Drawing And Architectural Ethnography

Momoyo Kaijima, Yoshiharu Tsukamoto – Atelier Bow-Wow

Drawings are a significant platform for sharing the resources of society. Atelier Bow-Wow has been experimenting with them using different methods and circumstances. Drawing can represent a bridge from the past to today with a perspective of our time, and also a bridge from urban to rural with a perspective of ecology. In this article we present two drawing projects carried out with students at the time of Covid-19. We hope these offerings will encourage everyone to think of a better life in the future through architectural design.

A satoyama village

The beautiful landscapes of satoyama villages (i.e. settlements lying between foothills and cultivated plains) have been shaped and maintained through the accumulation of daily care by farmers. It can be seen as a collaborative practice between humans and nature in a community. However, it has deteriorated due to the dwindling and ageing working population in villages throughout Japan.