ABSTRACT
Today, family structure, types of employment, and life-work balance have become diversified. Also, Japan is facing a historically unprecedented decrease in population and super-aging society. When each of us is seeking their own way of life and living, clearly conventional housing is not enough. Pioneers of the “place-making industry” found vacant houses and buildings, which were not available for sale on the conventional real estate market. They conducted highly individual renovations of these buildings and started to create new forms of living and working. I think the creativity of these inhabitants represents the way of open architecture shifting to the next phase.
The subject of consideration here is no longer a “box.” The important subject is how to deal with the already sufficient supply of “boxes” as spatial resources and how to tailor existing boxes into spaces for a new and vibrant life.
The third phase of open architecture, which started in Japan in the 21st century, is still developing with people’s philosophy of life at its core. In Chapter 4, I simply report the cases which I know such as the new migration phenomenon. In these days an increasing number of young people are migrating to vacant houses and buildings in rural areas. This 21st century migration phenomenon was not seen in the second phase of open architecture. It is unique to the third phase, which revolves around people’s life philosophy.
In this chapter you will find more interesting cases
