I Visited Japan's Most Mysterious Places...

As a Japan obsessive and modern architecture lover, this vlog was one of my top 2-3 favourites in a long while, maybe all year, Thank you very much, Dami.
I very much like Ando-sensei, but I hadn't heard that anecdote about his visit to the Pantheon, I guess it makes a lot of sense and explains some of the spaces he designed, in the Chichu Museum and the Benesse Art House in Naoshima for example (I haven't seen Teshima yet). Just spectacular. I also was quite struck by Kenzo Tange's St Mary's cathedral in Tokyo.
As for a space that's stuck in my mind, I'm going to choose two: the Grande Arche de la Defense and Prada Aoyama. It's just about the geometry for me, just feasting the eyes on those lines and those surfaces, no other senses involved in my case...

one of the most magical experiences I've had that resonates greatly with the feelings of tranquility explored through this video would be my time in Arashiyama. I've never felt so close to nature and taking a traditional boat ride down the river slowed down time for me. It gave me the time to appreciate the surrounding greenery, the people of that area, but most importantly this experience left in me a strong feeling of collected satisfaction. (also there was a monkey park and they were funny hehe)

It would be amazing to see you do a video on Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was designed by Zaha Hadid

Are there places in Vancouver with unique design elements?

Nice! Love you work @DamiLee

Being effortless is the very nature of meditation.

Thanks to you and your team for such a well put-together video.

My drafting table is the place that I see. It is built with pieces of discarded necessities of the past. There is a plant, very near. It's in a pot. Its shadows dance across a plain white wall as the light configuration dances over the table. The wood smells like incense and lemon oil. The ink spray has dried, like the shadow of a rain that will fall forever. The old classroom chair reminds me to doodle during class. It takes me there. The space is very small. There is no heat. The books are within reach. They are the reminder of community. The sunlight pours in during golden hour, but the space remains mostly dark somehow, even with the plain white walls. It is always welcoming. It's humble, and sometimes in the middle of the night, you will hear me laughing at the silliness that meets me there, there on my plain, white paper; amongst the plain white walls, and under the chior of lamps.

I'm really impressed with the production of the video and DamiLee's ability to articulate experiences. I find it interesting that I have heard Japanese designers and architects describe their spaces as beauty and function of light, not shadow or darkness.

Btw. As a graphic designer, i can really appreciate how clean your PDF layouts are at end. chefs kiss

can still experience crossing shibuya crossing early in the morning. empty crosswalk save for the few late-nighters on their way to the station. routine, jarring, train noise, but memorable in a way. garbage truck starting and stopping while making their rounds in the distance. store owners sweeping/hosing down their store fronts. visually, the storefronts by the crosswalk area completely transform as stores open, withdrawing their shutters. dydo trucks. it makes it hard to believe that a place so famously busy can be so empty. its a different type of peace; like a shibuya hangover

One great place I got to visit this year was the rock formation called Trolltunga in Norway. Once you see for yourself the grandeur of the Ringedalsvatnet as seen from the top of the mountain and even on the way there, you start to understand the visual aesthetics of old Norse architecture as well as its functionality. From the ascent through streams and slabs of stone, to the walk between the melting glaciers, to the sheer drops that you see on the side of the trail, all the way until you get to the site of the rock formation. All the time you are accompanied by the ever-present wind, its chill and its bite, and the sound of your footsteps. And then you see the valley and the mountains across it, huge walls that remind you of the houses of giants. No even the voices of the other hikers can distract you from the beauty and the reverence the landscape transmits.
And then, when you are back in the quiet little village of Tyssedal in the middle of the Fjord, you go and visit the Old Power Plant Museum by the water and you see a vision out of a Steampunk novel, with a unique beauty that was the product of early 1900's, yet functional and a matter of pride for the locals. You can see the reflection of the serenity and majesty of the mountains in those old buildings.

😍😍😍😍😍

Such a great video as always!!! Thanks

Although beautifully shot, I disliked both the museum and the cathedral.
They remind me of Brutalist architecture entirely too much (albeit done about as well as that can be done), and I dislike the use of naked concrete, rather intensely.

The meditation structure is lovely, but nothing like that would work in a Colorado winter. Unfortunately.

That last structure in the forest, and the way it interacts with wind and sound and water is amazing.
But again, too much exposed concrete. 🙁

Probably my favorite place in the world is Grand View Campground, at the headwaters of Long Draw Reservoir, which extends into the northern edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The entry to the campground lies to the southwest, and Long Draw Road opens out into a grassy valley.
To the south-southwest across the valley, the snow-clad peaks of the Never Summer Mountains float in the clear blue Colorado sky.

To the southeast, across the shimmering water that reflects the deep green of the pines, a ridgeline rises as it runs from north to south.
Directly across from the campground, a knob of granite, wrapped in those pines, rises abruptly for hundreds of feet above the water, to reach dirty white slabs of snow that cling to the top until warmer days more than halfway through the year.

The reservoir widens to the north as it approaches the dam and the deep green of the water gives way to reflections of the sky -- crystal blue for much of the day, until the misty clouds of afternoon rain darken the waters.

The bald eagles that perch on jagged shards of dead trees at the base of the knob disregard the weather as they leap to soar above the lake and plunge into the water, blue or gray, to emerge with trout trapped in talons.

Early in the morning, mule-deer trip lightly across the dusty gravel center of the campground, ears twitching and bright eyes watching the interloping humans with curious alertness.
Late in the afternoon, heavy cloven hooves thump and crunch across the delicate prints, as moose emerge from the scattered trees northwest of the reservoir and move their nervous bulk to the water to dine on succulent green.

The arrival of the moose, nervous tons topped with antlers spread wide, marks a time for stillness for those along the way.
The mind fills with the wind in the trees, the smell of needles and grass and smoke, the coolness of stone, the calmness of the lake, the spatter of rain.

The dull brown eyes of the moose, though framed with long lashes, see the motionless interlopers as brightly coated, oddly smelling stones wrapped in wood smoke, and pass through the camp with a quickening of pace.

Only as the moose near the water do the interlopers move and chatter and click -- and keep a respectful distance.
Few know of the small campsite that takes no reservations, and those fortunate enough to find a place, there, wish to never appear in stories of foolishness.

Thank you! It's been 15 years since I have left Japan and this video really hit home for me.

Thank you, you and your team have just made a fantastic work.

I think the Holocaust Building in Berlin was really intense. I‘va had a really narrow and depressing and overwhelming feeling inside. Not positive but the concrete made a really powerful feeling.

Hi, I would love to buy your 15 day Architectural itinerary of Japan however I have 2 queries before I pull the plug. Do I need to speak Japanese for that trip? Can I have a budget cost for that trip? Thx

Thank You for taking Me back to Japan & Architecture .
In 2006 I was lucky to meet Tadao Ando while touring in his Church of Light, and to sit with Shin Takamatsu at his table to talk and draw with his purple pencils.
Both Men and their architecture had inspired me to study design and architecture.
I was also impressed with the Miho Museum in Shigaraki by I.M.Pei. Following a path, discovering a viewpoint, control of light, volume, sound, temp, air flow, detail, pattern, repetition (much like Frank Lloyd Wright)…
Similar as your experiences and analysis, these places awaken your senses.❤

While I understand that every works need to be paid, I don't understand why you are not making the PDF free? I mean with your video it is easy to do a research on Google and do an itinerary.

🌸

I find myself strangely conflicted over the first few buildings. The design is so elegant and concrete so brutal in contrast to it, leaves me with a slightly unsettled feeling.

This was beautiful. Thank you!

Master Dima

Muchas gracias, sigo tus videos y tu pagina web, me gusta la forma en describes arquitectura y el entorno, puedo percibir tus emociones. Percepción siempre inspiradora e inteligente. Felicidades a ti y al equipo creativo. Saludos desde México. Te sigo...

Visually gorgeous video but good good gods above, is this what architects think about all day. The engaging host is a walking Richard Ayoade book.... "What on EARTH are you talking about and why is it taking so long to talk about?".
Like I say, visually gorgeous but "Whut?" 😅

Thank you for sharing these observations and insights. The cinematography was lovely too!

Thank you. Your videos and presentations are highly enjoyable. As an artist I was often guided towards architecture and similar disciplines. If I had your videos to go with I would have easily pursued it. But alas… no regrets.

Dami and her crew knocked it out of the park with this video. She should pitch this as a travel show. Like a food travel show but for design and architecture. Thank you for the travel guide!

Inspiring video. Beautifully presented and beautifully shot. Thank you for sharing the sites and congrats on your first meditation retreat!

Fascinating, thank you.

Japans been on my places I want to visit for sure,

Hi Dami, you most certainly did a brilliant job of relaying to us the essence of what the place you visited feels like. For some of us, this video would be the closest we would ever get to be at such places. Thank you for taking us to such amazing places, and teaching us how to fully appreciate it.

Dami, big fan of your videos. They are a delight to admirers of architecture like me and my partner!
I’m sad to point out though, that the part “Eastern philosophy is based on Buddhism and Shintoism” is not correct in my opinion. First, I believe it should be “East Asian philosophy” (Japan, Korea, China and Vietnam should be included in this I feel). Second, Shintoism is uniquely Japanese, and I feel your statement can cause misunderstanding to the people who aren’t familiar with Eastern philosophy. Eastern philosophy as various and deep as it is is based on Buddhism (which itself has so many sources and schools, not only Zen 禅宗 but 教宗 and 密教 etc), Confucianism, animism, nomad lifestyle of Manchu and Mongol, Daoism, early nationalism and etc.
As a non Japanese Asian person living in Japan for 13 years, I feel like despite of global awareness of non-Japanese Asian cultures in the past decade has grown exponentially, the outside world’s view of Japan=Asia is still prevailing by in large, and I hate to see your very thoughtful essay contribute to that misunderstanding. Thank you so much and I'm looking forward to the new wonderful videos!

I feel when I hear you You're right, I can be an architect

I think ii felt the same way when i went there but i was unable to understand what i was missing or why. I got lockdown in tokyo because of the pandemic and it ruined my trip.

props for the cinematography but the yawnfest dailogue would put a leopard on crack to sleep. smacks of the tosh I had to put up with when I first moved to Japan 20 years ago and got lumped in with 'japanophiles' living with me at the gaijin house, and jeeezus were those peeps draining. walking around in their yukata and geta to 'blend in' when they look daft, trying to over analyze everything we came across and in love with their own voices. 'oh you know how that temple looks old but it's new at the same time- yes in fact I believe they call that 'mono no aware' - it's the beauty of transience don't you know? it's the pathos that represents the impermanence that the Japanese so deeply appreciated by the archi--"
and it'd be like "bro.....please....save it for the thesis, I'm getting yakitori and a beer"

🤣🤣🤣アフォや〜

Thanks for such a thought provoking video. I do not know why I have had an affinity with Japanese culture, design and architecture all my life despite never having been there. I do find Tadao Ando's structures to be too brutalist for me but there is no denying that they are beautiful. I think i prefer the more traditional Japanese designs that use natural materials like the retreat by Shigeru Ban. I also thought Ryue Nishizawa's structure was amazing , complex yet simple and in harmony with it's surroundings as well as engaging all 5 senses and time. I think that of all the architectural wonders I have been privileged to visit, just sitting on a rock next to Bear Run looking at Fallingwater and listening to the first flakes of snow of the season hit the leaves of the trees in the surrounding forest as the water of the run went past me was much more profound than the building itself. I think that feeling is what FLW might have been trying to capture by plunking a house down on top of his clients favorite sitting rock.

I am confused. A video about japanese architecture not talking about metabolism. Furthermore you more have the experience of a east asian tourist, who tend to plan trips very methodical. One will never understand or exeperience the beauty of japan without getting lost or finding out what is around the next corner.

p.s.

Apperently you missed to visit the miho museum. That is one of the most astonishing archtiture one can see in japan (sure the architect is not japanese, but chinese)

I'm Japanese, but there were many places I didn't know!

Not if you go to a tourist hotel 😂

New make up team, huh dami? Keep trickin them playboys queen

i tried describing everything i could see and feel from 49.78653920719676, -97.15474348185724 but even before i got past a 5' radius i was already tired of the exercise. when you really try to be aware of all the objects in the world, and all the microscopic little creatures you realize how much you tune out everyday. very engaging video thanks to all who made it happen

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤

love all your videos and this one is exceptional, thank you

A space that stood out to me would be the south rim of the Grand Canyon. That may seem like a pedestrian example at first. Having lived in Florida, the experience of approaching the canyon was like approaching the beach; there seemed to be an approaching horizon of absence in vegetation. When the canyon came into view, there was a subtle and unusual sense of vertigo: one never has to focus on such distant objects at a downward angle. Sitting at an observation point, one merely has to raise the camera and click haphazardly to capture a beautiful picture. Life is usually quite monochromatic and devoid of variation in depth and texture in comparison to what you see there. It really has to be seen to appreciate.

I've been living in Japan since 15 years and I've never heard of seen any of these places before.

Simple geometries creating a sense of harmony is just the best