TRdesign

The beauty of nature: My travels through Asia

The gardens were just as amazing as their buildings, they went to so much detail with everything, it was great to walk through and come upon a shrine or prayer flag hidden in the foliage, here are some shots!

Design in Asia

Throughout my travels in Asia I came across wonderful design everywhere!  I found inspiring design in architecture, nature, materials and many other places, here are some shots of what I found.

Side of House in Kyoto

Thatched roof, Kyoto

Rain gutter, Kyoto

Rock  Garden, Kyoto

Side of department store in Osaka

Saving the best for last, Tokyo

We ended our travels in Tokyo, the capitol of Japan.  I would have loved to spend more time, there is so much to see and so little time.  We did however get to see a lot of the city.

One of the districts which I would love to have spent a couple of days just walking through is the Harajuku District .  You might recognize the fashions known for this district from Gwen Stefani's Harajuku girls.

Store front in Harajuku District

We also visited the Fish Market, which was a place that I was glad I went to go see but I don't think that I would want to go back.  First you have to get there early in the morning to see all of the action, 4 am early which was hard!  You are up close and personal with all of the vendors who are selling the freshest fish you have ever seen to local restaurant owners. 

They fly through the fish market on these little karts delivering the goods to trucks, you have to watch your step or they will run you over!

Auctioning off the big catches of the day...

and the goods for sale...

Overall traveling throughout Asia was an amazing experience, including delicious cuisine, we did however need to get a Mexican fix in Tokyo!

Lost in Translation

Before heading to Tokyo we stopped in Kasugai City for a week to work on a project with students from Chubu University.  We worked on teams of 4, with two Chubu students and two Ohio University students.  Our project was to re-design Kanayama train station.  This is a large transition station where subways and trains all go through this one location.  We were faced with the challenge of making this transition place clear, and easy to navigate for locals and tourists.  Although it was challenging at first to get past the language barrier all of the teams ended the week with great projects, and life long friends.

From right: Megui, Me, Andrea, Gan, Kevin and Shane

Here is an original image of the Kanayama Station

South Entrance

And here is our final design.  Shane, came up with the idea of having graduated steps for the ceiling to allow more light to enter, much like Santiago Calatrava's Winery Ysios Winery

Interior shot of new Kanayama Station

It was a great experience being immersed in life at Chubu University, one of the highlights for everyone was the dining experience.  Unlike the usual buffet styling dining in most colleges, at Chubu you pick out what you want to eat by looking at plastic plates of the dishes then at a vending machine you enter the number you want and put in the correct amount of change.  From there you are given a ticket with the number on it, and you give it to cooks who makes it right there for you. 

I had a great experience at Chubu University and learned a lot from the students about the design process.

Timeless Kyoto

Upon arriving in Kyoto we emerged from the subway station to see directly in front of us the historical Imperial Palace.  Built during the Edo Period (1603- 1868) the Imperial Palace was where the Emperor and the capitol of Japan used to reside, in 1868 the capitol and Emperor moved to Tokyo. 

In Kyoto we went to numerous temples, here are some shots of the temples and meditative rock gardens.

Images from Ginkakuji Temple

Kiyomizudera Temple, dates back hundreds of years but the present buildings date back to 1633
wikipedia

Visitors tying prayers



While in Kyoto we visited the area of town known as Gion, you might recognize the name from Memoirs Of A Geisha .  This is an old area of town where you can still see young women in the typical geisha attire.

Discovering Osaka

After Hong Kong we took a short plane ride into Osaka.  While in Osaka we saw temples, ate delicious food and took in all of the culture.

We went to the Umeda Station area where we went up in the Umeda Sky building

You ride up in this very long escalator which emerges onto a platform high in the air that over looks the entire city of Osaka

view from Circle Tower of Osaka

Also around the area are amazing sculptures and architecture

Adventures In A Foreign Land

I recently did a study abroad throughout Asia for a month.  We started off in Beijing with students from  Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication .  While at BIGC we worked on a week long project where we created a publication layout.  The content of the layout compared the idea of 'home' in the United States and in China.  It was an amazing experience working with the students and having to work through issues such as language, culture and personalities.

Here are some of the great students that we worked with at BIGC

From right: Tien Xiu, Me, Andy Phillips and Ci Ci

While in Beijing we also visited some amazing sites such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and other amazing architecture

View from the Great Wall


Forbidden City


Temple of Heaven

After Beijing we traveled on to Hong Kong, Hong Kong was a very unique place, it is a combo of big city in a tropical environment

View from my room

View from a hike above Hong Kong