co+labo Radović @ Keio University

co+laboradović        co+labo at the 5th Anatomy of Islands Symposium and Workshop    4      
co+laboradović  a Japanese Pavilion, Keio Kobayashi Lab+co+labo+partners present to Vis  

In 2015, Keio University team, as regular participants of the Anatomy of Islands events proposed to design and construct a Japanese Pavilion. The purpose of that small, multi-purpose building is to both mark the conclusion of the rich and inspirational series of Symposia and Workshops, and to express their gratitude to the people of Vis, the generous hosts of Anatomy and its participants.

The pavilion was designed in Tokyo, by Kobayashi Laboratory and Radović Laboratory co+labo, using an innovative structural system designed by Professor Hiroto Kobayashi and his team. The structural material was provided by our strategic partner, Politecnico di Milano, while the University of Ljubljana facilitated the cutting and production of structural elements in Slovenj Gradec. The town of Vis provided the site in a beautiful olive yard, the foundations and help with acquisition of the material for architectural finishes. The Pavilion was completed with support and encouragement of many individuals and institutions, to all of which we remain grateful.

The very location of this project, between the kindergarten, the school and the public park, as suggested by the Mayor Radica, sends a clear message: the Pavilion is there to provide a refined meeting place, the place to encounter and cherish cultural difference. Its fragile, elegant wooden structure enters a dialogue with the eternal beauty of the traditional stone environments of Vis. In a very Japanese way, this temporary enclosure will weather and change. Wood demands maintenance and care. It thus teaches manners, a particular kind of urbanity to which it responds with grace and generosity of refined, prolonged lasting, continuity and change.

Keio University team leaves the Pavilion to the town Vis, in hope that the children, other residents and visitors of Vis will love it and take care of it. The already popular Teahouse is going to last as as long as it is loved, taken care of, and maintained. In return, this building will remind everyone of the Anatomy of Islands in an active way, by facilitating communication, better understanding and development of an ability to live together.