Maze/ Box

the
architecture
of a
maze, and
a hotel.


cruising boxes
(hattenba)

Richard Hawkins,
Shinjuku Labyrinth,
2007, Wood, collage



"Shinjuku Ni-chōme, referred to colloquially as Ni-chōme or simply Nichō, is Area 2 in the Shinjuku District of the Shinjuku Special Ward of Tōkyō, Japan. With Tōkyō home to over 8.2 million people, and Shinjuku known as the noisiest and most crowded of its 23 special wards, Ni-chōme further distinguishes itself as Tōkyō's hub of gay subculture, housing the world's highest concentration of gay bars. Within close walking distance from three train stations (Shinjuku San-chōme Station, Shinjuku Gyoenmae Station, and Japan's busiest train station, Shinjuku Station), the Shinjuku Ni-chōme neighborhood provides a specialized blend of bars, restaurants, cafes, saunas, love hotels, gay pride boutiques, cruising boxes (hattenba), host clubs, nightclubs, massage parlors, parks, and gay book and video stores. In fact within the five blocks centering on street Naka-Dori between the BYGS building at the Shinjuku San-chōme Station and the small Shinjuku park three blocks to the east, an estimated 200-300 gay bars and nightclubs provide entertainment."

Mazes....

"Junctions lead to new passages, and when creating junctions you should try to achieve a balance between creating passages that lead to dead ends, and creating passages that lead back into earlier passages of your maze.

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, a maze where every passage leads to a dead end (except for the passage that leads to the solution) is actually not very hard to solve. The hardest mazes to solve have some passages that lead to dead ends, but others that lead back to earlier passages. Such mazes are called multiply-connected mazes and maze solvers can spend a lot of time going back over their tracks while trying to get through them."

dean sameshima,

in between days (without you)
1998








Hattenba, cruising spaces or "boxes" are smaller mix rooms, video cubicles or clubs with minimal bathing facilities. It has become trendy for gay men to set these places up in apartments in the suburban areas, sometimes with sheets hung to create "rooms," with a VCR playing videos and ubiquitous Kleenex boxes scattered about.
Hattenba will often have themed days Mondays is for torn jock straps, Tuesdays is for Speedos, Wednesday is all-nude, etc. These amateur clubs have become a popular addition to Japan's gay scene spectrum.















Coral Sands Motel
Los Angeles, California.


"'I'm calling you from the foyer
Of the Sands Hotel
It's not low-life, it's just people
Having a good time
And oh, my invalid friend
Oh, my invalid friend
In our different ways we are


I'm calling you from the foyer
Of the Sands Hotel
Where the men and the women
Are acquainted quite well "

At Amber, by Morrissey


















Steam,
Portland, Oregon


"Looking down one of our warm and inviting hallways
in which there are no dead ends to maximize your cruising pleasure.
All the doors on the rooms
are sliding for a more spacious feeling. "

go to steam here...

Prague 2006
fantastic rainbows!

the
architecture
of a
maze, and
a hotel.

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