About

“Homes must be built” — this was a common concern for us all.

These are the words written by Kon Wajiro as he walked the streets of Tokyo after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and investigated the barracks. With extreme weather and accompanying disasters occurring one after another, a simple question arises today as to where we should be building these “homes.” We all need a place to live. But where? And how?

Places that we have lived in will no longer be livable. There will be no need to live in such places. These places will become abandoned. It will no longer be a matter of either permanent housing or temporary housing. Our conception of neighbors will change. We may no longer have people living next door. Organisms, things, the climate will be immediate. Our notion of living is no longer what it used to be.

Perhaps it is time to face what we had deemed as non-existent. They have always been close by and transforming slowly, gently. Rather than feeling anxious about the unfamiliar changes, let’s first start by observing signs of our reality. Listen carefully, smell, and catch the slightest of movements.

Here, we will carry out small researches from a number of perspectives and convey the current conditions of habitations through multitudes of expressions, such as words, music, and scent.

This is a project where we experience the scenes from our reality first-hand and where we imagine the “habitations” that lay before us.

Contact: info@newhabitations.com