Re:Metabolism

”You teach me, I forget. You show me, I remember. You involve me, I understand”
— E. O. Wilson

This project just would not leave me alone. A unique personal connection and gravitation to Japanese design made the idea of studying architecture in Japan an obsession. What started as a dream became a magical winter in Tokyo and then a beacon of productivity and hope in Coronavirus quarantine. The Metabolists rose from burnt ash to build a new nation, a new culture, and a new future. They saw the crisis of nuclear devastation as an opportunity to change, to adapt, and to grow. But I did not want to simply study the architects, writers, scientists, and artists of postwar Japan, I wanted to experience their world. Like Malcolm Gladwell explains in his new podcast, Go And See, there is a unique power in first-hand experience that no textbook can convey. During my travels, I found beauty in the buildings and places that I expected to encounter, but I stumbled upon just as much magic in the wrong turns, the happy accidents, the rabbit holes, and the late night conversations in both two languages and no language about everything and about nothing. Yes, I learned about the Neo-futuristic, adaptable modularity of Metabolist architecture, but I also got a sneak peak into the intricacies of a people and of traditions that at first seem so foreign but soon grew to be a source of comfort. As is the nature of pedagogy, I learned about the self as much as I learned about the other. And that is why we keep going back for more.

Winter 2019-2020