New Year Card 2010, inspired by my memorable trip to Istanbul for IAPS conference, Oct 09
Thai Night poster
My poster design for NUS Thai Night, celebration of the 10th anniversary of Thai Language Program at NUS.
Harajuku: Urban Stage-Set
HARAJUKU: Urban Stage-Set Q&A
My new book on Harajuku (publication of my post doc research) it is out in June 2008. Available in Nanyodo book store in Tokyo.
here is the blurb
"Harajuku is arguably one of the most exciting and vibrant fashion precincts of Tokyo. Through a series of questions and Answers, Harajuku Urban Stage-Set captures urban character of the precinct and the complexity of that unique place. Besides introducing Harajuku, the book also presents an approach towards understanding of urban complexity which combines the rigousous analysis with intuition, brings together conclusive statement and number of open-ended speculations. The book invites its reader to further explore Harajuku to ask new questions and answers to the enigma of Harajuku".
comment on "made in Harajuku"
from designfesta.com website
"……..an interesting insight into Harajuku through the eyes of Thai artist Davisi Boontharm ( space 1D until July 1st) Davisi uses illustrations rendered in striking red on white and also photographic works utilising standard (and not so standard!) industry sizes of sheet paper beginning with a mighty mosaic of snapshots taken in and about Harajuku laid out on an A.0 size background, all works are explained in english and the artist invites the visitor to participate in her next project……."
"……..an interesting insight into Harajuku through the eyes of Thai artist Davisi Boontharm ( space 1D until July 1st) Davisi uses illustrations rendered in striking red on white and also photographic works utilising standard (and not so standard!) industry sizes of sheet paper beginning with a mighty mosaic of snapshots taken in and about Harajuku laid out on an A.0 size background, all works are explained in english and the artist invites the visitor to participate in her next project……."
made in Harajuku @ Designfesta Gallery, Tokyo
CiteXture
A0-A2-A4-A6-A8: Made in Harajuku
27 June – 1 July 2007
Designfesta Gallery, Harajuku
By Dr Davisi Boontharm
CiteXture is a series of works which, in different techniques, present my reflection about the city. CiteXture is based on an understanding that the cities are textual compositions (Barthes 1965), that they can be understood as composed of multiplicity of individual "words" and "phrases", structured by the syntax of an unique language. And, “un bon croquis vaut mieux qu'un long discours" ("A good sketch is better than a long speech", Napoleon), or as “a picture is worth a thousand words” (proverb).
As an architect and urbanist, in my current postdoctoral research at the University of Tokyo,
I focus on Harajuku. The artwork presented in this exhibition accompanies my research. It parallels the traditional research process and, on occasions, it also feeds into that other side of my work. Art satisfies my need for subjective reflection and communication in an universal language of pictures and sketches. It helps me to express Harajuku in a fuller sense. And, as Harajuku is very much about image and image making, these drawings and collages seek to express that place as in a series of images.
This exhibition is presented through an ubiquitous architectural and urban design theme- that of “scale”. The scales in which I explore Harajuku are translated into standard paper formats - ISO216, better known as the “A series” (1: √2 ratio).
Each work covers an area of 1m2, which corresponds to the A0. Paper sizes, which range from A0 to A8, were used to present the scales which best capture various aspects of life in Harajuku:
A0 (841x1189) - The Harajuku mosaic
Many small pieces form an A0. From a good distance the full message of the work emerges: the life of Harajuku lends itself to another reading - the kanji "Harajuku".
A2 ( 420x594) - The Urahara collage
The City is a collage (Rowe and Koetter 1984).
In this work, the focus is on Urahara, the heart of Harajuku. An A2 is used to collage different elements of that vibrant area, all layered onto the map. The overall picture comments on the character of Urahara, as a quality in itself and as a part of Harajuku.
A4 (210x297) - The Human scale
A4 is considered to be the most suitable for everyday life. It is used universally - for note-taking, writing, printing, photocopying. Here A4 presents the people of Harajuku. Unlike spaces, the people and their acvtivities are beyond scales. These drawings capture the stories lived and told in Harajuku. All together, they weave a complex text(ure) of Harajuku.
A6 (105x148) - The Pocket scale
A6 is a postcard size. It is sued for papers which we want to put in our pockets. This part of my work is comprised of a series of sketches, proposed souvenirs from Urahara. The visitors are invited to buy them, as the souvenirs, as the mementos of this place, as an invitation to remember the event.
A8 (52x74) - The ‘post-it’ notes
They offer a blank surface, and another invitation to you - this time that is an invitation to participate. Please take part in citeXture by answering my brief questions and providing your feedback. Your insights will lead me towards better understanding of Harajuku.
Please answer the questionnaires
1. Your age
2. Your Gender
3. Where are you from?
4. How often you come to Harajuku
5. You and Harajuku?
6. Other comment…
you can use many A8 post-it notes
Thank you for your cooperation
I hope you will enjoy the exhibition and Harajuku.
A0-A2-A4-A6-A8: Made in Harajuku
27 June – 1 July 2007
Designfesta Gallery, Harajuku
By Dr Davisi Boontharm
CiteXture is a series of works which, in different techniques, present my reflection about the city. CiteXture is based on an understanding that the cities are textual compositions (Barthes 1965), that they can be understood as composed of multiplicity of individual "words" and "phrases", structured by the syntax of an unique language. And, “un bon croquis vaut mieux qu'un long discours" ("A good sketch is better than a long speech", Napoleon), or as “a picture is worth a thousand words” (proverb).
As an architect and urbanist, in my current postdoctoral research at the University of Tokyo,
I focus on Harajuku. The artwork presented in this exhibition accompanies my research. It parallels the traditional research process and, on occasions, it also feeds into that other side of my work. Art satisfies my need for subjective reflection and communication in an universal language of pictures and sketches. It helps me to express Harajuku in a fuller sense. And, as Harajuku is very much about image and image making, these drawings and collages seek to express that place as in a series of images.
This exhibition is presented through an ubiquitous architectural and urban design theme- that of “scale”. The scales in which I explore Harajuku are translated into standard paper formats - ISO216, better known as the “A series” (1: √2 ratio).
Each work covers an area of 1m2, which corresponds to the A0. Paper sizes, which range from A0 to A8, were used to present the scales which best capture various aspects of life in Harajuku:
A0 (841x1189) - The Harajuku mosaic
Many small pieces form an A0. From a good distance the full message of the work emerges: the life of Harajuku lends itself to another reading - the kanji "Harajuku".
A2 ( 420x594) - The Urahara collage
The City is a collage (Rowe and Koetter 1984).
In this work, the focus is on Urahara, the heart of Harajuku. An A2 is used to collage different elements of that vibrant area, all layered onto the map. The overall picture comments on the character of Urahara, as a quality in itself and as a part of Harajuku.
A4 (210x297) - The Human scale
A4 is considered to be the most suitable for everyday life. It is used universally - for note-taking, writing, printing, photocopying. Here A4 presents the people of Harajuku. Unlike spaces, the people and their acvtivities are beyond scales. These drawings capture the stories lived and told in Harajuku. All together, they weave a complex text(ure) of Harajuku.
A6 (105x148) - The Pocket scale
A6 is a postcard size. It is sued for papers which we want to put in our pockets. This part of my work is comprised of a series of sketches, proposed souvenirs from Urahara. The visitors are invited to buy them, as the souvenirs, as the mementos of this place, as an invitation to remember the event.
A8 (52x74) - The ‘post-it’ notes
They offer a blank surface, and another invitation to you - this time that is an invitation to participate. Please take part in citeXture by answering my brief questions and providing your feedback. Your insights will lead me towards better understanding of Harajuku.
Please answer the questionnaires
1. Your age
2. Your Gender
3. Where are you from?
4. How often you come to Harajuku
5. You and Harajuku?
6. Other comment…
you can use many A8 post-it notes
Thank you for your cooperation
I hope you will enjoy the exhibition and Harajuku.
"made in Harajuku" @ Designfesta Gallery, Harajuku, Tokyo
thanks for coming to citeXture: "made in Harajuku" exhibition at Design Festa Gallery.
citeXture : made in Harajuku
27June-1July @ DESIGNFESTA GALLERY Harajuku
By Davisi Boontharm (architect-urbanist)
CiteXture is a series of works in which I use various medias to reflect on cities. CiteXture is based on my belief that each city like a text, it can be written, read and interpreted in a number of ways.
In the "made in Harajuku" exhibition, as an architect and urbanist, I want to communicate my finding about this place through a mixed media, to show how I read and interpret it’s space. The exhibition also, in a way, makes public communicate with Harajuku itself.
citeXture introduction
Her first experimentation is in Barcelona made within her sevral times short visits.
*
This gallery of pictures puts forward two issues of relevance to architecture and urbanism - the roles of cultural difference and subjectivity in architectural and urban design-research.
**
If each city is the text open to diverse readings, here is a reading of urban spaces of Barcelona in the code which comes from a culture radically different from that of Catalonia. Dr Davisi uses the universal language of architectural sketches, with a subtle dialect, consciously rooted in another urbanity. What does Barcelona say to an architect from a far-away culture? How does that architect say “Barcelona”? Those are the questions we all need to ask when trying to comprehend other cities and other cultures. The language of architecture seems to help in spanning many boundaries.
***
In architectural and urban research we tend to go for methods which objectify reality. Those methods claim to expose the facts, the “truth” about the places we investigate. But, as we all know, in architecture analysis and synthesis blur, the subjective often leads and never really leaves the design process. It is the architectural drawing again which help capture qualities that go beyond the measurable, which combine understanding and feeling, the personal and the commonly shared.
****
The architectural drawings have their own artistic integrity. At the same time they are architect’s recordings of reality, and often urbanist’s reaction to the potential of certain spaces in Barcelona. Davisi Boontharm puts her subjective recordings of the urban spaces and situations of Barcelona at an equivalent standing with the results of the “research proper”. These drawings are here to both ask and answer questions. In the context of her exploration of cities some of them demand further analysis, while some confidently stop endless scientific talk.
Introduction of CiteXture Barcelona by prof. Darko Radovic cSUR Tokyo University, University of Melbourne.
*
This gallery of pictures puts forward two issues of relevance to architecture and urbanism - the roles of cultural difference and subjectivity in architectural and urban design-research.
**
If each city is the text open to diverse readings, here is a reading of urban spaces of Barcelona in the code which comes from a culture radically different from that of Catalonia. Dr Davisi uses the universal language of architectural sketches, with a subtle dialect, consciously rooted in another urbanity. What does Barcelona say to an architect from a far-away culture? How does that architect say “Barcelona”? Those are the questions we all need to ask when trying to comprehend other cities and other cultures. The language of architecture seems to help in spanning many boundaries.
***
In architectural and urban research we tend to go for methods which objectify reality. Those methods claim to expose the facts, the “truth” about the places we investigate. But, as we all know, in architecture analysis and synthesis blur, the subjective often leads and never really leaves the design process. It is the architectural drawing again which help capture qualities that go beyond the measurable, which combine understanding and feeling, the personal and the commonly shared.
****
The architectural drawings have their own artistic integrity. At the same time they are architect’s recordings of reality, and often urbanist’s reaction to the potential of certain spaces in Barcelona. Davisi Boontharm puts her subjective recordings of the urban spaces and situations of Barcelona at an equivalent standing with the results of the “research proper”. These drawings are here to both ask and answer questions. In the context of her exploration of cities some of them demand further analysis, while some confidently stop endless scientific talk.
Introduction of CiteXture Barcelona by prof. Darko Radovic cSUR Tokyo University, University of Melbourne.
Made in BCN : series of collage on paper
Here are some extract of "made in BCN" from 2004-2006 they are mainly collage made by "local" materials.
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