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New Floating World 新しい浮世

@new_floating_world

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Winner of the Dallas Architectural Foundation’s McDermott Traveling Fellowship | Following Frank Lloyd Wright in Japan @bradleysliva_

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When I visited Tōshō-gū, an architecture school case-study project came alive.

On an academic note, it was in Prof. Kevin Sloan’s site design course at UT Arlington when I first became familiar with this project; prior to making a connection to Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan.

This site, built into the foothills of Nikkō-renzan in Nikkō, Japan during the Edo era, features sweeping vistas across zig-zagging stone pathways weaving through the shrine complex honoring Tokugawa Ieyasu. A unique ensemble of ornate buildings showcase Gongen-zukuri architecture with lavish gold-leaf carvings.

Each view reveals exceptionally rich detailing and superb craftsmanship which seems to defy time. The entire pathway up the shrine complex features a variety of bronze and stone lanterns and torri gates.

Lastly, the landscape is almost perfectly blended into the site’s solemn atmosphere. Majestic cypress (hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) and sugi, (Cryptomeria japonica) trees grace the site giving it a sense of natural enclosure.

#nikkojapan #2005japan #siteplanning #worldheritagesite taken in Nikkō Tōshō-gū by @new_floating_world

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9 days ago

A page from my passport-size travel book showing a Goshuin stamp from Todai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan. It serves as handwritten proof of a temple visit, combining traditional calligraphy with red cinnabar seals that carry religious and historical meaning. #calligraphylove #japanesecalligrahy #御朱印 by @new_floating_world

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9 days ago

With full appreciation, the reflection of this ensemble of structural composition in the hills of Kyoto resonates with the most delightful of site planning techniques. It’s not only good design, so to speak, it’s artistic.

At Diagio Ji, the landscape painting comes alive.

I stood on spots where Frank Lloyd Wright have stood with his Japanese guides. On these footsteps, I believe that even he was in awe of the site design and dynamic nature of the organic architecture of Japan. #kyotojapan #bengara

京都府宇治市宇治蓮華116 Uji, Kyoto #byodointemple #2005 #CybershotDSCF828 taken in Kyoto, Japan by @new_floating_world

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2 months ago

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Frank Lloyd Wright explored the treasured icons of Japan. This journey impacted the future of American architecture and contributed to his status as an internationally-sensitive master architect. In 2004, I wrote a winning proposal to retrace his traveling route to explore the places he once visited. One profound moment during my 28-day journey included FLW’s Imperial Hotel in Tokyo (1923-1968)—a seismic survivor of the great Kanto earthquake—and having a rare chance explore that extant building bridged a century of east/west architectural synergy.

The McDermott Traveling Fellowship, awarded by the Dallas Architecture Foundation, helped catapult my understanding of the eastern hemisphere’s influence on America’s most prolific and celebrated architects.

Suggested reading:

Meech, Julia. Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art of Japan: The Architect’s other Passion.
New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

Wright, Frank L. The Living City. New York:
Bramhall Press, 1958 by @new_floating_world

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a year ago

In the late 19th century, Frank Lloyd Wright explored the treasured icons of Japan. This journey impacted the future of American architecture and contributed to his status as an internationally-sensitive master architect. In 2004, I wrote a winning proposal to retrace his traveling route to explore the places he once visited. One profound moment during my 28-day journey included FLW’s Imperial Hotel in Tokyo (1923-1968)—a seismic survivor of the great Kanto earthquake—and having a rare chance explore that extant building bridged a century of east/west architectural synergy.

The McDermott Traveling Fellowship, awarded by the Dallas Architecture Foundation, helped catapult my understanding of the eastern hemisphere’s influence on America’s most prolific and celebrated architects. #travel #architecturaltravel

Suggested reading:

Meech, Julia. Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art of Japan: The Architect’s other Passion.
New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

Wright, Frank L. The Living City. New York:
Bramhall Press, 1958 by @new_floating_world

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a year ago

In the late 19th century, Frank Lloyd Wright explored the treasured icons of Japan. This journey impacted the future of American architecture and contributed to his status as an internationally-sensitive master architect. In 2004, I wrote a winning proposal to retrace his traveling route to explore the places he once visited. One profound moment during my 28-day journey included FLW’s Imperial Hotel in Tokyo (1923-1968)—a seismic survivor of the great Kanto earthquake—and having a rare chance explore that extant building bridged a century of east/west architectural synergy.

The McDermott Traveling Fellowship, awarded by the Dallas Architecture Foundation, helped catapult my understanding of the eastern hemisphere’s influence on America’s most prolific and celebrated architects. by @new_floating_world

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a year ago

The stone stairway behind one of the largest gateways in #kyotojapan is lined by an alley of trees. #2005 #blackandwhitephotography #sitedesign by @new_floating_world

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2 months ago

Traditional roof detailing in Kyoto: a crisp spiral kamaton (家紋) on the edge tiles, and playful face ornaments perched along the ridge beam—beautiful craftsmanship in every curve.

#kyotojapan, #家紋, #三つ巴, #kawara 瓦 #2005 by @new_floating_world

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2 months ago

The photo shows a weathered bronze Shishi guardian lion-dog sculpture, whose green patina reflects centuries of exposure at a Japanese temple, a common protective motif in Buddhist architecture.

#kyotojapan #2005 by @new_floating_world

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2 months ago

In 2004—while I was an architecture student at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Architecture—I won the McDermott Traveling Fellowship after I proposed to follow the footsteps of Frank Lloyd Wright’s itinerary to Japan.

Over 28 days, I backpacked and took trains to seven major cities, visiting iconic buildings and gardens. I observed first-hand how much the craftsmanship inherent to traditional Japanese society has had on the continuing architectural dialogue not only in America, but the rest of the globe.

I titled my study and documentary “New Floating World” to reflect Wright’s keen interest in Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints—the title also reflects the combination between the modern urban world and what I saw as a continuing negotiation between the traditional. Ukiyo-e means “pictures of the floating world.”

To share my artifacts, I created a custom package filled with photographs from my scholarly journey which juxtaposed the traditional world with that of the modern.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the late Professor John McDermott (of the UTA school of Architecture) for inspiring me to look beyond FLW in the USA by expanding internationally to Japan to find the prototypes for Wright’s unique insights into “Organic Architecture.”

I used key texts to source the locations he visited which included Kevin Nute’s comprehensive study called “Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan” (2000).

I also referenced Julia Meech’s “Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art of Japan: The Architects Other Passion” (2001) which helped me gain a greater understanding of the role of the Ukiyo-e prints in the systems of his work.

#photography #packagedesign #traveling #explorer #keepsake #scholarshipwinners #architecturestudent #ukiyoe #浮世絵 by @new_floating_world

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a year ago

New Floating World (Travel Film, 2006) explores the interplay between traditional architectural sites, Japan’s modern development, and the ephemeral spaces in between.

This short film was created to complement the more architecture-focused presentation I gave at the University of Texas at Arlington. I aimed to juxtapose footage of authoritative tourist sites with actual unremarkable scenes that don’t make the cut as World Heritage sites. Those liminal spaces fill the imagination with the reality of life in Japan—a cross-section of time and life—as one traverses timeless, architecturally authoritative parks and structures.

My aim was to add color to the struggles architecture students face when traveling abroad and navigating the gap between expectations and reality: pristine condition and decay, architecture and the economy.

#NewFloatingWorld #ArchitectureFilm #JapanArchitecture #JapanTravel #ArchitecturalPhotography #UrbanLandscape #LiminalSpaces #EverydayJapan #WorldHeritage #ModernJapan #ArchitectureAndMemory #TravelFilm #ArchitectureStudents #BuiltEnvironment #DecayAndRenewal by @new_floating_world

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9 days ago

The country-wide map was essential for planning process and visualizing the scope of overall journey in a time before smart phones and instantaneous access to digital maps.

#physicalmap #2005maps #touristmapofjapan #tourism During my seminal trip to Japan, I used a passport-sized Strathmore 400 Series booklet as a portable field journal—a practical tool for recording observations, organizing itineraries, and gathering impressions along the way. I wrote in it with a fine-point Pilot pen, purchased at a stationery shop in Tokyo, whose exceptionally smooth, high-quality ink made it a dependable companion. The notes themselves are often hurried and untidy, reflecting the booklet’s role as a working document rather than a formal sketchbook. Its pages also preserve the material traces of the journey: ticket stubs, addresses and locations, and contact details of people I met. Together, these fragments form an informal archive of movement, encounters, and everyday experience. #Architecture #ArchitecturalTravel #JapanTravel #TravelJournal #FieldNotes #Sketchbook #DesignResearch #VisualDiary #UrbanExploration #Tokyo #ArchitectureStudents #TravelPhotography #JapanArchitecture #CreativeProcess #ArtAndArchitecture by @new_floating_world

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2 months ago