CHENGDU - base camp to Tibet

It all came back to me within the first few hours I touched down in Chengdu on why I once said never to go back to Sichuan again... But here I am again in the fiery city. But this is my base camp to Tibet.

Stayed at Dragon Town Inn @ KunJai Xiang. 30Rmb per nite. Fantastic location with all the good stuff around us. Oh 1hr full body massage @ 25Rmb! Hostel nights are dramatic and eventfull. Ix got a marriage proposal in Rm 107, which he said he rejected. Made to watch Twilight (again!) by Ally. It must have been a while since we backpacked. We actually ended up at Starbucks for coffee and cheesecakes when we are in the city with the very best teahouses!!! And there are at least 15 teahouses beside our hostel!!!!

This teahouse is the inspiration for the courtyard house sketch. For 25Rmb a cup of tea, we were plagiarizing design details from every corner of the teahouse. Lx, go distract the waiter while I steal more details. Ally prefers this more comtemporary interpretation of the courtyard house/ bar/ restaurant that opens out to the streets. Beautiful concept and well thought up details.... But... I just have to say this... despite all our WOW WOW WOW, this chic place is empty. Because? The designers designed the restaurant bar to look fantastic in glossy magazines photos devoided of humans. There is only beautiful aestictics but no thought given to dining experiences. Designers like these should stay away from designing restaurants.

Sandra and Moon, I thought of you when I saw the puppets. Oh we had great fun in Beijing! When are we doing that again!??

Xiao Ping Guo is so cute!!!! The Da Ping Guo is hmmm.... not that cute.

Not a great fan of Sichuan cusine but Melissa and her sis brought us to feast on really gorgeous food.

Bus ride out of Chengdu to SanXingDui Museum. Its so retro I cant stand it... Bus dropped us off at cross junction in countryside and we were told to walk east... Hmmmm... U sure there is a museum out here in these farm lands?

Yes there is!! And with very good exhibits that verify a copper era here in Sichuan 4000 years ago!!! Looks very Maya and Inca like though.... strange to dig out all these in mainland Sichuan.

There are pandas and there are giant pandas... We can watch them eat bamboo all day long...

Hikikormori - the Project Programme

First Step to Re-enter Society

Hikikomori is a silent group of city dwellers who go unnoticed by the world that rushes by them. They hide in the very city that has forgetten about their presences The first step cannot be forced. Hikikormori must themselve want top return. The outside world is too abrupt. WE NEED A MEDIUM

Skill Set/ Employment

Many hikikomori are savvy with high tech, having used the computer as their major means of communication isolation. They will tend to take up jobs that do not require physical contact, like computer related programming or software design...

Sony Building for Hikikomori

(a collaboration with SEGA Club)

Every year, gamers are required to test new games and programs before they are released to the mass market. The job of the gamer depends of the interaction of man and machine/ program and human to human interaction can be kept to the minimum

Technology thus is the best medium for hikikomori to re-intergate into society

Project

Many projects in Japan aim to make hikikomoris recover from their reclusiveness. They install programmes to encourage visual contacts and physical interactions even when hikikomoris fear to step out of their rooms. All have failed.

Sony Building Project aims to integrate hikikomori as part of society in the economics sense and not the social sense. We believe that society should respect their choice of a different lifestyle and their silent mode of communication. We believe that the indifferent man on the streets is no different in spirit from a hikikomori.

We believe hikikomori to embody the new concept of relationship. Interaction will happen when they deem fit and should not be enforced

THIS IS THE NEW SOCIAL VALUE OF THE NEW GENERATION

SITE Akihabara, Tokyo

This is the location site I selected of Sony building for the Hikikomori Sony Building Diagram Refine the programme

"the way we understand the programme is very abstract, so it cant become a form. It cannot be turned into something that is an identifiable form, because it is just too abstract to become so well defined. So the most important thing is how the relationship occurs" - Kazuyo Sejima

The programme is the mediator between hikikomori and the normal man. The act and nature of gaming - a person facing a PC screen is similar to what hikikomori do ( even in terms of their psyche ). Thus, the programme and its act will never be rejected by any sides. The presence of another human being in the same room can hence be accepted by a hikikomori Redefining the Wall A corridor. A narrow space flanked by two walls which leaves a person nowhere to hide and nothing to pretend to be distracted by or engaged in Eventual confrontation with the stranger

How can a wall remain a boundary yet not insist on its presense to seperate and divide?

How can a wall act as a medium of interaction and to hide?

The empty wall does not reveal any secrets of its residents. The meaning of a wall is the construct of the architect. A wall of everyday items however tells a person who bothers to look, a lot about the resident's habits, lifestyle and personalities. If all necessary boundaries are replaced by shelves of everyday items, is there a need for walls then?

Architecture of Skins

Redefining Communication

To build and maintain a relationship can prove too demanding for many. Can we know just enough of one another so as not to impose and inconvienient? Can we communication without personal and emotional attachments?

Front Street Elevation

Rear Steet Elevation Section of Building Circulation

Section of Building Interior

This is one of the most fun projects I have done in NUS. Thank you Mr Tsuto Sakamoto for guiding me through my Master's project. I had a great time.

Hikikomori - the Project Prelude

Do you feel awkward eating alone in the canteen?

Will you pretend to look elsewhere when you see someone coming your way?

Do you take a different route to avoid bumping into your neighbour?

Are spaces like the elevator and corridors becoming more stressful?

Are you tired of forcing a smile and a "hi"?

Are you somewhat socially withdrawn?

I started my thesis on Hikikomori after being inspired by the Japanese show - Battle Royale. Kei told me that there is much more to Battle Royale than all the gore and killings... I wanted to find out.

Battle Royale led me to Ijime which led me to my disserations on institutions available in Japan for troubled children. In my search, the term Otaku popped out and further research finally led me to the most difficult topic to tackle - the Hikikomori.

I left for Tokyo.

Tokyo

Everything is in a flux. Every interaction is oppressive and transient. Only endless rows of vending machines is permanent. They give me what I want. They never question my choice.

Vending Machines

Automatic and indifference. A permenant quietness. Only the sound of the sound of the engine chunning in the background allows you to know that it is alive - and that is companionship enough for you. A man machine interaction. A higher level form of communication.

19th May, 4am - I stopped by to buy a drink. I recognised you at the end of the row with the strange greenish light of the vending machines on your face. I slot a coin in. I heard you do the same. I pressed a button and picked up my drink. Finished the can starting at the green glow because I do not know where to look. I know you left but I lingered. This is the 28th time you have kept me company. Urban Toys

With the internet, I can be connected. I am the founder of blogs and the forefather of expression...

With music in my ears, I can shut the whole world out...

I have my Sony Aibo. Even if I am alone, I am never lonely...

Technology has eliminated the need of human interaction. Machines are now more interactive than the indifferent man. Hikikomori is a generation living in this new reality, there is no place for them in the physical world. Technology has allowed people to stay at home - work, play, order for take out food - fortuitous for Hikikomori. Redefining Communication

To build and maintain a relationship can prove too demanding and straining. We just need to knwo enough of each other's lifestyle and habits so as not to impose and inconvienient one another. Please... no emotional or personal attachments...

Hikikomori

Hikikomori refers to a group of people loosely termed as "acute social withdrawal". It is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive individuals who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement due to various personal and social factors in their lives.

The Japanese Ministery of Health defines hikikomori as individuals who refuse to leave their parents' house, and isolate themselves from society in their homes for a period exceeding six months. Many hikikomori however have been hiding in their bedroom or kitchen for decades. In 2001, the year this project started, hikikomori numbered at one million in Japan.

South NewZealand

New Zealand is a mild weathered, calm and beautiful country that can bored you to death...