In 2018, HOH Architects was asked by the Dutch Embassy in Japan and JNACA (Japan-Netherlands Architecture and Cultural Association) to give form and substance to a workshop of several days in Ukiha. Ukiha is located on the island of Kyushu, adjacent to Fukuoka and on the Chikugo River. Because of its location on the river, the village benefits from the clean running water for growing rice. The soil is fertile and the fields are full of flowering persimmon trees. Over time, however, many residents have moved away from agricultural Ukiha. Younger generations have migrated to Japan’s big cities for economic reasons.
The workshop was part of the curriculum of undergraduate students at Fukuoka University. The students were tasked with exploring how Ukiha can once again become an attractive place to live for young people. To identify the qualities and opportunities of the place and the area, we used the mental mapping method to look at Ukiha with different eyes. We mapped the soft side of the built and unbuilt environment. The layering of personal and student perspectives creates a narrative area biography. An area biography makes a place, a neighbourhood, transparent in the way we actually experience the built environment: we see, hear, smell all kinds of things at the same time. All these personal impressions reveal the qualities and possibilities of Ukiha and give directions in which Ukiha could develop.
