Hiraenoki

So an observation I made abt the site is how the landscape is ever

changing however the architecture is rly static.
Whether it is marked out n acknowledged as a flood zone, landslide
zone, high risk area, the houses r just there in their plots
unchangingunmoving, n instead so much effort is being put into concretising
the landslide prone slopes etc. / it made me think about how we could
possibly rethink the locality, typology of the house, that is responsive to
the changing landscape.

There was a comment abt how they wanted to know how the people in
the past dealt w all these natural disaster.
Which reminded me of this map of the meanders of the Mississippi
River, mapping out the course of the Mississippi River and how it has
changed over thousands of years. And it is said that the aboriginals
never thought of the changing river course as a problem, they simply
relocated as the river morphed. As opposed to what would prob be the
current modern approach — to concretise the river course.
Hence I wanted to look into the architecture of hiraenoki, and more
specifically the houses of hiraenoki.

From a reading by Tisseron, he mentions that “the destruction of the

house (or rather the home) creates a specific mental intrusion that
causes trauma, as the home represents the future of a familial kind”. —
the house also has a special significance to the people, their trauma n
recovery w relation to the disaster.

Hence the 3 aspects I would like to explore in my project about the

house is:
1. The significance of the home
2. Order in disorder
3. The house as an organism

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1. The significance of the home

The significance of the house lies not in the objects but the act involved
with the objects. E.g. it is not the window that is significant but the act of
looking out of the window/ the door - the entering / the roof / the
sheltering, etc.

So I started to distill out the different parts and elements of the house
(the Japanese house specifically) n tried to understand the action related
to each element:
And then further categorised what is the significant parts n elements for
each user group:

This hence helps to distinguish the core parts of the house that is made
most protected n permanent ,from the secondary parts of the house, that
r less permanent n forms a layer of protection for the core.

I tried to put myself in the shoes of the victims to understand the

significance n necessities of the house in a certain timescale of what is
needed during survival, the next in line for reconstruction, n the elements
involved w the memories/dreams and identity of the inhabitants:
<<COMMERCIAL BREAK:>>
• I don’t rly know how to continue from here I have problems translating
to architecture * * my problem w translating to architecture is that I don’t
know how to arrange these elements n parts n pair that up w the
landscape contouring*
• So tsuto suggested to combine my cardboard massing model w the
clay contouring landscape model (the hills n potholes) (as shown in the
next chapter)— like to create a contoured landscape below (not
necessarily just soil but could b concrete construction etc) paired w the
wooden construction on upper floors.. but I have troubles trying to make
sense of where I should then locate my hills/potholes n how I should
then pair it up w the architectural elements above.
• I see my task as such: (altho m open to other ways of looking at it
because I also received comments that perhaps I’m looking at the
contours n the house architecture as two separate things to come tgt
when I should blur the lines more..)

... help I need some inspiration or order to tackling this ...

<<END OF COMMERCIAL BREAK >>

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2. Order in disorder

To understand the forces of water / landslide, I made these 2 models:

What I learnt is:
(Left model):the effect of hills in diverting water, the way water runs
around concave vs convex hills, potholes in collecting sediments, n also
the bridging effect of debris.
(Right model): poured water down the model to simulate the flowing of
water downhill n landslides - which can be strategically diverted. As
opposed to the bottom half of the model which i slowly submerged in
water to simulate the vertical rise of the flooding river, which shows that
water just flows everywhere regardless n the best strategy against that is
verticality.

With that,

I made this sketch model of a house, where it is oriented 45deg to the

direction of water and the outer layer of rooms prioritising the element of
the wall serves to redirect water creating a water-shadow area to protect
the core of the house.
The rooms down south (closer the the rivers flood plains prioritises
verticality hence double height blocks.
And other features: Top right wall w metal frame to block driftwood
flowing down. N TOP left pot hole to collect denser matters (e.g.
boulders)

A recount of the flood by flood victims: “the water fills the house
gradually or violently but with unstoppable progress. Spatial and
temporal markers are affected as the water rises, these markers (e.g.
landforms, fences) disappear, the water sweeps away debris of all kinds
(trees, random objects, animal carcasses and sometimes human bodies
all jumbled up together. As the flood flows through your home
undifferentiated between the outside n the inside.”

The disruption of order during a flood is harrowing. From understand the

properties n behaviour of the water n the different matter / debris
involved, the house hopes to create a certain order in the disorder. N this
sorting of materials not only alleviates destruction by flowing debris but
also aid in using these materials for reconstruction.

Speaking of reconstruction, I wanted to explore materials created by the

debris, and explore the erosion / decay / destruction of the materials
during a flood or over time.

So I explored the material: clay. Since during a flood n landslide a lot of

claysiltsoaked soil is washed down the hills n into the river that often
needs to be dredged out of the river to restore its capacity, n also found
everywhere in the house that has to be laboriously scooped out after the
flood.

The property of clay being that it can be dried up to form solids n when
wet be able to be reshaped. And this process can occur infinite times.

I read also that in traditional construction of Japanese houses clay walls

are often used. Whereby clay is compressed onto a bamboo frame, in
layers w cellulose fibres in btw layers. And such clay walls r appreciated
for their natural colouring / grain/ marks of time n making.

Hence I mimicked the layering of clay w cellulose materials, but w a wire

frame instead.

And then I eroded it via dripping water:

The idea of this clay wall is that during a flood, the solid wall erodes
away into just a metal frame which is able to collect the driftwood n
floating debris. Additionally, a solid wall is more likely to give way n
break of in resistance to the force of water, whereas the wire frame
allows the water to pass through n stops only the debris, which also
demonstrates a certain attitude towards the floods— it’s not always in
resistance that we are best able to defend ourselves from the forces, a
certain softness to the approach could actually be better.

I think using the materials from the floods into the reconstruction of the
house also carries with it a certain attitude of not just getting rid of the
damage n dirt caused by the floods but a certain has with it a certain
grace in using these materials positively as a tool for reconstruction. The
expression of these materials n the marks of time/ making/patching goes
along well with the Japanese ideas of zen and attitudes reflected in
kintsugi (patching of broken ceramic w gold) n shoji screen patchwork.

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3. The house as an organism

Having dissected the house into its significant/vital parts and elements,
the secondary parts then form somewhat a layer of protection or ever
sacrificial protection in times of disaster— allowing the house to lose
some parts to the disaster while protecting what is most impt to the
continuation of life for the inhabitants. This allowance of destruction also
allows the house to reconfigure itself over time as the disaster can be
seen not in the perspective of mere destruction, but in the perspective of
catalysing change.

The house takes inspiration from various animals regenerating lost parts.
(E.g. octopus / lizards)

There are a few variety of unit types suited to different user groups that
prioritises n sacrifices different rooms should it be struck by disaster.
Hence the idea is that the various units in the cluster are able to lend its
spaces to their neighbours during the period of reconstruction. This act
further reinforces a network of societal resilience in hiraenoki.

————————

All these said, If I may come back to this drawing of the various parallel
timelines of different timescales.

(What is shown in the diagrams:

A. the construction, destruction and reconstruction n change of the
house / B. The materials n it’s movements during a flood. / C. The
disaster - both in the natural environment and the human side of it in
terms of preparation, evacuation, destruction, etc. / D. The ever
changing landscape of through natural occurrence (e.g. the many cycles
of flooding / landslides etc) n human intervention (introduction of certain
plantations n industries)/ E. The relocation of the shrines signifying the
change in safe spots over time as the landscape changes / F. Would
even extend this timeline to include the process of mental recovery of
the victims. )
I think these timelines start to bring to surface a certain grasp of the
hyperobject that we speak of, n in these timelines we can also start to
locate the role of the house in all these different processes n
timescales... (definitely not saying that it makes visible the hyperobject)
but it encompasses a certain strain of time n is ingrained in certain
processes of the hyperobject.. which I feel is humbling. (Like it puts a
certain perspective of how small n ephemeral we are, n also how we are
all inevitably under the influence of this viscous hyperobject, n to weave
our way of living - the construction of the house in this case with the
processes of the natural environment is to form a somewhat healthy
relationship btw us humans n the natural environment).

To conclude,

“recovery is neither revival economy, nor rebuilding houses, what should

characterise the recovery process is the rebuilding of relationships
between people, and between human beings and nature (natural
environment).”
Hence I hope to look at disaster n reconstruction as a whole process
which ties in with it a human centric approach, that helps to reconcile
these relationships n helps in the mental recovery of the victims, through
the vehicle of the house.