Gagosian QuarterlyMr. Haba, thank you for taking time to discuss KIOSK, the temporary concept store and café created with Jil Sander. To begin, I’d love to learn about your history and your company BACH, which was founded to bring libraries and books to novel locations where new readers can encounter them. Why did you start BACH, and what have been some successes?
Yoshitaka HabaSince the company was founded in 2005, we have created environments for reading books in public libraries, corporate libraries, hospital libraries, school libraries, hotel libraries, and many others. To this end, we have played and continue to play a role in creating places for books, including concept, classification, book selection, procurement, distribution, art direction, signage, and furniture planning.
We believe deeply in the power of books. This is true whether it is a novel, a natural science book, a humanities book, or an art book. From the very beginning, we thought, If people don’t come to libraries and bookshops, let’s bring books to where people are. We have tried to induce “happy accidents” where people and books meet by chance.
There is so much competition for time today, and the distance between people and books—which require time to immerse oneself in—is widening. What we want to do in these times is to tell the story of a book as carefully as possible and to get people to read it, and to create an environment where people find themselves reading.
A book is only a book when someone other than the author opens it and reads it. And if you open the pages of a well-written book and lose yourself in its world, I strongly believe that you will discover a different feeling—someone’s passion, or perhaps a strange grudge—than is possible to find in the bits of information floating around on the Internet.
In this age of AI chatbots and other technologies, it is possible to create a discourse that is something like the pages of a book. However, the foundation for people to think and judge spontaneously has to be nurtured by individuals themselves, and at such times I believe that the solitary act of reading and dialogue with our predecessors opens up a new world.
GQHow did your conversations with Lucie and Luke Meier begin? What were some of their initial wishes for KIOSK, and how did you take these wished-for characteristics and develop them into this project?
YHWe were asked to create a space that would give pedestrians in the Shijo Kawaramachi area of Kyoto a glimpse of the world of Jil Sander through books. We tried to convey the brand’s philosophy in a light-hearted way, through the form of the kiosk, but also in a serious way, through the atmosphere of the bookshelf. In other words, it is about the “aura” created by a grouping of books.
GQCould you tell us about some of the books and magazines that you selected for inclusion in KIOSK? What are some highlights from the collection?
YHIt was important to think about the core values of Lucie and Luke’s designs, the space and balance they create, as well as their work’s resonance. There is integrity and beauty in their clothing designs, not only in form but also in spirit. Books that embody this are not limited to fashion, architecture, and art; we have chosen books from a variety of genres, including poetry, haiku, fiction, music, crafts, natural sciences, mathematics, and picture books.
For example, I find the books of Kitaro Nishida, a representative of the Kyoto School of Japanese philosophy, very similar to this. His book An Inquiry into the Good, published in 1911, is the fruit of his Zen meditation and contemplation; however, his search for “true existence” based on “pure experience” had a great influence on Western philosophy as well.
We have tried to induce “happy accidents” where people and books meet by chance.
GQHow has this project differed from other BACH endeavors over the years?
YHIn everyday places like kiosks (where immediate gratification is required), the difficulty of offering slow-acting books that require time for contemplation was new to me. It was also my first experience of selecting books for a global fashion brand.
GQWhat do you hope visitors to KIOSK take away from their experience?
YHTo feel the richness of time flowing slowly. To reflect on the true meaning of beauty. To be reminded once more of the joy of reading.
GQCould you speak more generally about Kyoto as a city, and its role in the arts, fashion, and culture?
YHWhile the world continues to accelerate, Kyoto is a city that moves on a completely different time scale. There are many things that exist there that have been deeply thought through over a long period of time. At the same time, there is also a tolerance that accepts and embraces eccentrics and oddballs. I think it is an enigmatic place with a punk spirit, a place with many holes where people can vent their self-consciousness.