5 Feet / Ryuhei Ichikura

5 Feet

University/SchoolMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Lead ArchitectRyuhei Ichikura

Project Videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dniwvDNeLc

A Japanese term “zasso” means vegetation that grows regardless and independently of what people intend, and it is common in Japan where the monsoon climate makes vegetation grow rapidly. While the adults use herbicide to eliminate this uncontrollable local nature that can grow up to about 5 feet, the children interact with it in different ways. They take some as their sweet snack, and play with it. This proposal challenges the intended boundary in architecture, and aims to define it by mediating zasso and children that would go against the people’s intention in a world of 5 feet above ground.