Sunday, April 26, 2009

SANAA + Make it Easy + Shibuya-kei Music

Do you remember the pic I posted on My Tokyo Blog Post just the other day?





See more about this book here.

Well,  it was a lovely pic by SANAA, a team of Japanese architects made up of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. They are the amazing force behind beautiful buildings such as the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, the Christian Dior building in Tokyo and the Towada Art Centre in Aomori.


The New Museum of Contemporary Art






Towada Art Centre

Check out some more lovely images of the Towada Art Centre on Spoon and Tamago and on this flickr photostream. You can also read more about SANAA on designboom.

Over the weekend I spotted some more of SANNA's work on my new blog crush Make it Easy. The lovely Aron posted here about Moriyama house in Tokyo.















Isn't is just divine! Can we please move in?

Here is what Dwell had to say about Moriyama house: On a double suburban lot in Tokyo, the Office of Ryue Nishizawa built a neighborhood-scaled, flexible-format minimalist steel prefab compound for Yasuo Moriyama—a very private individual with a powerful social bent—and six rental tenants. Every room is its own building—even Moriyama’s bath is a freestanding box.

I am so happy that I found Aron's blog! I especially love this Make it Easy post about being alone but not lonely.

But the loveliest of things is Aron's Perfect Day found on Tiny Abstraction blog.

I would like to wake, naturally, on my own at around 8am. feeling very refreshed and new, and not tired at all. the bright sun would shine through my window slowly warning me up, yet, there would be a nice rain outside that i know is there just from hearing it. i would do the small things i do every morning to make me smile and set up my day for the better. things such as watering my plants, feeding/playing with the cats, checking blogs online, having a nice breakfast, etc. Turning on relaxing music while its still slightly raining outside would be nice too.



As noon approached the rain had stopped and the sky couldnt be any more clearer. a friend or 2, and myself, would decide to go to the beach up at the North Shore. we would pack home made musubi's for our lunch. since the drive there is on a long one-way road, we would have our windows rolled down so we could feel the wind. it would be the kind of drive where no one would have to say anything to each other as we shared a mutual enjoyment for the simple drive itself. if we would glance at each other, there would be a true smile, and nothing more or less. the perfect song for this would be "afternoon speaker" by The Sea And Cake.



The beach would be crowdless, the sun would be glowing on us, and the water would be more than welcoming. everything would be just right, even the breeze would be perfect. we would swim and take polaroid pictures and share the musubi's we made. we would stay until maybe 4pm, or until we turned to a nice golden skin tone.

When i get home, i take a nice cold shower to rinse off all the sea salt. (after a shower from the beach, your skin tends to feel extra soft and has a beautiful glow to it.) i would then start cooking my moms homemade dish that consists of string beans, ground beef, onions and garlic, in a asian stir-fry style. i would bring this dish to my friends house where we are having a intimate get-together where everyone would bring a homemade dish to eat, and some wine. the dinner would be outside in her veranda/garden, under the stars with lanterns, soft string lights, and candles. we would spend the rest of the evening eating delicious food, drinking sweet wine, and talking about the things in life that we all have in common that bring us together as friends. conversations such as love, the future/past, family history, favourites/dislikes, and just anything we tend to share with best friends on an amazing level of understanding that no one else could know.

Lastly, we're put out a huge blanket for all of us to lay on as we stared into the universe. there would be star-gazing music playing as we counted how many shooting stars we could see. with a great group of friends, laying under the vast sky...it feels so good to feel so small.

That would be my perfect day.

So delightful! Reading that makes me smile! If you visit Aron's blog, and I urge you all to, you will hear the most peaceful music, but in case that is not lovely enough, Aron has posted about some other great Japanese music. And now I can't stop listening to the super cute music from Advantage Lucy on Myspace and Nagisa Cosmeic who remind me of Capsule (remember I mentioned them here).

It reminded me how much I love Shibuya-kei music! If you're in the mood, listen to some Shibuya-kei music here

I can't wait to buy some new Japanese music from Shibuya's Tower Records in June!
楽しみにしています!

12 comments:

  1. Your blog is awesome. I'll be back!

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  2. ...WOW~!
    i am so much more than flattered and honored at the same time!
    thanks so much Ebony. thats so nice of you to do such a grand shout out to me!
    :-D

    shibuyakei music is always the cutest!

    thanks for the know on that SANAA book!!!!
    i just had to order it! (i ordered it literally like 5min ago on amazon right after i saw this post. hahah)

    tomorrow, i will definatley post a shout out to wonderful YOU (and the book), but i must sleep now, its 1.15am here

    :)
    Aron

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  3. Hello Tiger! I love your blog too! Thank you so much for stopping by!

    Oh Aron-san! You are so sweet! Don't be silly! I feel honoured that you even visited my blog! There is absolutely no need to post about Hello Sandwich. Though so sweet of you to even think of that! You sweet thing!
    Oh thats so exciting you have ordered the book! Iina~! I have flicked through it before at MOT in Tokyo but didn't have enough spending money to buy it -BUT this time I think I will have to get it! Hope you had a nice weekend! And look forward to staying in touch with you and your amazing blog in the future.

    Love love
    Hello Sandwich
    xxx

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  4. hello, sandwich! aron's make it easy blog is a truly beautiful thing - it all just makes me so very happy.
    (julian has a copy of SANAA Houses so i would be a bit naughty to get one of my very own...but i am so very very tempted:)

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  5. Hello Bree! It makes me so happy too! I love it! Owwww....yes the book looks great doesn't it! I think I'll get it this time in Tokyo!
    Love love
    Hello Sandwich
    xxx

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  6. You have a really lovely blog! I am happy to have found it and will be back for sure :)

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  7. I was ooohing and aahhhing over that beautiful photo on your other post... and now I know about the book. Dare I add it to my shopping list for next month?! I have previously swooned over the New Museum of Contemporary Art too. It looks so wonderfully incongruous in that setting.

    You mentioned the Tomio Koyama gallery previously - it sounds like somewhere I'd love to visit. Can you tell me where it is? Thanks!

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  8. (thanks so much ii-ne-kore!!)
    hehe すみません..

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  9. Set yourself on Fire - Thanks for your lovely comment! :) Am so happy you like and I hope you return soon! I update daily during the week days!

    Hi Lisa - yes pop it on your Tokyo shopping list! I will be too! I saw it last time I was in Tokyo at the MOT museum, perhaps they still stock it, otherwise Libro in Shibuya - more on that in my Tokyo Guide coming soon! Tomio Koyama gallery is in Koto-ku. You would LOVE it. Its amazing! Visit online here:

    http://www.tomiokoyamagallery.com/index/eng/frame.html

    Enjoy!

    Make it Easy - Bree and I have a blog crush on you I think! (>_<)

    Love love
    Hello Sandwich
    xxx

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  10. Laura! You can come along in my suitcase if you like and we can hang out in Tokyo together!
    :)
    Love love
    Hello Sandwich
    xxx

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  11. Thank you for introducing me to Shibuya-kei! I love it! ♥

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