Future Talks 08 : Fuminori Nosaku

ZZ: Thank you very much for showing us around your exhibition today. To start, could you briefly introduce your studio and describe the main principles and values of your work?

FN: The keyword of our philosophy is "Urban Wild Ecology". We came up with this title when we started to work on our project Holes in the House, and what you can imagine under this title is something like weeds or grass in the cracks or gaps of asphalt as to us it shows the power of nature. This stands in contrast to other ecological approaches like, for example, political ecology, which is a top-down method from the government or big companies. It's a system where people just receive services and products, just by buying them, and the political system makes plans for them. However, urban wild ecology is against this political approach and can reach the bottom-up and bricolage approach, it means that we start projects by finding resources available around us, such as garbage, sand, water, and soil. Additionally, our concept is also influenced by different ideas, such as Deep Ecology established by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss. This is a kind of spiritual idea and a more fundamentalist approach. There is a difference between shallow-ecology, the most common type of ecological thinking, which is human-oriented and deep-ecology, which is more focused on nature.

ZZ: So, do you base your thinking on deep-ecology?

FN: Not really, our Urban Wild Ecology concept is different because it values the quality of human life, the quality of living. Also, the whole perspective, such as "Earth as a planet, is one living organism, interconnected living system" is quite strong and very complex to approach in the project. We always start projects from one part, and add and connect other elements. This is a kind of network thinking.

ZZ: I see, you are thinking about what are the closest connections and relations to one unit, and you build up, adding piece by piece and spreading the network.
How do you perceive the role of an architect in current and future society?

FN: At the exhibition, I explained the poster showing the network of things representing industrial society. We can see it has made a strong barrier around their industrial power through regulations and laws. This system is really strong, so the role of architects is to unravel the network and rewire, reconnect it, to make it softer. You know the Actor-Network Theory by Bruno Latour, the architect is not the ruler; the architect should be one of the actors.

ZZ: But if it is not an improvisation performance, actors are usually organized by the director, so who do you think is directing architects, then?

FN: Well, sometimes we are also directors. However, not always, because we are just one of the living people. One architect can't change the whole system. I think the important thing is to see the project from the inside, not from the outside, to be involved in the network and take various roles.

ZZ: Understood. Do you have any concerns about the future of your profession?

FN:​​ I am concerned about whether architects will be able to make their own business and earn money in the future through this profession. The current situation lacks motivation for students to become architects. Recently, the Japanese economy is getting worse, so there are not as many students who want to become architects compared to other countries. For example, in China, many students want to be architects because it is a big business. They have more opportunities to take on big projects like high-rise buildings compared to Japan, where high-rise buildings are a construction company business not involving many architects. Now, young architects are involved in very small projects like repairing vacant houses. This is also an important, meaningful task for society, but it is a small business with low budgets, this is very unbalanced.

ZZ: I see, especially if you have to live in the city, where life expenses are high.
How do you think about the future of architecture and the future of cities?

FN: In the future, we would like to have more uncovered soil in the city, because we realized the power of soil after breaking down our own parking lot made of concrete, in front of our house. Soil is the base of life, so we uncovered soil here in the city to grow vegetables and we allowed water to soak into the soil to purify it. It not only utilizes water for drinking but also, by evaporation from soil, it can make air cooler in the summer to solve the urban heat island effect, which in Tokyo is very severe. Also, it is beneficial to microorganisms living in the soil, as there are not only humans living in the city but also many other non-human lives. This concept comes from multi-species respect, as human health is very related to other species, especially microorganisms.

ZZ: So, you are making this concept real in your house as a pilot project. But can you imagine it would spread more in the city?

FN: Now, most of the roads and streets in Tokyo are covered by concrete and asphalt, but we can remove that surface and expose the soil to make a garden.

ZZ: Did you have any success in spreading this idea, maybe by inspiring your neighbours?

FN: Well, this is so difficult. I have researched urban agriculture and urban gardening in Paris, Berlin, and New York, they are already more advanced, and it works well there as it is self-initiated. It is very good practice for urban soil. However, community gardens in Tokyo are made by the public sector of the government. So, it is quite rigid compared to other countries.

ZZ: Can you imagine it could work in Japanese society?

FN: Yes, for example, elderly people like farming, and it has become popular to participate in agriculture. For example, in Tokyo, there is an open space in front of Shimokitazawa station. As there is a railway underground, it is prohibited to build buildings on this site. The local NPO initiated the project, and they made a garden in the public space with a compost station, herb gardens, and a small shop that is selling herbal tea.

ZZ: How do you perceive the importance of the architect's influence on the lives of ordinary city dwellers, and where does it lead you in your own work?
For example, when you replaced the parking lot with a garden in front of your house, it is a nice influence on the neighbourhood.

FN: To be honest, we have not had good communication with our neighbours yet. Some elderly people who notice our garden sometimes ask us, "What plants do you grow?" That's it (laugh). But for example, when people visit this exhibition, we get feedback that they have learned a lot about ecology from our architecture projects, about the soil environment, solar energy, or the use of rain water, but these are very basic things.

ZZ: So, it does not have the influence that your neighbours would ask you, "Can you also change our space into a garden? Or how could we make the area greener? (laugh)

FN: Japanese people are conservative, they tend not to change the society and community. That is different from Europe. People in Europe, I think, have the sense to maintain the community by themselves. On the other hand, people in Tokyo just receive the services.

ZZ: Are you originally from Tokyo?

FN: No, I am from Toyama.

ZZ: Do you have experience from a smaller city? Is it different?

FN: Smaller cities have stronger communities, but it is difficult in Tokyo, neighbours just keep their distance.

ZZ: Which social aspects do you find the most important for architects to think about?

FN: Our studio focuses on ecology, and it is very related to political and social aspects. After the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, many young architects realized the importance of community and focused on it. I agree with a community-oriented framework, but sometimes doubt it because it is for human society only. I am interested not only in humans but also in where the energy or materials on which the construction systems rely on come from. ​​That Fukushima event in particular destabilized society. It was little known that part of Tokyo's electricity was delivered from Fukushima. It means we were unaware of the source of that energy. When the nuclear accident occurred, the people of Tokyo were not affected by the accident, while the people of Fukushima were. This was an asymmetrical relationship and affected not only the power grid but also various networks. This situation is founded on an exploitation structure, that system exploits the people, energy, and materials, and how to correct it is a social issue. Architects could think about how to reconnect this network. The Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima disaster in 2011 has changed my thinking about architecture towards ecology as well.

ZZ: I see. Is it also about self-sufficiency? How would you spread this idea among society? Is it through education or exhibitions?

FN: Yes, I'm interested in off-grid systems, about self-sufficient energy, local materials, and so on. Of course, education is important, but the architect's role is making architecture, and I believe that architecture has a quite strong message to deliver to society.

ZZ: How does climate change influence your work?

FN: This is what my exhibition is all about (laugh). Soil environment, energy consumption, solar energy, material flow, and also the reduce, reuse, recycle, and regenerate concepts are all connected to our work. Urban areas are sometimes flooded by torrential rains. When this happens, utility tunnels fill up, and water in manholes suddenly sprays out. If there were more surfaces in the city where rainwater could soak in, if there were more open soil, water would slowly percolate into the ground, but roads made of asphalt in cities can easily and instantly accumulate rainwater in their tunnels. How to infiltrate water into the soil when infrastructure ceases to function is one of the major debates.

ZZ: How do you perceive the influence of the SDGs (Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN 2015) on Japanese architecture, and how do you reflect them in your work?

FN: The government has changed the policy on energy consumption, and they changed the building code to require more thermal insulation in new construction as an outcome of SDGs. However, many architects do not actually like SDGs (laugh). Sustainability or SDGs are an outcome of capitalism, it is directly related to the consumption system. A young Japanese philosopher, Kohei Saito, published a book called "Capital in the Anthropocene" (2020), which criticized sustainability under capitalism.

ZZ: Yes, when talking about sustainability, we first have to think about what to sustain and what to get rid of, because this consumer way of life is not sustainable at all. Actually, when we use the term sustainability, we think that automatically it is about ecology. However, you show us that there could be a very different perception of sustainability and SDGs.

FN: Normally, many Japanese people believe that SDGs are a very good thing. However, many architects and philosophers believe that SDGs are made to sustain capitalism.

HK: SDGs allergy may be instilled in them. Big companies or developers often use the SDGs for PR, and small design offices seem to have an aversion to it.

FN: I agree with their concept, but the method of big companies or developers and the outputs are just superficial. They are only working to make a good match between corporate money and the SDGs. In my opinion, many people do not agree with that kind of trend.

ZZ: Do you see the Japanese public debate on the sustainability and adaptability of cities as sufficient and fruitful?

FN: I would say that my answer would be almost the same as for SDGs.

ZZ: How do you perceive the role of public space in contemporary Japanese cities? Do you use methods of participation/communication with the public or the local community in your work?

FN: Well, in my studio, we do not have experience with that kind of community projects because we do not focus on only the human community, as I told you before.

ZZ: As we are short of time, let’s go to the last question. What would you recommend to the upcoming generation of architects, students of architecture, what topics should they focus their attention on?

FN: For example, construction costs are increasing due to labour shortage. So, a DIY approach is becoming more important for the low-cost approach. It is an ecological topic now, but I think that will become the norm in the future. Therefore, I hope that a new and different movement will be created. As you see, the Ukraine war or Palestine war, I think the world has become more severe and unstable. When people become poor, such as a result of decreasing food or energy production, the younger generation will have to face and think about how to contribute as an architect to such a severe society.

ZZ: Thank you very much for all your viewpoints and interesting ideas!