Have you seen one of Japan’s TV Program called “Before and After”?
I started watching it from 2015. Simply put, this TV program can be called a home renovation program. Where an architect and his / her team have to find a solution to a house building problem that seems almost impossible to solve. Small kitchens, dangerous staircases and bathrooms too small are turned into comfortable spaces for their owners to live in.
Each ‘Takumi’ (which means ‘master’) is an expert on his or her field in architecture and interior design will respond to any renovation request resulting in a surprising and often dramatic finish!
Starting from the house problems from the homeowner stories, they also share the information of the renovation costs based on their funding balance.
Whilst the work was done by a well-known architects in Japan, supported by the best construction team. This program is one of my favorite TV shows on WakuWaku’s Japan channel.
In so many episodes, mostly homeowners has only limited funds, but the architect will do various ways to save the costs. Small funds didn’t make the Architect carelessly do the renovation. Remodeling plans are still being carried out carefully according to the needs and desires of the home owner.
In some episodes, they even filmed overseas, such as this 153 years old apartments in Paris that has been renovated by a Takumi.
For those who are fond of Japanese-style architecture, try watching this Before and After show, the reality show is guaranteed to be an addiction and can be a trigger for your home inspiration, especially since there are many top-notch architects of the land of the rising sun who were involved from the start of this event being broadcast.
The program is all about house renovation, but with no boring waste of time scenes, it can only be watched on pay TV through the Li (Life Inspired) and WakuWaku Japan channels (the title of the program is “That’s a Dramatic Change” on this TV).
Usually at the beginning of the show, we are given a look at the condition of the house which has so many problems, starting from the room that is full of items, units, stuffs and appliances, the bathroom is too small, the walls or floors are sloping and other cringe situations that make us think, “How did they used to sleep in the stuffed bedrooms, or bathe in the leaking bathtub, or even cook in a kitchen that has no water supplies?” or “How come they live in a house as crowded as that?”.
The conditions are sometimes extreme, even those who own the house are not sure if they can be free of their house problems, but this is where the role of the architect — known as Takumi aka master is to solve, they has to find the right solution to all the problems and limitations that exist.
The majority of the renovated houses are mostly small houses in a big populated environments. The house sometimes coincide with neighbors right and left. In an episode, there is this man’s house squeezed by his neighbors on right, left, front and back sides, the road to his house is only a narrow road with a more or less one meter and definitely no small trucks or family cars can be fit in that road.
Creative solutions from Takumi are sometimes simple but when applied, the maximum utilization of the house’s space is incredible, they can make-use a place to store things without hassle, the buildings, the concrete, the site foundation, the design including the presentation and results are very neat.
I can guarantee, at the end of the show, you will be amazed by the results!
