[Title] Maison 4 1/2
[Artist] Terunobu Fujimori
[Date] March 17-June 10, 2007
Build your own house.
Making a full-scale home might be difficult, but anybody should be able to construct a temporary place to sleep in and invite friends to for meals.
It’s how our ancestors put together their first homes, and still the way children build “forts” today.
Luckily, in Japan we have a “housing prototype” small enough for you to build on your own. It’s the four-and-a-half-mat space. In Japan, this 2.7meters square (7.29㎡) zone, with mats or without, has long been considered the minimum area for a living space. Most Jomon dwellings were this size, as were the hermit retreats of medieval monks like Kamo no Chomei and Yoshida Kenko. Moreover, their hermitage architecture influenced the design of the tearoom, which is also based on four-and-a-half-mats.
The project is to set up a 2.7meters square (7.29㎡) area, build walls and a roof, make a door and windows, and, inside, cut out space for a hearth, install a desk for reading and writing, mount a shelf for the display of flowers and treasures, and establish space for friends to sit.
To accomplish this task, Hermès will select three teams that will each construct a house during the exhibition.
I, Terunobu Fujimori, will be there to supervise.
The materials available will include wood panels, plaster, burnt cedar, pearl shells, gold leaf, and copper sheeting. Visitors to the space are invited to assist with the stuccoing and application of shells and gold leaf.
It will be exciting to discover how each house will become.
Terunobu Fujimori