Esoteric Survey

The Steel Pavilion by Kunio Maekawa is one of the few original Expo 70 buildings still standing. It now houses a museum dedicated to Expo 70.  A piece of the Expo 70 Tower by Kiyonari Kikutake (below) sits near the building. Expo 70 Tower Kenzo Tange's vision for the Expo master plan was a futuristic aerial city that was based on the Metabolism movement. He worked with a dozen architects; including Fumihiko Maki, Noboru Kawazoe, Koji Kamiya and Noriaki Kurokawa. Takara Pavilion by Kisho Kurokawa Source: Archpaper Toshiba-IHI Pavilion by  Kisho Kurokawa A model is on display. Those planters look like the same ones used at Kisho Kurokawa's  Nakagin Capsule Tower . I have no idea what this is.  Takeshi Otaka designed the  cherry blossom used as the symbol of the Expo. The identity guidelines were on display. Sori Yanagi stools are used in an area playing period footage of the expo. Despite the music,...

Mingei of Japan at the Mingei International Museum It probably isn't a surprise that the Mingei museum has a fantastic collection of Mingei artifacts. This included a number of recent acquisitions. The exhibit was curated by the museum's director, Rob Sidner. Soetsu Yanagi’s writings are on the walls. He, along with Shoji Hamada and Kawai Kawai Kanjiro, are the fathers of the Japanese Mingei movement.   Soetsu is also the father of Sori Yanagi. Here is baby Sori in 1915. Ceramics by Shoji Hamada Shoji Hamada Hamada, Bernard Leach, Soetsu Yanagi, and Marguerite Wildenhain at Black Mountain College , 1952 Source: American Craft Council Kawai Kanjiro. I went to his house,  here . Kokeshi Nakashima table and chairs flanked by Sori Yanagi lamps, stool, and teapot. Sori Yanagi Mingei of Japan runs until October 2, 2016 More info here

Best Kept Secret: The Scripps College Ceramic Collection at  The American Museum of Ceramic Art   The Scripps Collection is legendary. It was almost singlehandedly complied by Fred Marer,  a math professor at Los Angeles City College. He amassed the collection with modest means, mostly through buying the pieces directly from the artists. The exhibition includes over 180 examples, and all are amazing. The exhibition only lasts 10 more days, so I encourage you to do whatever it takes to go see it. I've seen a lot of good pots, but this exhibition is legendary.   There is an enormous wall of 39 plates Michael Frimkess Paul Soldner - "Throwing Naked" - 1966 Fumio Tagasugi Jun Kaneko Peter Voulkos - One of many in the exhibition Stacked Voulkos Monster Voulkos Little Voulkos Bird Voulkos Walking Voulkos Jun Kaneko Robert Arneson Henry Takemoto Another great Takemoto One mor...