architect Kazuyo Sejima
project Okurayama apartments, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
written by Alan Kostrenčić

 

…under the motionless clouds, the wind carries away the city …

Zen koan[1]

 

 

In western thinking, we take things for granted. When talking about the experience of Zen, D.T. Suzuki says that before the beginning of his study houses were houses, hills were hills and rivers were rivers; when Zen practices were entered into more deeply, then houses were no longer houses, hills were no longer hills, and rivers were no longer rivers. Nevertheless, when an apprentice becomes a Zen master houses are houses again, hills are hills again and rivers are rivers again, but in a different way.

 



[1] Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Park Street Press, 2008