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Backyard Coffee and Jazz in Kyoto

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592 points wyclif | 2 comments | 23 Jun 25 14:37 UTC | HN request time: 0.003s | source
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anon-3988 ◴[23 Jun 25 15:10 UTC] No.44356616[source]▶
Man, I know it is a meme but Japan simply have mastered "aesthetics". It is especially incredible given that they achieved this in an urban area.

For example, consider the vines that are growing on that shed. Is that dirty? Should we clean them to get a pristine shed? Yes, you have to sweep the floor everyday to clean the dust, but should you cut down that small plant growing between the cracks of your building? Or the vines overtaking the roof? I think if you answers no to this, then you understand that sense of aesthetics.

For some people tho, they think its a bad thing (1), which I simply don't understand? I don't understand how people can willingly spend every couple of hours every week to trim their lawn to a pristine, perfect cube of grass. Is this beautiful? I think not. In my apartment, I have trees growing from the cracks of the building, and I think that's beautiful.

I don't know how they do it, it is not simply just being clean. I think parts of it is "allowing nature to take its course" which gives a typical structure depth and age.

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/comments/vs1n0n/help_wh...

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latexr ◴[23 Jun 25 15:20 UTC] No.44356706[source]▶
> Is that dirty?

That’s not what you should be worrying about.

> I have trees growing from the cracks of the building, and I think that's beautiful.

It probably is beautiful. It may also be inconvenient or outright dangerous. As the trees continue to grow and expand the cracks, the building’s structure becomes ever more compromised. Maybe the cracks will expand and more rain will come in, causing mold and making your home less effective at keeping its temperature. Or maybe they’ll expand in a way that a whole wall will fall off.

Seeing plants sprouting from the ground in cities is fun and aesthetically pleasing, I agree. But it is not always safe to let them keep growing.

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appreciatorBus ◴[23 Jun 25 15:50 UTC] No.44357000[source]▶
It's a 1 storey building. Even if the vine means it will only last 50 years instead of 100 years, the risks are low and the cost to replace is low.

If we were talking about public infra where thousands will die if a structure fails prematurely, then sure, let's be careful about vines. But if a private land owner wishes to grow vines (or allow vines to grow) on their private building, I think it's fine.

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1. latexr ◴[23 Jun 25 16:06 UTC] No.44357180[source]▶
> It's a 1 storey building.

I’m not talking about the building in the article, or even Japan specifically, but addressing the general point of trees and other growths which cause literal cracks and compromise structural integrity.

> If we were talking about public infra where thousands will die if a structure fails prematurely

That is exactly what I’m talking about. Well, maybe not thousands, even a four story building with a compromised structure can lead to unnecessary deaths.

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2. mlhpdx ◴[23 Jun 25 16:48 UTC] No.44357632[source]▶
> I’m not talking about the building in the article, or even Japan specifically, but addressing the general point of trees and other growths which cause literal cracks and compromise structural integrity.

Structural integrity or uniformity (or some other qualitative)? Yes, occasionally there is an actual structural problem (MSME here) but far, far more often things are torn down or discarded when a slight repair would suffice (other than the preference).