Kyohei Sakaguchi

I try anything that catches my attention. That’s a way of staying healthy, for me. Kumamoto City is really convenient. In fact, the place where I make glass, the studio where I make ceramics, the bookstore where I buy books, and the place where I learn how to knit sweaters are all in the neighbourhood. So it feels like I’m living a spontaneous lifestyle to the fullest.

I go to bed at 9pm every night and wake up at 4:30am every day. After waking up, I write about 2,000 words. Then, I take a two-hour walk. When I’m not too tired, I also cook. During my two-hour walk, I usually visit various stores and look for tableware. But it’s not fun to just buy things, so I decided to make them myself!

I have no intention of creating a masterpiece. I always have an architectural way of thinking, and I actually see everything I do from the perspective of an architect. So, for me, this room itself could be seen as my architectural work.

It’s not about how to design. What’s important is behaviour. Architecture is created by what you do in a given space every day, your movements and activities. There are not many designer items in this room. The sofa is by Hans Wegner, and I also have a Charlotte Perriand chair, but I bought them because I thought, ‘I could make this myself’. This room was created by collecting various things little by little. The legs of this coffee table are made from an outdoor fire pit. It is so DIY. It’s almost like I’m creating a kind of utopia, where some things are changed from one place to another, and where some things are exchanged for others (art works for crops, for example).

Yes. When I was still a student, I started to pay attention to many interesting houses built by people on the streets—the type of houses we were not taught about in my architecture course. For example, I once came across a shed built on wheels so that it can be moved as soon as needed. Or public staircases considered as living spaces, in which stairs are used as shelves, chairs, tables, and more. The living spaces of people living on the streets constantly adapt to their environment, regardless of location. I called those houses ‘zero yen houses’ and documented them as part of my graduation project: houses with zero running costs, unfinished houses that will never be completed. Their ‘owners’ collect parts and make improvements to make them more livable as they go along. It’s definitely like this house.

What I also found interesting while researching the ‘zero yen houses’ is that their owners remember exactly where they found each and every piece of material. Like, ‘This pillar was in a trash can in that park’. But what’s even more interesting is that they didn’t need those materials when they found them. They just pick things up because they think, ‘This can be used for something’. That really shocked me.

They imagine all the parts that make up their house and then consider all the possibilities. Even if a part breaks, they don’t throw it away, but imagine how to use it for something else. Something that was once useless might suddenly become useful. So it’s always changing, like water. Maybe my actions now are similar to that way of thinking. Rather than working towards a specific goal line, I’m making things with the feeling that there’s still more to come.

When I’m feeling good, I leave the windows and doors open, and it’s very welcoming. So all kinds of people and animals pass through. But when I’m depressed, it becomes a completely closed-off space—I keep everything locked up at the back over there. I don’t want anyone to see me. I even stay away from my family. The only time I see them is when my partner brings me onigiri (rice balls).

In my case, depression isn’t a bad thing—it’s what gives birth to my work. It’s like a sanatorium where I can shut myself in, or rather it’s more like a cave. And because I write books on being open about depression, this awareness has spread around the neighbourhood and the city. I think it is a really interesting way of forming a community. My partner suggested that I should do an open studio, but it’s difficult. This is the only place where I can protect myself when I’m depressed. It seems like this is a place of healing not only for me, but for others as well. People in this same building who are suffering from depression also have the keys to my house. Just listening to my music and spacing out for about five hours makes them feel better. In a way, this place is an actual shelter. It’s a place for self-care.