and
4 rental units of various sizes. although the lot is 290m
square, the buildings cover less than half of the space.
nishizawa managed to spread 263m square of living
space across the 10 buildings which range from 1 to 3
stories high. the buildings are all prefabricated and use
steel plating to make the walls as thin as possible,
maximizing the interior space. in between the buildings
are small gardens and pathways that connect the
different structures. the buildings and pathways are all
open to the street making them public property as
much as private. the various tenants use the common
spaces in between the buildings to interact,
demonstrating the building's community like design.

'house a' is another nishizawa residence which takes
a slightly more conventional approach to living.
the process of designing this building began from the
inside and worked its way out. the arrangement of the
interior rooms dictated the final design and the exterior.
it is a good demonstration of nishizawa's method of
creating interiors informed by the organization of cities.
the house evolved from the sum of its parts;
a microcosm of the city.

stephen taylor
the exhibit features two housing units by stephen taylor
architects in london's east end and an urban planning
project of mixed housing typologies in rainham village.
the diverse nature of the the architect's work is well
represented by the project's on show. his work aims
to create a relationship between the home and the
street, defining a place in the public realm while
maintaining its role as a private residence.

'house on charlotte road' is a multi-use building which
combines a ground floor and basement commercial
space with a private residence above. the residence
covers two floors and features a rooftop terrace
overlooking the neighboring buildings. the exterior is
clad in a dark coloured brick accented with a gold
entry door, while the interior is mostly covered in
natural wood.

'three small houses on chance street' is an example
of taylor's mutli-resident dwellings and a winner of the
2007 RIBA award. the three unit building was
constructed on an infill site where a single story shed
once stood. the studio was commissioned to bring
residential property to the busy street, contributing to
the area's intensification plans. the building is influenced
by the small 18th century housing typology previously
used in the area. each unit has a small courtyard
which provides outdoor space and connects the interior
to the outside through large folding windows.
the kitchen and main living areas were placed on the
top floor to take advantage of the natural light.
the bedrooms and tertiary rooms were placed on the
lower levels for flexibility.






biography
------------------------------------------------------------------


stephen taylor

stephen taylor graduated from the royal college of art
in 1987 with a masters of arts and architecture.
he worked at a number of prestigious firms from 1985
to 1992, including richard rogers partnership,
stanton williams, jermey dixon, allies and morrison,
as well as richard reid architects. he was the founder
of stephen taylor architects and was previously one
of the founding partners at houlton taylor architects.
as director of stephen taylor architects, he has
realized both commercial and private projects in
england and throughout europe. he is also a consultant
to the london development agency on their design
advisors panel.

http://www.stephentaylorarchitects.co.uk


ryue nishizawa

ryue nishizawa was born in the kanagawa prefecture
of tokyo in 1966. he studied architecture at yokohama
national university, graduating with a masters degree
in 1990. that same year he joined kazuyo sejima &
associates. in 1995 nishizawa founded SANAA with
kazuyo sejima, where he remains a partner. he has
also maintained a parallel independent practice since
1997. he has been a visiting professor at a number
of schools including, harvard graduate school of
design, princeton university and yokohama national
university. SANAA and ryue nishizawa have both
completed a number of high profile, critically acclaimed
projects in japan and abroad.

http://www.ryuenishizawa.com







'moriyama house' (tokyo, japan) by ryue nishizawa, 2005 (photograph: takashi homma)
© takashi homma




'moriyama house' (tokyo, japan) by ryue nishizawa, 2005 (photograph: takashi homma)
© takashi homma




'some ideas on living in london and tokyo by stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa' installation view at the CCA showing work by ryue nishizawa (photograph: michel legendre)
© CCA, montréal.




'some ideas on living in london and tokyo by stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa' installation view at the CCA with ryue nishizawa (photograph: michel boulet)
© CCA, montréal.




'some ideas on living in london and tokyo by stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa' installation view at the CCA showing work by ryue nishizawa (photograph: michel legendre)
© CCA, montréal.




'house a' (tokyo, japan) by ryue nishizawa, 2006 (photograph: takashi homma)
© takashi homma




'house a' (tokyo, japan) by ryue nishizawa, 2006 (photograph: ken’ichi suzuki)
© ken’ichi suzuki




'house a' (tokyo, japan) by ryue nishizawa, 2006 (photograph: hisao suzuki)
© hisao suzuki




'some ideas on living in london and tokyo by stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa' installation view at the CCA showing work by stephen taylor (photograph: michel legendre)
© CCA, montréal.




'some ideas on living in london and tokyo by stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa' installation view at the CCA with stephen taylor (photograph: michel boulet)
© CCA, montréal.




'house on charlotte road' (london, england) by stephen taylor, 2008 (photograph: david grandorge)
© david grandorge




'some ideas on living in london and tokyo by stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa' installation view at the CCA showing work by stephen taylor (photograph: michel legendre)
© CCA, montréal.




'some ideas on living in london and tokyo by stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa' installation view at the CCA showing work by stephen taylor (photograph: michel legendre)
© CCA, montréal.




'house on charlotte road' (london, england) by stephen taylor, 2008 (photograph: david grandorge)
© david grandorge




'house on charlotte road' (london, england) by stephen taylor, 2008 (photograph: david grandorge)
© david grandorge




'house on charlotte road' (london, england) by stephen taylor, 2008 (photograph: simon lewis)
© simon lewis





'some ideas on living in london and tokyo by stephen taylor and ryue nishizawa' installation view at the CCA showing work by stephen taylor (photograph: michel legendre)
© CCA, montréal.




'three small houses on chance street' (london, england) by stephen taylor, 2007 (photograph: ioana marinescu)
© ioana marinescu











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