TonTon City
Tokyo Japan, 2012
During the City Workers sessions we built a city out of a mixture of the liveliest materials, old and new, that stem from both the Netherlands and Japan with the children at the Shibauru house in Tokyo. It is mainly grey streets that surround this creative hub, and during the City Workers workshop of INAMATT participants are invited to play with decorations that transform not only the outlook but also the meaning of the urban landscape. Hands-on and low-tech, during this workshop we examine the city like an ecosystem, and compare all functions of public space to creatures of nature; the street workers that clean the streets, might have not such a high status, but their activities are crucial to have surroundings flourish.
Together with a group of designers, ranging from young children to local shopkeepers and professional designers, we created adhesive materials – like stickers and tape, that symbolize the transformation of the old to a new purpose, and in doing so, restore the value.