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.