ORIS
Htjeli bismo razgovarati o nekoliko tema vezanih za vaš rad, prije svega o vašim crtežima kao svojevrsnom zaštitnom znaku i o objavljenim istraživanjima te, s druge strane, o vašim izgrađenim radovima, posebice mikro mjerilu obiteljskih kuća i hiperkontekstualnosti takve arhitekture u odnosu spram specifičnosti lokacije. Možda bismo mogli započeti s vašom posljednjom knjigom Graphic Anatomy. U predgovoru postoji vrlo interesantna paralela između vaših arhitektonskih crteža i ilustracija u biologiji i prirodoslovlju. Moglo bi se reći da su vaši crteži po objektivnosti načina prikazivanja i vrlo preciznom načinu crtanja vrlo slični ilustracijama botaničara ili anatomista. Također je zanimljivo što se takva vrsta prikaza mijenja od projekta do projekta, od jednog mjerila do drugog. U knjigama Pet Architecture i Made in Tokyo imate jednu vrstu arhitektonskih crteža, a ovdje sasvim drugačiju, vrlo preciznu i naprednu. Možete li nam reći nešto o načinu na koji se služite crtežima kao arhitektonskim alatima?

BOW–WOW
Uvijek stremimo pronalaženju jedinstvene prezentacije onoga što želimo prikazati. U našoj prvoj knjizi Made in Tokyo htjeli smo prikazati vrlo normalan okoliš, ne samo za Japance nego i za strance. Za ljude iz drugog grada i druge kulture fotografija možda ne obuhvaća dovoljno. Potom počnemo crtati ono što vidimo i objašnjavati što je osobito u svakom slučaju. Primjerice, Super Car School iz knjige Made in Tokyo je samo supermarket, ali koji na svom krovu ima i vozačku školu. Ima poligon za vožnju, ulične svjetiljke, automobile, nizbrdice za vježbanje kočenja. I u knjizi Pet Architecture Guide Book elementi koji izviru iznutra vrlo su bitni za shvaćanje prostornog iskustva svakog pojedinca. Mi tu kvalitetu prostora - da je zgrada sličnog mjerila kao i klima uređaj ili samoposlužni automat - nazivamo "prilagođavanjem".

Oris
U svojoj drugoj knjizi Pet Architecture Guide Book koristite prikaz čovjeka sa psom, što je vrlo zgodno za stjecanje utiska o veličini zgrade koja je zapravo vrlo malena.

BOW–WOW
Sama zgrada je vrlo mala, tako da elementi koji su kasnije dodani oko nje, kao samoposlužni aparat ili vanjska jedinica klimatizacijskog uređaja, imaju vrlo jak utjecaj na njen izgled. Made in Tokyo i Pet Architecture Guide Book pomoći će vam u spoznavanju Tokyja kroz njegovu arhitekturu. U tom slučaju ljudi mogu čitati arhitekturu, analizirati je ili promatrati kao dio urbanog krajobraza. U četvrtoj knjizi, u Graphic Anatomy pokušali smo pokazati i naše arhitektonske detalje i ljudsko ponašanje prema svakodnevnim predmetima. U njoj je nacrtan odnos između ljudskog ponašanja i građevnih elemenata i prostorne organizacije. Primjerice, u tako malim kućama prozori postaju iznimno bitni. Ti su crteži prvotno nacrtani u našem uredu kao tehnički nacrti i detalji za gradnju, a potom su studenti dodali perspektive sa svakodnevnim predmetima i životnim situacijama kao što su sjedenje u kući ili uživanje okoliša iz unutrašnjosti kuće. Prozori, osim toga, omogućuju stjecanje životnih vještina kontroliranjem odnosa unutarnjeg i vanjskog. Knjiga je izdana kao katalog naše izložbe u Tokyju da bi se lakše shvatili modeli u mjerilu 1:20, izloženi u galeriji. Publika je ponijela knjigu sa sobom u izložbeni prostor kako bi mogla uspoređivati naše crteže i modele. detaljima, poput knjiga s detaljima arhitekata Makija i Anda, iz kojih smo učili dok smo bili studenti.
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Oris
In this interview, we would like to talk about a few issues relating to your work, first of all your drawings as your hallmark, and your published research, and on the other hand your built work, especially on the micro scale of single family houses, the hypercontextuality of that architecture and site specifics. Maybe we should start with you last book, Graphic Anatomy. There is an interesting thing in the foreword, some kind of parallel between your architectural drawings and illustrations in biology and natural history. We could say that your drawings are, in an objective kind of representation and very precise way of drawing, quite similar to a botanist’s or anatomist’s illustrations. It is also interesting that this kind of representation changes from project to project, from scale to scale. You have one kind of architectural drawing in Pet Architecture and Made in Tokyo and quite another here, very precise and advanced. Can you tell us something about your ways of using drawings as architectural tools?

BOW–WOW
We always try to find a unique presentation on what we want to show. In our first book, Made in Tokyo, we wanted to show a very normal environment, not only for Japanese people, but also for foreigners. For people, from another city, from another culture, a photograph may not be comprehensive enough. Then we start to draw what we saw, and to explain what is special in each case. For example, Super Car School from Made in Tokyo is just a supermarket, but it also has a driving school on the roof. It has a driving course; streetlights, cars, slopes for brake training. Also in the Pet Architecture Guide Book, the elements spilling over from inside are quite important to understand the spatial practice by each individual. We call this spatial quality "customization" when the building is at a very similar scale to an air conditioner or vending machine.

Oris
In your second book, Pet Architecture Guide Book you picture a man with a dog, which is quite nice to get an impression of the size of a building which is actually quite small.

BOW–WOW
The building itself is very small so the elements lately added around the building, such as vending machines or air conditioning exterior units, have a very strong impact on the building’s appearance. Made in Tokyo and Pet Architecture Guide Book help you understand the city of Tokyo through its architecture. So the architecture can be read by people, or can be analyzed or observed as part of the urban landscape. In the fourth book, Graphic Anatomy, we also tried to show our architectural detail and human behaviour with daily objects. The relationship between people’s behaviour and building elements and spatial organization is drawn in it. For example, a window becomes very important in such small houses. These drawings were initially drawn by Bow-Wow’s staff as the technical detail drawings for the construction, then added perspectives by students with daily objects and human behaviour such like how to sit in the house, how to enjoy the surrounding environment from inside the house. Windows also gather life skills on controlling the relationship between inside and outside. The book was published as the catalogue of our exhibition in Tokyo for the better understanding of the 1/20 models exhibited in the gallery. Visitors brought this book to the exhibition space and could compare our drawings and the 1/20 models. This book is also our response to the previous detail books, such as Maki’s, Ando’s, etc, that we learned when we were students.
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