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| Axis Communications met with junya.ishigami to film inside KAIT Kobo |
Mr. Junya Ishigami acquired a master's degree from the Tokyo University of the Arts in 2000 and established his architectural firm junya.ishigami+associates, in 2004. Mr. Ishigami is a famous architect that has received an award from the Architectural Institute of Japan in 2009 for his design of KAIT Kobo at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology. In February 2010, Axis Communications met for the first time with junya.ishigami+associates to discuss methods for filming the inside of KAIT Kobo using network cameras. Mr. Ishigami was due to exhibit a visual piece for an exhibition at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art starting in September of 2010. The plan was to film the inside of KAIT Kobo for a few months, and finally edit the video and create an exhibit out of it.
Solution
Mr. Ishigami's idea was to record video from inside the workshop at the highest image quality possible, using numerous cameras. In April 2010, four AXIS P1346 Network Cameras were installed in the ceiling of KAIT Kobo, and AXIS Camera Station was installed on a computer. The sheer storage volume of HDTV video overwhelmed the external storage equipment, so video was recorded using a frame rate of one frame per second and the video was compressed using H.264. Filming continued from May to August 2010, starting in the morning until the workshop closed. Furthermore, the camera angle was changed roughly once a week while recording the video.
Result
"Planning for a Forest" was exhibited at the Venice Biennale of Architecture International Architecture Exhibition |
The completed piece, "Planning for a Forest" was exhibited at the Venice Biennale of Architecture International Architecture Exhibition and at a special exhibition at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, called "Junya Ishigami: Another Scale of Architecture". A small model of KAIT Kobo was placed in the exhibition room, where the film was showing. The silent film not only serves as a documentary, but artistically expresses the workings inside of KAIT Kobo. Mr. Ishigami stated, "I did not believe I could film this kind of high-caliber work with network cameras," at the opening ceremony held September 18, 2010.
Received the Golden Lion for Best Project Award at Venice Biennale of Architecture
The Venice Biennale of Architecture originates from the Venice Biennale Art Exhibition that has been taking place every other year in Venice, Italy since 1895. Starting in 1980, the international architecture exhibition has been held independently. The 12th Venice Biennale of Architecture was held with Ms. Kazuyo Sejima as the director, with "people meet through architecture" being the theme of the exhibition. Mr. Junya Ishigami was selected as a representative for the Japanese pavilion in 2008's international architecture exhibition, and received the Golden Lion for Best Project Award this time with his piece "Architecture as air."
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| A small model of KAIT Kobo was placed in the exhibition room, where the film was being screened |
Mr. Ishigami is known for the utilisation of clear materials such as glass in his work, but his award-winning "Architecture as air" used 24 carbon pillars 0.9 mm thick, four metres tall, four metres wide, and 13 metres deep for a temporary work of architecture.
The delicacy of the structure was highly praised by the judges, and Mr. Ishigami was awarded the highest prize, the Golden Lion for Best Project Award.
In addition, at the 12th Venice Biennale of Architecture exhibit, the film with KAIT Kobo as the theme was edited and exhibited under the title of "Planning a Forest."
Characteristics of the Kanagawa Institute of Technology's "KAIT Kobo (Workshop)"
The Kanagawa Institute of Technology's KAIT Kobo, located in Atsugi-city in Kanagawa Prefecture, opened in April 2008 as "a facility to freely create things."The building was designed by junya.ishigami+associates, and construction was contracted to Kajima Corporation and Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., Ltd. KAIT Kobo, by junya.ishigami+associates won the 2009 Architectural Institute of Japan Prize (Architectural Design Division).
The most striking characteristic of KAIT Kobo is that 305 thin pillars, all with different proportions, are randomly placed inside of a 2000m2 glass-walled and open space. There are no walls or partitions, so every part of the workshop is visible from any location. Currently at KAIT Kobo, there is a corner with a printer, press print, computer, laser processer; a ceramics and casting corner with an electric potter's wheel, potter's wheel, and electric furnace; a mechanical processing corner equipped with lathe, milling machine, and drilling machine; and a woodworking corner equipped with an automatic planer, scroll saw, circular saw, and other tools and equipment.
Museum exhibition: "Junya Ishigami: Another Scale of Architecture"
The Toyota Municipal Museum of Art opened in November 1995 with an aim to become a comprehensive art museum worthy of exhibiting modern and contemporary art from both within Japan and abroad. The building is one of the representative works of architect Yoshio Taniguchi. The 11 exhibition rooms are constructed so that it seems as if a large box-like space is partitioned into different- sized spaces, and visitors can enjoy the artwork while going through the corridors. "Planning a Forest" is not merely a video that recorded what happened, but is highly praised as a mature work of visual art. Recently there have been more instances where network cameras have been utilised for purposes other than surveillance. In the future, there will be various unique ways to utilise the merits of network cameras; such as the high compression technology and HDTV resolution high-quality video.
