'Building' is a human instinct and way of thinking.

"The Hand-Building Era" is a series of lectures on "Architectural Production Management" planned by the Department of Architecture at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and contains the practices of 13 architects who have expanded the scope of architecture and worked in the field with their bodies.
They do not conceive of architecture only on drawings.
Cut down trees, build walls, and put up roofs with the residents.
The thoughts and practices of those who broke down the boundaries between designers, engineers, and educators and returned architecture to being a "human enterprise" form the core of this book.
The Korean version includes a new work titled 'DIT (Do It Together)' by Professor Yoon Joo-sun of the Department of Architecture at Chungnam National University.
It aims to document the journey toward ‘architecture built together’ and provide a clue to a new cultural architectural movement called DIT.
The activist architects featured in this book demonstrate that the act of "building" is not simply the process of erecting a building, but rather a "technology of relationships" that connects people with people and regions with regions.

At the time, I was completely unaware of the site, so I started the demolition work on Sunday without reporting it, and received a huge protest from the manager [Figure 4].
The next day, I was going to start cleaning with my tie on, so I said everything.
For this project, we separately ordered the installation work, finishing work, and furniture work, and directly supervised them.
We did everything ourselves from A to Z, including painting, laying the floor, and getting the client to approve the project with Mr. and Mrs. Sasaki.

--- p.48

I also met a wandering technician who travels to various sites with only his skills.
Mr. Kiichiro Miyazawa (宮澤喜市?) [Figure 6] whom I met is a master of the plastering technique called "Migaki" that can be seen in earthen warehouses, etc. He used a technique called "Otsumigaki" to make the entrance wall of "Kadoya," an old banquet facility in the Shimabara area of ​​Kyoto, sparkling.
Because these special skills are in limited demand, itinerant technicians are constantly traveling around Japan to work.

--- p.67~68

Now, construction begins.
Around the time the wooden frame was completed, the client, Mr. Seiichi, moved to Okinawa.
From then on, the collaboration began.
Just like in “Takashiho’s House,” the client came to learn about field work.
The target of this 'repetitive work operation' was approximately 100 pyeong of pine boards to be attached to the exterior walls of the four buildings.
Mr. Seiichi, a diligent student, researched examples in books and videos and experimented with various methods to learn how to carbonize boards in his own way [Figure 15].

--- p.93

〈Hello Garden〉 is an open space designed with the concept of ‘a village experimental square that creates new life.’
At first, it was just an empty lot, but as time went by, I gradually developed the space by trying out various things to figure out what would be fun to do and what kind of place would be needed to do it [Figure 10].
In order to try growing even a little of the basic necessities of life, 'food ingredients', we cultivated the land to grow vegetables and herbs, and titled it 'an experiment to create a game that everyone can enjoy together', we packed food and enjoyed a picnic.

--- p.109~110

The thatched roofs of the remaining 13 teahouses in Seiyoshi were to be replaced one per year, and the research lab began a three-year replacement project.
We distributed 12,000 promotional flyers in local newspapers to solicit participants.
In the recruitment conditions, it was written, ‘Someone who is serious about it’ and ‘Someone who can participate for three consecutive years’ [Figure 9].

--- p.131

What is more serious is that when the bathhouse disappears, the old houses and villages that used the bathhouse as living infrastructure also disappear.
A 100-year-old apartment building suddenly disappears, or a shop that once served as a bathhouse for customers closes.
The loss of a bathhouse can have the same impact as the loss of a village.
Witnessing such a sight made me realize that there exists a 'local ecosystem' centered around the bathhouse.

--- p.142

The social problem facing Japan today is population decline.
Due to population decline, 13-14% of all housing units nationwide are now vacant and are being demolished one by one.
Most of the waste materials from demolition operations are recycled, but almost all are turned into chips to produce plywood or used as biomass fuel, and only a small percentage are recycled into building materials.

--- p.165

There are three principles that guide our activities.
The first is ‘not working’.
Because when you think of it as work, everyone becomes too serious.
Second, because the key is to utilize waste, we do not outsource production or purchase materials.
Third, activities should be participated in voluntarily according to each person's own motivation, without any compulsion or directive system.
Basically, everyone has a main job, so they are only active on weekends.
Even though no one called them, they go there on their own and create something called a project [Figure 3].

--- p.182

What I've learned from designing multi-family housing is that if you only promote the charm of the town and the buildings after they're built, you'll fail to attract residents and you might not be able to repay your loan.
We created a city plan to consider how Tokoname City could become a place where people would want to live [Figure 4].
Tokoname used to be a train terminal and a cultural hub, but with the opening of Chubu Centrair International Airport and the subsequent train passage through the area, it was relegated to being a bedroom town for Nagoya.

--- p.198

At first, the school's main activity was to connect the three elements: a teacher teaching stone wall building, a student wanting to learn, and a stone wall that wanted to be repaired. But at some point, requests started coming in.
For example, a local group contacted me and said, “We have people and a place in our neighborhood to teach you, so please come teach us.” A local government contacted me and asked me to repair an old country road. A university requested, “There is a stone wall near the area where our lab passes, and there is a problem. Please come and let us know.”

--- p.218

The 'Age of Connection' was an era in which diversity was guaranteed within a single framework.
On the other hand, the 'age of disconnection' is a state where there is no shared framework and everyone is completely disconnected from each other.
I think one of the factors that led to this situation is the vastness (excess).
There are hundreds of millions of photos on Instagram, and a huge amount of information flows through the internet every day.
Because the amount of information is so vast, it has been dispersed across various systems, without a single system or framework to contain it.

--- p.233

There are four design concepts that are important to consider when building a house.
First of all, it is education.
We want to make this a learning opportunity for not only students, but also landlords, their families, volunteers, and local residents.
Therefore, we strive to create designs that make everyone who participates semi-professional.
The second is Ecology, which pursues homes that can be lived in using only little energy and require extremely low maintenance.
When trying to build such a house, you naturally look to methods that have been passed down from ancient times.

--- p.249

I was thrilled to meet a Japanese architect who had been working on a project I had only vaguely imagined for nearly 10 years.
Beyond certainty, I developed a desire to do this no matter what.
I suggested that we hold the first DIT workshop together in Korea, and we held the first DIT Village Regeneration Workshop in Gunsan in December 2019.
The local planners and young carpenters I had worked with for a long time all opposed the project, saying, “Who would come to work renovating someone else’s house with their own money?” and that even if they did come, half of them would run away midway. However, having experienced the power of architecture done with feet and arms, I was confident.

--- p.267