… cont’d

roselle

red plum

green plum

kumquat

pineapple

Information, specimens and drawings of the fruits and spices displayed on the shelves.

Also providing tactile information , you can smell and feel the fruits with your senses.

~ end ~

… cont’d

hand-made with taiwanese cypress wood, this DIY box contains all the tools needed to make a jar of candied kumquats.

a big family signed up for the workshop. we took this opportunity to put our DIY box to use.

we like the idea of slowing people down, to enjoy a slow and relaxing process of making candied kumquats with the tools from the box.

poking the fresh kumquats with toothpicks…

adding sugar and salt …

A mini ‘laboratory’ for wonders and discoveries.

A collaboration between HOKO and AMA architectural studio in Taiwan, the AGRIOZ museum + cafe project is finally completed.

Here are some images of the cafe …

more photos will be updated for the museum and DIY sections …

kumquats kumquats kumquats

preparing the fruits for display

lights up

glass up

rosemary, stevia, lavendar, osmanthus, safflower  …

spices on top of kumquats

how to draw a tree?

how to grow a tree?

lion vs panda

lights up, tree up.

horse vs light

small lamp big table small cup big chair…

how to make a kumquat pie drawing, recipe book in the making …

textile shopping at Taipei textile market

florals

checks & stripes & dots

handmade DIY ‘bento’ box for:

1 x jar of sugar

1 x jar of salt

1 x dishcloth

1 x label sticker roll

10 x wooden chopsticks

1 x hemp string spool

1 x safety scissors

1 x oil based pen

2 x wooden spoons

10 x jam jar textile covering

+ stevia

+ toothpicks

H O K O is currently at Yilan, Taiwan, and this is a mini documentation of our work-in-progress on our design project for the AGRIOZ Candied Fruits Museum + Cafe. This project is in collaboration with AMA Architectural Studio, Taiwan.

AGRIOZ is a family owned business specializing in candied fruits , mainly the kumquat, a small edible fruit of the citrus family. For more information about AGRIOZ, please visit : www.agrioz.com.tw

alvin, marking out where the big clock should be…

this is the area where DIY workshops will be held. you can learn how to make candied fruits here and bring them home for consumption after …

we will have to re-design this DIY table service…

… and also furnish these shelves with information about the fruits that they use.

sketching and planning of other peripheries…

throwing out unwanted junk … they have alot!

shopping at IKEA , Taipei.

and also sourcing for some european antiques…

trying our luck at DAISO, Taipei.

sprucing up the cafe entrance.

more updates to come …

HOKO’s main and sub-site are finally renewed and ready for viewing. Please click to visit!

Chanced upon this timeless article from an old Axis magazine quite some time ago, and finally, we have some time to share it with you today …

This hole in a sink is like a substitute player for the drain hole that takes the main role. It watches, bored from the upper deck, with its mouth open, as the heroic act of the leading character is displayed in center stage. Just because it doesn’t actually have to go on stage, it can’t be irritated and close its mouth. To be fully prepared for those unexpected situations, it has to stand by without sleep. That’s why we can’t blame it for yawning, or sighing once in a while. But when someone plugs the drain, the situation changes drastically. Staring at the steadily rising water and feeling like backing off, it has to stand firm for the crucial stage as there’s no substitute for the substitute, and starts gulping while fully prepared to drown if necessary. This is the moment when its unceasing effort finally pays off. Looking at the water flowing into this hole, though, gives us the illusion that the water takes a different route from the drainpipe to be hushed up in a black hole. The key player that saved us from the peril of flooding is now applauded and a small Cinderella story results. Take a snap shot of its proud moment flanked by the faucet and liquid soap dispenser. It now looks like a different “person”.

- Text by Nobuyuki Imai

- Photo by Hisakazu Shimizu

Axis Vol.112 ,December 2004