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The Roles and Tasks of Town Architects in Japan
A Proposal for the establishment of Kyoto Community
Design League
Shuji Funo
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Introduction
In 2000, I published a book entitled "The Naked Architect:
An Introduction to Town Architect System in Japan"
(henceforth abbreviated as "Introduction"),
in which I discuss the roles and tasks of new profession
in Japan called "Town Architect" or "Community
Architect". I have since received various comments
and responses to this book. In this paper, I will introduce
my concept of "System of Town Architect" in
Japan, in addition to explaining its background and proposing
an organization named "Kyoto Community Design League"
as a case study.
I am not suggesting that current Western systems should
be introduced directly into Japan. The institution of
"Town Architect" as it exists in Europe varies
widely from region to region, according to local governments.
Although we may learn a great deal from the experiences
in foreign contexts, we still require more information
on the town architect (or community architect) systems
in Western countries. The starting point here is how to
deal with the issues faced by Japanese architects. I developed
the idea of system of "Town Architect" based
on my observations of the realities in which Japanese
architects and planners are working. My conclusion is
that we need a new profession to act as a coordinator,
mediator and facilitator between local governments and
local communities. I am tentatively proposing to call
this new profession "Town Architect".
Part of the background from which I have developed the
system of "Town Architect" is the impact of
the Great Hanshin Earthquake, from which we may learn
many lessons regarding urban planning and community development.
The Great Hanshin Earthquake demonstrated the fatal consequences
of the lack of public participation in urban planning
processes in Japan*1.
There is another important reason for Japanese architects
to approach and advocate the local community. We are currently
witnessing a change from an age of "scrap and build"
to an age of "maintenance of stock". Japanese
architects cannot survive if they enlarge their sphere
of work.
1. What is 'Town Architect'?
'Town Architect' here is defined simply as a professional
architect who is constantly engaged in town planning.
Although local government should take primary responsibility
for town planning, it is highly doubtful whether it can
play an important role, due to the absence of a framework
for implementation of projects based on the real needs
of the community*2. It remains true that local government
lacks autonomy in terms of urban planning, though the
situation has been changing since the unified decentralization
laws were enacted in April 2000.
The concept of 'Town Architect' is not new, and such
work is being done by many planners and architects in
Japan. However, the 'Town Architect' must have a real
relevance for the needs of local communities, although
he or she should not necessary live in the area. It is
a fundamental rule that the 'Town Architect' must be constantly
involved in the major issues of the community development.
The architect is basically an advocate for the client,
and at the same time acts as a third party to coordinate
the relationship between building contractor and client.
The reason an architect is considered to be a professional,
similar to a doctor or lawyer, is that the job is intimately
involved with life and property. The 'Town Architect'
is an advocate for local community, but does not only
defend the benefits of local community, also acting to
coordinate the interests of both local governments and
local communities.
The basic definition of 'Town Architect' is as follows:
A' Town Architect' establishes the organization
and proposes meetings that promote community development.
'Town Architect' is an organizer, agitator, coordinator
and advocate for town planning.
B' Town Architect' is involved with the
entire field of town planning, and need not be a licensed
architect in Japan. The chief of local government (mayor)
could also be called a 'Town Architect'
C' Town Architect' is here referred to mainly
in terms of physical planning, i.e. the form of towns
and their spatial arrangement. However, we cannot separate
the "software" from the "hardware".
Management and maintenance of spaces is much more important
than new construction. Nevertheless, we cannot neglect
the quality of community development and characteristics
of a town expressed as "townscape". 'Town Architect'
is responsible for the form of towns and townscapes.
D' Anybody who designs their own house can
be a 'Town Architect' and architect. An architect is any
person related to the built environment. I believe a trained
architect has the ability to turn concepts into physical
forms, and therefore should act as a 'Town Architect'.
2. Why 'Town Architect'?
There is a further reason why architects should take the
role of 'Town Architect' and become involved with urban
planning. Western architects undertake urban planning
as a matter of course, but cases where architects have
taken part in urban planning are very rare in Japan. The
architect is generally considered to be a kind of carpenter
or developer. Times have changed; the age of 'scrap and
build' has disappeared with the bursting of the bubble
economy.
The 21st Century is said to be an age of 'stock'. We are
already recognizing the limits of the globe in terms of
energy crises, resource and food shortages, and environmental
problems. It is obvious that we cannot continue to demolish
buildings so easily. We must utilize existing buildings
and our architectural heritage as much as possible.
Here we draw upon statistical data to outline the situation
architects are facing in contemporary Japan. The proportion
of GDP invested in the construction industry in Japan
reached 20% immediately after World War II; it was 14.8%
in 1997, and continues to decrease. The central field
of industry in Japan has shifted from agriculture to construction,
but further alteration of the industrial structure is
inevitable. Current Japanese government policy is intended
to reduce the quantity of public works, in order to help
the Japanese economy by cutting down expenses and creating
new industries through the introduction of IT (Information
Technology). The quantity of investment in the construction
industry in the USA was 74.2 trillion (billion) in 1997,
which is approximately the same as Japan (74.6 billion),
although as a proportion of GDP it is only 7.6%. In the
case of European countries, the proportion is even less:
4.3%(B in Britain and 4.5% in France.
It seems highly likely that Japan will follow the pattern
of Western countries in terms of building preservation,
even though the main construction material in Japan (timber)
is different from that of Europe(stone). If investment
in the building industry decreases to the same level as
the USA, it is not unlikely that the number of architects
in Japan will be reduced to half in the near future, or
even to one third, similar to Britain or France. "To
be, or not to be" is the real question
for Japanese architects.
It is obvious Japanese architects must change their roles
and the tasks from those in 20th Century. Two new fields
are extending before us: one is the maintenance of the
existing building stock, and the other is that of town
planning, both of which are based on the same background
factors. The age of "scrap and build" architects,
designing only new buildings, is over. Architects will
be required to establish direct relations with the local
community from the very beginning of a project, and to
be responsible for the maintenance of a facility after
completion. In any case, the architects' reason for being
will be based on their relationship with the local community,
so architects should become "Town Architects".
3. Japanese 'Town Architect'
In "Introduction", I listed the archetypal images
of "Town Architect". These are superintendent
of building permission (verification), design coordinator,
commissioner system, master architect, inspector etc.
Here, I will again classify the images of Town Architect
into several levels according to their required roles
and tasks.
A. Qualified Architect
Japan currently has about 300,000 1st class architects,
600,000 2nd class architects and 13,000 architects specializing
in wooden construction, who are legally qualified. There
are 130,000 architecture firms in Japan, most of which
are small local offices deputizing the procedure of building
checks by local government in place of the client. In
addition to architecture practices specialized in design,
there are also design-build organizations such as general
contractors with design departments. I intend to omit
this latter group in order to establish a simple base
for the formulation of the System of Town Architect. Estimating
a total of 150,000 teams and 1 million licensed architects,
the primary question becomes: how do they get commissions?
The point is, what roles are to be allotted to local architects?
Local architects who are commissioned by local clients
should take part in community activity and community planning.
The carpenters and various craftsmen in pre-modern society
had very close relationships to the local community, not
only through repairing houses and working in gardens,
but also as consultants to the local community. Professions
such as the former local carpenters should be reinvigorated,
and considered to be Town Architects.
B. Network with Local Craftsmen
Town Architect needs to cooperate with local craftsmen
and builders to maintain the local built environment by
repairing and reconstructing houses. Interesting concepts
of professions such as House Doctor or Local Housing Studio
have already been proposed. Kyo-Machiya Sakuzigumi (Group
for Maintenance of Kyoto Town Houses), for example, went
into action in1999.
C. Superintendent of Building Permission
There are approximately 2, 000 superintendents in
local governments all over Japan, responsible for checking
the drawings and documents of every building, based on
the Building Standard Act. As Japan has nearly 3,6000
cities, towns and villages, not every local government
has the necessary superintendent. I base the idea of Town
Architect on the existence of superintendents in each
local government. Superintendents of building permission
may be seen as a prototype for the Town Architect. Although
superintendents of building permission only control building
activity, the Town Architect coordinates a desirable townscape.
Every local government should have at least one Town Architect
who is responsible for the local townscape and contributes
to its upgrading. We need at least outstanding 3,600 Town
Architects in Japan. The current 2,000 superintendents
may have a detailed knowledge of building code, but they
are not specialized in design and therefore need the help
of local architects suitable to be considered a Town Architect.
D. Commissioner System
We have several types of System of Town Architect.
A Town Architect has the most rights if he or she is mayor
or vice-mayor, and is responsible for all building activity.
The system in which a committee consisting of several
architects responsible for townscape is generally called
a "Commissioner System". Japan has several examples
of the commissioner system, including 'Kumamoto Artpolis',
Creative Town Okayama and Toyama Project Creating Faces
of Towns, which are mainly organizations for selecting
an architect to design a specific public facility. Town
Architect is rather similar to a town planning council,
building council and landscape council, of which the former
two have a legal basis. Unified decentralization acts
were enacted in April 2000. The existing council systems
may be continued if they work effectively, otherwise a
new system should be formulated that will be called "System
of Commissioner System.
E. Area Architect (Community Architect)
One commissioner or one committee is usually insufficient
to cover the whole area supervised by a local government,
so a substructure is necessary for local communities.
System of Town Architect needs area architects who will
serve the local community. It may be the case that local
government or Town Architect Committee send area architects
to each community. There are already such systems: various
advisory systems, Btown planning conference system, sending
consultant system. The community may request work from
their area architects.
4. The Tasks of 'Town Architect'
What are the tasks of Town Architect? In "Introduction",
I refer to various systems and methods that may be introduced,
such as Town Watching, Making of Town Plan after One Century,
Open Hearing Selecting Town Architect etc, most of which
are related to the tasks of Town Architect. The most important
tasks are those which area architects can carry out as
extension of their daily work in the neighborhood. The
work of area architects is the basis of Town Architect.
If the commissioner system is introduced as a "System
of Town Architect", the commissioner's term of appointment
should be strictly decided, and his or her practical work
as an architect should be prohibited or limited during
this term. Instead, the commissioner must be given wide
powers and guarantees for his or her works and status.
It is crucial that local governments initiate or support
the Area.
Architect System. Area architects give advice to citizens
who are planning to design their own house, and make proposals
to the local government based on surveys of the area.
We already have various systems, known as Landscape Advisor
System or "Landscape Monitor System". The adjustment
of various ownership relations is an important task for
the Town Architect in the process of implementation. A
town architect who has basic design ability and has been
trained in architectural practice should also study law
and economics. In some cases, Town Architect plays the
role of coordinator between inhabitants and developers.
It is of no use to discuss such systems only in the abstract.
We require a variety of systems adjusted to local conditions
and values rather than a single standard system. Learning
from concrete instances is far more important than discussion,
even if these are only small projects.
The principles are:
1. Start from the details of the familiar built
environment.
2. Continuous effort is most important. Specific
events for campaigning are necessary, but will have little
effect if done in isolation.
3. Consensus amongst the local community is necessary
to maintain the system.
4. Participation.
5. Disclosure is the principal with which to forge
agreement in the neighborhood community.
5. Kyoto Community Design League (Kyoto CDL)
We decided to initiate a social experiment called Kyoto
Community Design League (Kyoto CDL) as a kind of simulation
of the Japanese System of Town Architect. The inaugural
meeting of the Kyoto CDL was held on 27th April 2001.
A network of studios or laboratories of universities and
colleges located in the Kyoto Municipal Area, form the
matrix of the League. Currently, about 25 professors from
10 universities have expressed their will to participate
and declared themselves in favor of the idea of the League.
Several studios from the Kyoto University School of Architecture,
including those leaded by Dr. S. Furusaka, Dr. M. Takada,
Dr. T. Yamagishi and Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama, are participating
in the League, and the editorial board is promoting the
activities of the League.
Each studio takes charge of their allotted area(s), and
carries out a kind of annual field survey, with a minimum
observation period of one day, in order to make records
of the area using common formats(photographs, maps, video
films). The League holds general meetings twice a year,
wherein each team reports the status of the area and proposes
possible prescriptions. All areas are expected to be taken
care of by every studio. Documents open to the public
will be kept in the headquarters of the League. If some
studios manage to establish a close relationship with
the community in their area, they might be requested to
implement a real project. The reason why I propose the
university studio as the basic organizational unit is
that they have staying power and a level of responsibility
and obligation to the local community.
The organization of Kyoto CDL resembles that of Major
League Baseball. A commissioner with a secretariat manages
the headquarters of the League, holding general meetings
and allocating the areas.
1. Participating Teams: The League is basically
open to any group (architecture offices, consultant, etc)).
Its matrix is a network of university studios and educational
institutes, because we can expect lasting participation.
The only membership requirement is successive participation.
2. Constitution of Team: Each team is headed by
a manager (teacher) and consisted of coach (secretary
representative of students) and players (students, community
designers).
3. The work of Participating Teams:
A. Field Surveys (Area Watching): Making records
of the area using the GIS system.
B. Making Karte (prescriptions) of the area and
proposals to the Local Community
C. Participation in General Meetings
D. Implementation
4. Steering Committee:The steering committee consists
of coaches (students) leading the following tasks:
A. General Meetings
B. Coordination of Teams
C. General Communication
5. Kyoto Community Design League (Kyoto CDL) committee: The
Kyoto CDL committee consists of the managers of the teams
and isheaded by a commissioner with a secretariat.
A. Registration of Teams
B. Allotment of Areas
C. Holding of General Meetings, Symposiums
D. Keeping of Records
E. Action Plan
F. Networking with Other Organizations
This idea of a community design league based on regional
inter-university cooperation is easily implemented. The
process and results of Kyoto CDL will be reported again
in the near future.
*1 Lesson from Great Hanshin Earthquake: At 5:46
AM, 17 January 1995, we experienced the Great Hanshin
Earthquake. Collapsing buildings, flying objects (furniture)
and fires killed over 6,000 people. About 300,000 people
lost their houses, and were forced to live in temporary
shelters until the end of August 1995, when the emergency
houses were completed. Even now, over 10, 000 citizens
are living in temporary pre-fabricated houses. Some are
still living illegally in tents in public space such as
parks.
Shortly after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, I walked through
the affected area, 30 km from east to west. What I saw
was a dying city. I had never realized it was possible
for a city to die. At the same time, I saw the scene of
the city's impending rebirth. I realized the importance
of unity and solidarity in an urban community.
The Great Hanshin Earthquake taught us many things in
terms of urban planning and urban communities.
(a) The Power of Nature: We Japanese, and all those
who live in the metropolises of developed countries, tend
to believe man is in complete control of nature. It is
when we experience natural disasters such as floods, typhoons
and earthquakes we understood that this is not correct.
We are likely to forget our fear of nature. As the velocity
of urbanization increases, wasteland and swamps previously
considered unsuitable for human life are developed. Kobe
municipality was thought to be Japan's most advanced city
in terms of urban planning. Cutting the hills and reclaiming
the sea was considered to have killed two birds with one
stone. Nevertheless, we must never forget the power of
nature. It is very important to survey sites carefully
and assess the environment in detail before constructing
new towns. On the other hand, we can reconfirm the splendid
power of nature. I have, for example, seen trees in front
of houses that protect them from fire. It is also very
important to use the potentialities of the land and its
natural power.
(b) The Limitations of Urban Development Strategies:
Those who were affected most severely in Kobe were the
weaker portion of society living in the inner city, the
handicapped, the urban poor, foreign migrants and so on.
The fact reveals that the local government had not improved
inner areas that had required environmental improvement
programs. They had given priority to the new town as if
they were promoters or developers, because it was a more
effective way to develop the city from an economical viewpoint.
As a result, they had ignored the weak of society and
deferred urban renewal projects. The Great Hanshin Earthquake
revealed the limits of such urban growth development strategies.
(c) The Weakness of the Networks of Urban Infrastructures:
The flaws of infrastructure systems were also recognized.
All the railroad lines and trunk roads run east to west,
while very few roads are oriented north to south, because
of topographical conditions. The systems of so-called
"lifelines", i.e. water, electricity and gas
lines, had the same flaws. There are no alternatives or
backup systems. We need multi-pole network systems in
place of one-pole centralized systems.
(d) The Scarcity of Public Space: The most useful
facilities for supporting urban communities after disasters
are public schools (elementary and secondary) for shelter,
and convenience stores for food supply. Neighborhood facilities
are very important in case of emergencies as well as in
daily life. The destruction of hospitals, local government
offices, fire stations and police stations was a very
serious problem. We know that the public servants could
not work in emergencies because they are also affected.
We must build public facilities based on higher standards.
The scarcity of urban public spaces (parks, playgrounds,
sport fields) was fatal because we did not even have space
available in which to build emergency housing.
(e) The Importance of the Autonomy of Urban Settlements:
It was an appalling situation in which people were able
to witness their houses burning and hear cries for help
while unable to do anything about it. We need water, food
supplies and other daily necessaries stored in neighborhood
units. Wells had been buried and the river had been covered
for the sake of convenience, so there was no water available
with which to put out the fire. Urban settlements should
be self-supporting. The autonomy of urban communities
is vital for cooperative assistance.
(f) The Possibilities of Volunteers in Urban Planning:
The volunteers worked hard and well to repair the damage.
Japan had no volunteer system, but volunteers gathered
spontaneously. Non-Profit Organizations must be organized
as network systems to help in daily life as well as emergency
situations. The reconstruction programs after the Great
Hanshin Earthquake have not necessarily gone well for
a number of reasons. Community architecture has not taken
root in Japanese society as yet. Public participation
and bottom-up processes are inevitable in urban development,
especially in cases of urban renewal.
*2 The subject may be considered in terms of the
history of Japanese urban planning policies and technology.
Japan has had the same problems in urban planning policies
and technology from the beginning of their history.
A. Lack of originality: Concepts and systems of
urban planning have always been imported from the West.
We have previously borrowed Baron Haussmann's grand project
for 19th Century Paris, the Nazi notion of national land
planning during the World War II, the concept of Greater
London plan after World War II, the German B-plan in the
early 80s, and so on. There is nothing implicitly wrong
with learning from foreign systems, but they do not necessarily
work well in a different context.
B. The absence of subjectivity in urban planning
/ public passivity: It is not clear who actually plans
and designs the city in Japan. Local government is controlled
by the central government, and is unable to make any decisions
regarding urban planning. In addition, there are no established
systems for public participation and advocate planning.
C. The weakness of financial background specialized
in urban planning /the unstable planning board: There
are no funds allocated specifically for urban planning.
The amount depends on the annual budget. Policy is easily
altered by the mayor, who may then be replaced by election.
D. The immaturity of public sense that limits the
private right for urban planning: Japan is often considered
to be the most liberal country in terms of building design.
This is because there is no close relation between the
building code and the urban planning law (block regulations).
E. 'Scrap and build' urban processes / The poor
quality of urban stock: We have been perpetuating a scrap
and build process for the half-century following the war.
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