Shadows & Glimpses : A Bridge to the Geisha World Geisha | Japanese Performing Artist | Gion Geiko District
Elitsa Kostova Ilieva
/Dominic Thomas Simon Weber
The project studies the activity of the geisha, the women who traditionally entertain private guests at instances such as ozashiki with a combination of performing arts and hosting skills. Not just artisans themselves, they are also important customers of other artisans, all helping to create the final presence and image of the geisha.
The three main nodes of contact are the okiya, where the geisha live, the Kaburenjo theater, where they train, and the ochaya, where they work. Rather than focussing on materiality in creating the geisha's appearance and practice, the project aims at facilitating recruitment, and finding new situations in which potential maiko would interact with the geisha existence, thus inciting interest and creating a more intimate relationship to build on, beyond the public image. This happens in the three typologies that facilitate the main nodes that are manipulated. The project forms the intersection between the five geisha districts and popular gathering areas for young people in Shijo Avenue, part of Hanamikoji Street near Gion in South Kyoto, to allow more exposure and possible recruitment.
The block consists of five parcels, modern on the Northern facade, facing Shijo Avenue, traditional on the Southern facade, facing Gion.To keep the existing structure, the machiyas on Shijo Avenue are united, to create one big okiya. Using the existing machiya typology, the transitional spaces towards the North of the machiya facilitate activities such as training in the arts, performing the tea ceremony, getting ready and putting on makeup. Meeting them on this longitudinal elan are the modern customers, who in turn are there for their activities, and through the use of the spaces, are constantly confronted by the presence of the geisha.