Main article: When “less is not more” but Zero Yen House

Spazio Architettura - What or who inspired you to make such extensive and unusual research?

Kyohei Sakaguchi – When I was just a child, I remember making a hut under the desk in my bedroom. Gradually, I developed an interest in architecture and was determined to become an architect very soon. When at the university, however, the experience of studying architecture was different from what I expected it to be. It was disappointing. I often found ways to skip class and wonder the streets, instead. On one occasion I met a homeless, for 20 years, he had been living along the river banks in a house built for himself using all kind of waste materials found in and around the city of Tokio. This “building system,” in my opinion, is simlar to the making of tribal shelters in African villages.
I also met, and this is very interesting, a person who built this type of dwelling and equipped it with solar panels, he can watch television… and in fact, told me he would like to have a computer too!
I believe that zero yen houses are in essence both primitive and futuristic. Their intrinsic leading principle will effect the construction of houses in the near future and it is for these reasons, that I decided to explore and study this kind of shelters.

SA. - Do you think that self-made homeless shelters might successfully be used as housing solutions during social and humanitarian emergencies, like tsunami, hurricanes, earthquakes?

KS. - There is not such possibility. Because of the broad variety of materials and means of construction used, it is difficult to identify a prototype; however, the underlying generating concept can surely be used. We must be aware of the fact that all buildings are susceptible to destruction; therefore we should be capable, particularly during emergencies, of easily building shelters by using whatever materials are available at the moment and at close range. This is what many Japanese always did, after devastating earthquakes. They built “barracks” using only what they could find in the immediate surroundings.

SA. - Was there any kind of reaction to your research from the Japanese architectural establishment (scholars, critics, professionals)?

KS. – No, not at all.