Hiroshi Hara: Trials and Triumphs of Modal Architecture
An expository essay of Hiroshi Hara’s architectural works and discourse
By Lim Si Yi (A0157956L)AR5951G Japanese Houses: Discourses and Works
Tutor: Tsuto Sakamoto
Contents of Essay
Introduction
Modality in Contemporary Architecture
Reflection Houses: Embodied Theories and Ideas
Hara House: Valley, Kuu and the Beginnings of Modality
Continuity in Later Representative Works
Trials and Triumphs: Semiotics and “Death of the Author”
Introduction
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Japan of the 1960s to 1970s was marked by the obliteration of past objects, systems and beliefs as well as the frantic search for new ones to live by. Although Japan had previously encountered a degree of transformation in the later half of the 19th century when it first opened its doors to Western society and civilization (Watanabe, 2001) In response, Architects turned to the megastructures of Metabolism and Universal Spaces of Modern ism as elusive means to control a chaotic urban fabric.
It is in this socio-political climate and architectural discourse that Hiroshi Hara has resisted association with both Modernism and Metabolism. Perhaps reflective of his sentiments towards both movements, Hara criticizes the ‘top-down’ ideology of homogenous space where the whole is considered before its constituent parts as pursuing an equally homogenous society
oppressive and intolerant of individuality (Hara, Yukotai Theory, 1993). In contrast, Hara advocates for the opposing – a society which enables the individual and appreciates intersubjectivity through design that sanctions diversity and conflict (ibid).
Hara’s sentiments and aspirations for society and architecture is conveyed in his focused works that strive to “describe the workings of human consciousness in architecture” (Stewart, 1993) Hara’s works embody his ideologies and theories such as his Yukotai Theory, Reflection and Inversion as well as references to iconography found in nature such as the sky or clouds and valley – tools Hara uses to push the boundaries and possibilities of his architecture. By close examination of selected works, this essay will argue for the specific significance of Hara’s series of Reflection Houses as a vital body of work to begin investigating and examining his core theories and methodologies that essential to his conceiving of modalities in architecture.
Modality in Contemporary Architecture
Hara defines and aligns his work with contemporary architecture, which is concerned with modality, consciousness and electronics as opposed to function, physical body and machinery of modern architecture (fig. 1) (Hara, From Function to Modality, 1993) Here, Modality, in opposition to Functionalism, is positioned as a comparatively appropriate pursuit or ideology in contemporary architecture which pursues intangible subjects such as metaphysical and psychological phenomena in an ever-changing urban environment (ibid).
Drawing closely from the philosophies of Aristotle and Kant, Hara defines modality as a “certain potentiality or possibility of form” contingent not merely on the exploration of change but subjective experiences and hence, the ‘consciousness’ of the on-looker (ibid). The ‘consciousness’ Hara speaks of recalls his Japanese roots, drawing from Buddhism’s Kuu or Zero (Hara, Hara House, 1993) – rooted in themes of mortality and existence in emptiness or the ‘non-real’ (Yamash'ta, 2018) – as well as referencing natural phenomena such as clouds and mirage (Stewart, 1993).
Architecturally, Hara expresses modality through ‘spatial ambiguity’ or ‘ambiguous boundaries’, a phenomena experienced when real spatial instinct is overlapped with or compounded by an associated memory (Hara, From Function to Modality, 1993), producing an obscure, transcribed image that imbues the on-looker with doubt thus bestowing physical space with potential (ibid). For Hara, this idea of a ‘multi-layered structure’ draws from archetypes such as villages, traditional Japanese houses and are found in landscapes or sceneries (Suzuki, 2017) and is apt in conveying the “scenic schemes” of our memories and nostalgia (ibid). The use of multi-layering or ‘reflection overlay’ to express consciousness is visually expressed in Hara’s 1984 installation, “Modal Space of Consciousness” or “Shadow Robot” (fig. 2). In his Tasaki Museum of Art (1983), Hara expresses this spatially through
introducing the iconography of clouds and zig zag forms (fig. 3 & 4) recalling natural landforms in roofs, plans, as well as etching to layer non-real and real, tangible space, producing ‘boundary obscurity’. These ideas and gestures have strongly influenced and characterized many of Hara’s representative works but, perhaps, begin to be comprehensively investigated and amalgamated in his series of Reflection Houses.
Reflection Houses: Embodied Theories and Ideas
As a body of work, Hara’s Reflection Houses mark the intersection and culmination of his Yukotai Theory of apertures, architectural processes of Reflection and Inversion as well as multi-layering, ‘embedding a city’ and the use of iconography or motifs – architectural ideas and gestures that underpin and convey the ‘consciousness’ or ‘modality’ Hara pursues and refines in his later representative works such as the JR Kyoto Station Reconstruction Competition.
To begin dissecting Hara’s layered architectural ideology, it is perhaps most appropriate to begin with the core of his philosophy, his own Yukotai Theory (1968) Hara’s stance on architecture and society as well as understanding of space is chiefly conveyed by his personal theory which outlines the creation of bottom-up architecture or ‘Yukotai units’ via the use of ‘spatial control devices’ of apertures (Hara, Yukotai Theory, 1993). It denotes an internal space as originally a ‘closed domain’ with a ‘covering’ – dead (Hara, Concept of a Window, 2013) until apertures are made to introduce and manipulate ‘operational factors’ from the external environment such as light, air and people (fig. 5, 6 & 7) (Hara, Yukotai Theory, 1993).
This theory is furthered by Hara in his series of Reflection Houses which not only embody a single three-dimensional aperture themselves (as opposed to the two-dimensional apertures previously explored under the same theory) (Hara, Awazu House, 1993), compounded by the architectural gestures of reflection and inversion to explore the subversion
of our presumptions external and internal space. Architecturally, the geometrical transposition of reflection is chiefly exhibited in the plans of each Reflection House along an internal axis of symmetry which, in section, coincides with descending internal topography or egress (fig. 8, 9, 10 & 11) – Hara’s architectural gesture of a ‘valley’ (ibid) – one of his representative architectural ideas pioneered by the Reflection Houses and which persevere in his later representative urban projects. It is in these same cores that Hara implants gestures or objects evoking an urban street, such as intersections and landmarks (fig. 12). Although their urban scale is unfathomable in the confines of a house, these references or motifs stand as semiological, rather than physical, devices (Yatsuka, 1998) to execute another pertinent idea that continues to affect his works: ‘embedding the city in a house’ (Hara, Awazu House, 1993).
Illuminated by skylights and clerestory windows, often amplified by internal finishing of white paint or reflective metal, these ‘inner cores’ stand as the public domain and identity of each Reflection House (Hara, Awazu House, 1993) Reflection, symmetry and the usage and repetition of select formal language in each house – a wave in Niramu House and clouds or sides of a valley in Hara House – also grant these central core spaces a sense of autonomy (Watanabe, Niramu House, 1991), due to their stark contrast from urban landscape of which their muted exteriors of these houses (fig. 13), finished in black paint, conform to (ibid). The seemingly neglected exteriors, however, are a feigned indifference towards the urban context; the intention to neglect reveals, instead, a true concern or articulated position of the house in an urban environment (Yatsuka, 1998). In Hiroshi Watanabe’s anecdote he describes his descent into the core of Niramu House as possessing a “ritual(istic) quality” aided by “repetitive unfolding of spaces and axial symmetry… into a dreamlike and disquieting space where we are given a glimpse of our true isolation and mortality” in contrast to the “safe and mundane” outside world of which “ we have learned not to regard with too much complacency” (Watanabe, Niramu House, 1991).
Hara House: Valley, Kuu and the Beginnings of Modality
Although Hara’s personal residence, Hara House, largely follows the key characteristics of the Reflection Houses, it pioneers the architectural idea of a ‘second roof’ (fig. 16 & 17) and the motif of the sky or clouds, both carrying strong influence and, which permeate Hara’s future representative works. The articulation of a core by halation is furthered in Hara House via the use of a ‘second roof’ whereby internal rooms are cleaved from the overarching roof and skylight and each possess their own roofs, thereby further amplifying the any illumination. Moreover, the skylight and individual roofs both borrow the language of a cylinder or quadrant, which Hara admits to employing as a means to embed a ‘valley’ in his residence (fig. 14) (Hara, Hara House, 1993). While the iconography of a valley conjuring a natural mode harkens intimately to Hara’s childhood in Nagano (Hara, Hiroshi Hara in Conversation with Thomas Daniell, 2015), it is similarly witnessed or experienced by visitors of the Hara House. In his book ‘Amazing Architecture from Japan’, Hiroshi Watanabe describes “acrylic forms cascading down either side…(of the Hara House.) These frozen cataracts or outcroppings – for they recall natural forms – create a narrow chasm down which one descends… One has a feeling… of having stumbled upon a space-age catacomb lined with caskets”.
The reverence and recalling of natural modes in Hara’s Reflection Houses without the use of explicitly natural objects may be accredited to his application of Yukotai Theory, removing sensorial connection to the outside world except for light or the sky which, in contrast, strongly characterizes and changes the core spaces. This is, too, captured in Watanabe’s anecdote: “Having lost out normal visual and acoustical bearings, we go where the building takes us. The only report we get form the outside world is the sky overhead, which begets the feeling of extreme vulnerability” (fig. 17) (Watanabe, Niramu House, 1991) While Hara only specifically references Buddhism’s Kuu or Zero in the Hara House (Hara, Hara
House, 1993) which followed the passing of his father, the presence of light or the sky in his Reflection Houses as well as later representative works such as his JR Kyoto Station Reconstruction Competition may similarly reference the same idea, which carries themes of ‘consciousness’ and enlightenment in the ‘non-real’, ‘emptiness’ or ‘void’ (Yamash'ta, 2018) and is symbolized or associated with the open sky representing freedom and openness.
To condense Hara’s series of Reflection Houses as an introverted response to the context of a degenerate urban landscape may be helpful in understanding architectural discourse in Japan’s post-war reconstruction but remains insufficient in representing their importance as a body of work which amalgamates Hara’s complex compilation of sentiments, theories, memories and aspirations for architecture that have continued to mark his representative works. When viewed in isolation, it may be hard to tolerate discourse beyond their aggressive formal distinction and hence, tempting to reduce them as mere acts of egocentricity cloaked by the veil of an architectural exploration of ‘existence’ and ‘consciousness’.
Continuity in Later Representative Works
The refinement and triumphs of Hara’s seemingly convoluted ideas are comparatively easier to recognize in his larger, urban works that succeed the Reflection Houses, which further develop the same ideas albeit in varying architectural scales and gestures. In his Tasaki Museum of Art, the interior spaces and exterior façade are no longer starkly contrasted and opposite as characteristic of the Reflection Houses. Here, the cloud-shaped ‘second roofs’ of Hara House resonate from the interior plans and trimmings (fig. 20) through to the exterior where they overtake the roof forms entirely (fig. 19) (Hara, Tasaki Museum of Art, 1993)
Natural landforms are evoked, too, in the building’s interior through a zigzag motif expressed in plan and etched or trimmed into metal sheets which recall the layered glass panels of Hara’s
Modal Space of Consciousness (1984) and act almost like a literal stencil, framing and layering views (fig. 4) (ibid). Here, Hara’s iconography resonates between interior and exterior, allowing the building to oscillate between the domains of artificial and natural forms or modes. The obscuring of boundaries is aided by the materiality of the building such as its use of reflective metal sheets on the cloud-shaped roofs and extensive use of glass that do not merely reflect or connect but transcribes the building and its surrounding natural landscape (fig. 19 & 20). While the Reflection Houses were unable to do so, the Tasaki Museum of Art advances Hara’s pursuit of modality in architecture visually through the layering actual and reflected or projected views, reproducing images of natural modes within artificial architecture (ibid) .
As the scale of his architectural works increases, Hara also begins to forgo the geometrical transposition of reflection and its resulting symmetry synonymous with the Reflection Houses in appropriate consideration of the urban context and, perhaps too, to physically express an organic quality characteristic of natural forms or indigenous architecture that has long interested Hara (Watanabe, Yamato Internati onal, 1991) Inspired by the everchanging and collage-like qualities of the urban environment and natural modalities (Hara, Yamato International, 1993), the exterior faced of Hara’s Yamato International reads like a moving mosaic of pieces, conjuring the image of a mountain or a large, moving cloud “(rising) above the Tokyo landscape” (fig. 21) (Watanabe, Yamato International, 1991) Internally, the building is broken into smaller offices, warehouses and showrooms with, due to the façade, unique conditions further embodying Hara’s vision of embedding the city in architecture (Hara, Yamato International, 1993). Here, the cloud-shaped roofs of Tasaki Museum of Art are embodied by the entire building itself; through iconography and materiality, Hara retains in an otherwise heavy building the “amorphous, ephemeral qualities of cloud-like phenomena”
(Watanabe, Yamato International, 1991). While Hara’s architectural works may distinguish themselves by the use of non-conventional and ardent iconography, they display an equally
meticulous effort in respecting and responding to their surrounding environment, urban or natural. This conscientiousness is simply and pertinently expressed in Hara’s Wallpapers (2014) (fig. 22) and architectural sketches such as that of his Umeda Interconnected-Skyscraper (fig. 23) where Hara often invades architectural forms with the sky or clouds.
Lastly, while Hara daringly explores various methods and gestures in his pursuit of a modal architecture, his commitment to furthering his vision of architecture reflected in the endurance of his theories and ideas, albeit through a variety of resultant forms. Hara’s JR Kyoto Station Reconstruction Competition winning proposal is appropriately representative due to its success which reflects Hara’s triumphant and sophisticated attempt at preserving and articulating his theories and ideas at various architectural scales. The architectural idea of a ‘valley’ is retained in the station’s topography (fig. 24) (Hara, JR Kyoto Station Reconstruction Competition, 1993) and contributing to the function of wayfinding. The extensive framesupported glass canopy of the concourse recalls the skylights of his Reflection Houses albeit without the presence of Hara’s emblematic iconography The concourse underneath possesses a similar ephemerality to the cores of the houses through the articulation of the flows of people and light. The controlled choreography of light and people in the station harkens, as well, to his chief Yukotai Theory of apertures for the creation of a live space (Hara, Yukotai Theory, 1993) Hara’s continued discretion in using a glass canopy to produce modality in the station through the transcription of images of the sky is articulated in his perspective drawings of the station (fig. 25).
Thus, through the above dissection and tracing of ideas and gestures in Hara’s works, this essay asserts that the Reflection Houses are a vital body of work in comprehending Hara’s complex and layered architecture. While they may appear superficial and unnecessarily egocentric in formal language, deeper study and relation with Hara’s now representative urban
works reveal the substantial interweaving of Hara’s various sentiments and methodologies that form the core of his works.
Trials and Triumphs: Semiotics and ‘Death of the Author’
Hara’s architectural works make references a multitude of themes and ideas which are, themselves, often complicated and requiring substantial knowledge in culture and religion, philosophy, architecture and perhaps linguistics. Architecturally, these subjects are embodied and communicated through a multitude of gestures both extravagant and sublime, if not overwhelming at times; Hara’s architecture as a body of discourses and focused exploration of his ideas read as rich and thorough yet it is difficult to appreciate his triumphs without being in possession of a large body of prerequisite knowledge of the subjects at their core. As such, there is an expectation of the layman, left to his activated or isolated senses, to experience Hara’s ‘modalities’ almost primitively – such as Hiroshi Watanabe’s anecdotes of Hara’s Reflection Houses (Watanabe, Niramu House, 1991) – or to be deprived of these modal possibilities completely, if one lacks instinct or training to admire the spatial qualities in the Hara’s spaces.
In fact, Hara’s use of explicit, almost caricature-like, iconography or motifs in his works such as in his Reflection Houses and Tasaki Museum of Art may very well betray Hara’s own resonance with the frustrating elusiveness and intangibility of our memories, imagination and modalities. Thus, while Hara desires to achieve a communicative or self-explicative architecture (Hara, From Function to Modality, 1993), his aspiration to conjure ephemeral and metaphysical phenomena are, ironically, limited through the physical gesture of architecture as well as almost literal replications of non-real sceneries or objects.
To better understand the motives, limitations and triumphs of Hara’s modal architecture, we may refer to Umberto Eco’s framework of Semiotics in architecture which
discusses the possibility of architecture as signs that convey primary – denoted – and secondary
connotated
functions (Eco, 1997) Hara’s body of architectural works and seemingly superficial gestures may be appreciated for Hara’s ambition to encode modes through references to culture, religion and natural phenomena, reflecting his understanding of architecture’s capacity to act as signs with secondary connotative functions of communicating cultural, symbolic and historical meaning – no doubt as equally valued as their primary functions to convey their use (ibid). In fact, Hara’s manipulation of architectural components and gestures to reference metaphysical subjects beyond architecture may reflect his mastery of both, for the communication of the latter are contingent on the successful communication of the former (ibid).
However, regardless of Hara’s mastery of architectural and non-architectural disciplines, the modality he strives to communicate in his architecture is contingent on ‘connotative lexicon(s)’ (ibid) that may be altered and transcribed over each other time and carry varying symbolisms and interpretations in different cultures and religions (ibid); Precisely due to its allowance and dependence on subjectivity and individuality (Hara, From Function to Modality, 1993), Hara’s modal architecture is at risk of eluding or being misinterpreted by its users once it is realized and inhabited (Eco, 1997); As Roland Barthes writes in ‘The Death of the Author’, “writing begins (when) the author enters his own death” (Suzuki, 2017).
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Figure 3 Photograph of Courtyard through glazing from Tasaki Museum of Art by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993.A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 109
Figure 4 Photograph of Entrance hall of Tasaki Museum of Art by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 109
Figure 5 Sketch of a Yukotai Unit from "Yukotai Theory 1968" by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 32
Figure 6 Diagram of Yukotai Theory in Keisho Kindergarten from "Yukotai Theory 1968" by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 33
Figure 7 Sketch of Yukotai Units from "Yukotai Theory 1968" by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 32
Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 42
Hara,
Figure 12
View toward GA Architect
Figure 13 West view of Niramu House from "Niramu House" by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 53
, 1993, EDITA, Tokyo, pg
Figure 17 Octagonal skylight of Niramu House from "Niramu House" by Hiroshi Watanabe, Amazing Architecture of Japan, 1991, Weatherhill Inc., London, pg 36
Figure 18 Floor plans of Tasaki Museum of Art from "Tasaki Museum of Art" by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 104
Figure 19 Southeast View of Tasaki Museum of Art from "Tasaki Museum of Art" by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993 A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 105
Figure 20 Lobby of Tasaki Museum of Art from "Tasaki Museum of Art" by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 113
Figure 21 Facade of Yamato International from "Yamato International" by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 135
Figure 22 Hara, Hiroshi. (2014) Wallpapers (painting). Ichihara Lakeside Museum. http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2014/28C9.en
Figure 23 Hara, Hiroshi. (1993) Sketch of Mid-Air City, Umeda Sky Building https://sketchuniverse.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/by-hara-hiroshi-mid-air -city-sketch-umeda-sky-buildingkita-ku-osaka.jpg
Figure 24 Axonometric: concept of JR Kyoto Station Reconstruction Competition proposal by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 233
Figure 25 Perspective drawings of JR Kyoto Station Reconstruction Competition proposal by Hiroshi Hara, GA Architect 13: Hiroshi Hara, 1993, A.D.A. EDITA, Tokyo, pg 233
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