Ikkan Bari is a traditional craft involving Japanese washi paper and urushi lacquer/kakishibu to transform everyday objects into durable, long-lasting items. It focuses on repairing and preserving objects to extend their lifespan and imbue them with personal and emotional value.
Focusing on teaching and spreading knowledge of Ikkan Bari the project aims to make it more accessible and appealing to people. Additionally, the focus lies on finding new sources of material in Kyoto that can be transformed through the craft.
The project site is in Shimogyo-ku, a new emerging creative neighbourhood that consists of a mixture of industrial buildings, housing, and old traditional architecture with many open lots, and alleyways.
A maker space and adaptive structure meandering through the neighbourhood gives the craft a new context and a common community space for the exchange of ideas and materials. The architecture is oriented on a standard grid to squeeze in between existing buildings. It includes productive and social gardens, a gallery for artworks, and a library of materials. In its centre is a workshop for teaching Ikkan Bari and a private workshop. In addition, satellite workshops by other artisans are opened up to the library of materials from adjacent buildings.
The lightweight structure uses recycled wood from old wooden houses. On the ground floor the structure opens up, acting as an alleyway, and features a landscape of greenery, tataki floor, and gravel with wooden platforms that create an organic flow through the building. The exterior includes fisher nets from the seafood market nearby that can be used to hang the paper inside the library. It also allows adaptation to adjacent buildings, with the nets spanning down to filter light and create a structure for hanging garden utensils and outdoor lights.