Between October and December 2010 Krijn Christiaansen and Cathelijne Montens (KCCM) searched, through many walks and bicycle-rides along the expressways, train tracks and bus lines in Tokyo, for hidden myths and stories that connect people to the infrastructure of Tokyo. This website shows a selection of these stories.  Some of these stories are presented as such; others are the starting point for design proposals that are translated in scenarios and miniature conversation pieces (scale models).

Working method

The above-presented scheme is used as a matrix to categorize the different observations that we encountered during our walks. The categories on the horizontal axis of the scheme relate to the human behavior to Tokyo’s infrastructure. The categories on the vertical axis of the scheme show the behavior (improvisation techniques) of the build environment to the constant change of Tokyos infrastructure.

By crossing the horizontal and vertical axis of these categories we could develop and describe, in an abstract manner, scenarios of the relation between Tokyo citizens and their daily used infrastructure. The lingo used in this scheme is derived from different books that we studied, exhibitions that we visited and our daily adventures.  A selected text illustrates each category in this chapter of the website.

Scenarios

We translated the different scenarios and design proposals into miniature models build inside bento boxes. We used the models as a ‘conversation pieces’ to start a conversation about our scenarios with people on the streets of Tokyo. Some of these conversations are also part of this website.

Credits 

This project has been made possible by the generous support of the Mondriaan Fund, The Netherlands. And with great help by Take Hirakawa and Yuriko Nakayama for their feedback and translations.

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