1. Ventilation Basement, Biblioteque de l’Arsenal, Boulevard Morland, Paris, France.
2. Technical Room, Hotel Cis Paris, Boulevard Kellerman, Paris, France.
3. Electrical Room, Chatelet des Halles Metro Station, Paris, France.
4. Emergency Fire Hydrant Cabin, Arts et Metiers Museum, Paris, France.
5. Emergency Telephone Box, Rue Jean et Marie Monion, Paris, France.
6. Electric Cabin, Laumiere Metro Station, Paris, France.
7. Electric Cabin, Laumiere Metro Station, Paris, France.
8. Electric Box, Porte de Pantin Metro Station, Paris, France.
9. Techincal Room, Science Park Center, Parc de la Vilette, Paris, France.
10. Electrical Room, Porte de Pantin Metro Station, Paris, France.
11. High-voltage transformation cabin, Rue de Longchamp, Paris, France.
12. Electric Cabin, Boulevard Richard Wallace, Paris, France.
13. Electric Box, Villejuif, Louis Aragon Metro Station, Paris, France.
14. Emergency Telephone, Kisarazu Metro Station, Tokyo, Japan.
15. Outdoor Fire Hydrant, Chiba Metro Station, Tokyo, Japan.
16. Electric Cabin, Chiba Peer, Tokyo, Japan.
17. Fire Hydrant, Edo Tokyo Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
18. Emergency Telephone, Ueno Metro Station, Tokyo, Japan.
19. Speculative, immaginative plan, Tokyo, Japan.
20. Fire Hydrant, Kitasenju Metro Station, Tokyo, Japan.
21. Fire Hydrant, Kitasenju Metro Station, Tokyo, Japan.
22. Electric Cables, Senzoku Dori, Tokyo, Japan.
23. Underground Flood Protection Tank, Kasukabe, Tokyo, Japan.
24. Electric Cabin, Kasukabe, Tokyo, Japan.
25. Emergency Fire Hydrant, Ginchu Dori, Tokyo, Japan.
26. External Units, TEPCO Power Grid Kuramae Electrical Substation, Tokyo, Japan.
27. Transformer, TEPCO Power Grid Kuramae Electrical Substation, Tokyo, Japan.
28. Electric Distribution Pilon, TEPCO Power Grid Kuramae Electrical Substation, Tokyo, Japan.
29_Electric Cabin, Aoyama Technical College, Tokyo, Japan.
30. Electric Cables, Sendagaya, Tokyo, Japan.
“Authorized personnel only”
Institution, Hydro Power, Distribution, National, Governance, Mosaic
Certain spaces are framed out of the urban condition, made impenetrable to the public domain, mostly for security reasons. Power plants, control rooms, electrical cabins, transformers, and emergency fire hydrants, represent the high number of “pocket-spaces”, or “urban pockets”, within contemporary cities. They are disseminated inside the urban fabric of both Paris and Tokyo, as they establish countless thresholds between the public space and a certain level of complexity that sustains it. Institutions like EDF (Electricité De France) or TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) define the inaccessibility of sensible spaces, tracing a fine line between what is usable and what is not, but yet accessible because contained in a public sphere. These niches are marked, from the outside, with signage, with infographics and texts such as “Keep out”, “Technical room”, “Danger”, etc, and contain the terminal part of a much bigger system, still crucial and indispensable.
Institution, Hydro Power, Distribution, National, Governance, Mosaic
Certain spaces are framed out of the urban condition, made impenetrable to the public domain, mostly for security reasons. Power plants, control rooms, electrical cabins, transformers, and emergency fire hydrants, represent the high number of “pocket-spaces”, or “urban pockets”, within contemporary cities. They are disseminated inside the urban fabric of both Paris and Tokyo, as they establish countless thresholds between the public space and a certain level of complexity that sustains it. Institutions like EDF (Electricité De France) or TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) define the inaccessibility of sensible spaces, tracing a fine line between what is usable and what is not, but yet accessible because contained in a public sphere. These niches are marked, from the outside, with signage, with infographics and texts such as “Keep out”, “Technical room”, “Danger”, etc, and contain the terminal part of a much bigger system, still crucial and indispensable.