In 2013, famous Japanese architects Takaharu and Yui Tezuka joined the workshop in Grožnjan for the first time. In the meantime, they became regular visitors of Grožnjan and professors of the workshop. Since this summer marks their 10th time in Grožnjan, we are celebrating this special occasion with a small Grožnjan themed exhibition about their work.
The exhibition is conceived in three parts — their projects, workshops, and the experience of Grožnjan.
Although their catalogue consist of hundreds of projects and realisations, just a couple of them are shown here. Fuji kindergarten and Matsunoyama Natural Science Museum were extensively and often showed during the workshops. The Fushi resort was probably shown here for the first time ever, in the less formal atmosphere after the official part of the lecture. Some of their projects were influenced by Grožnjan, such as Bancho Church (Church of Ladder of Angel) which was inspired by Church of St. Vincent. Famous Niijima Junior College Chapel which was elected as one of the best buildings in year 2022 drew inspiration from green pergola in Taverna Bastia.
Every year Taka is painting beautiful aquarels depicting the specific atmosphere of Grožnjan and Istria. Usually in the morning while the students are still asleep, sometimes during field trips or the workshop sessions. This part of the exhibition consists of selected paintings and memories.
Each year, Tezukas prepare the theme for the workshop, write the statement and conceive the assignment for the students. Main focus of the workshops is always on discovering the spirit of the location while insisting on the concept and development of the idea. The worskhop projects are meant to be done without any budget, with anything that comes in participant’s hands, which can often come surprising for the participants. Workshops often relate to kids, phenomena and experiences while the architecture and objects themselves fall into secondary category.
2013 — Architecture versus design / Kawaii
2014 — Architecture and Cooking
2015 — SpiritSpirtiSpirit
2016 — Architecture and Music
2017 — The Spice of architecture
2018 — Kids and architecture
2019 — Time Capsule
2022 — Childlikeness
2023 — Finding Kronos
2024 — Invisible city only for the Infants
JMI CENTRE GROŽNJAN
Umberta Gorjana 2, 52429 Grožnjan, Croatia
groznjanschoolofarchitecture@gmail.com