Archinect - News

Japanese Eco-Friendly Building Demolition Method Harvests Energy As It Destroys

2013-03-04T10:45:00-05:00

Rather than using cranes to take the building apart from the outside, they start from the inside, taking the structure apart floor by floor from the top down. A crane inside the building lowers materials harvested from each floor to ground level, generating electricity to power other equipment in the process. So with Tecorep, higher buildings are actually an advantage, since the crane can generate more electricity lowering materials over longer distances.

1.8 million LEGOs used to create map of Japan

2013-01-02T11:29:00-05:00

In celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic building blocks being introduced into Japan, LEGO’s Japanese subsidiary sponsored a cross-country workshop in which over 5000 people in 6 different regions collaborated to create a gigantic map of Japan.The pieces that were assembled at each site then traveled to Tokyo, where they were put on display for one massive LEGO map.

Historical homes that helped influence modernism

2012-11-28T12:28:00-05:00

Separated by about four centuries and the Pacific Ocean this pair of houses may seem on paper to have little in common. One was an imperial villa in Kyoto, the other a suburban villa in West Hollywood. One is built on Zen principles for the Japanese emperor, the other was built by a central European architect for himself.

Edwin Heathcote discusses the historical relevance of Rudolph Schindler's Schindler House and Kyoto's Katsura Imperial Villa, and how they helpef influence the modern movement.

Designing the ‘World’s Greatest Stadium - Japan National Stadium

2012-11-20T11:11:00-05:00

As cultural and architectural icons, sporting stadiums are extremely important to a city’s built of environment. As such, the structures maintain a high profile and promise acclaim to those who design and deliver them well.

Zaha Hadid Wins Japan National Stadium Design Competition

2012-11-15T12:02:00-05:00

Japan’s Sport Council on Thursday awarded a contract to design and construct a centerpiece, billion-dollar national stadium that forms a key part of Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games to lauded U.K. firm Zaha Hadid Architects.

Previously: New National Stadium Japan Competition Unveils 11 Finalists

World’s First 3D Printing Photo Booth to Open in Japan

2012-11-13T12:14:00-05:00

what’s being called the world’s first 3D printing photo booth is set to open for a limited time at the exhibition space EYE OF GYRE in Harajuku. From November 24 to January 14, 2013, people with reservations can go and have their portraits taken. Except, instead of a photograph, you’ll receive miniature replicas of yourselves.

New National Stadium Japan Competition Unveils 11 Finalists

2012-10-30T20:18:00-04:00

Eleven finalists have been announced today in the international design competition for the New National Stadium Japan, including design heavy hitters like Zaha Hadid Architects, SANAA, UNStudio, and Toyo Ito. The finalists, announced by the Japan Sport Council (JSC) and jury chair Tadao Ando, were selected from 46 entries to proceed to the second and final competition round. The final winner will be selected on November 7 and officially announced later that month.

“Home for All” for Rikuzentakata

2012-10-18T12:35:00-04:00

“Home for All” for Rikuzentakata is a gathering place for those who lost their homes in the tsunami-devastated city in Iwate Prefecture. The project was led by architect Toyo Ito, who collaborated with younger Japanese architects, Kumiko Inui, Sou Fujimoto, and Akihisa Hirata.

13 Works of Japan’s Anime Architecture

2012-10-04T16:49:00-04:00

Cartoons have been a major genre of popular entertainment in Japan dating back to 1917. The country’s unique style of animation, or anime, came into its own in the 1960s — notably in the pioneering work of Osamu Tezuka. In the 1990’s, a generation of architects, who came of age watching anime cartoons on television, were granted license to build fantastic creations fueled by the excess and lack of restraint that characterized Japan’s asset bubble.

Henning Larsen Named 2012 Praemium Imperiale Laureate for Architecture

2012-09-12T19:31:00-04:00

The 2012 winners of the prestigious Praemium Imperiale arts awards were announced today by the Japan Art Association at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The five recipients in their respective fields are Henning Larsen (Architecture, Denmark), Philip Glass (Music, USA), Cai Guo-Qiang (Painting, China), Cecco Bonanotte (Sculpture, Italy), and Yoko Morishita (Theater/Film, Japan).

Tokyo Opens World’s Tallest Tower to About 200,000 People

2012-05-21T17:37:00-04:00

The Tokyo Skytree, twice as tall as the Eiffel Tower, and its surrounding retail and office complex opens today to an estimated 200,000 visitors. [...] Tokyo Skytree, which took four years to build, surpasses the 600-meter Canton Tower in Guangzhou, China, as the world’s tallest, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Dubai’s 828-meter Burj Khalifa is the tallest building, according to the council.

To be precise, the opening ceremony for Tokyo Skytree is scheduled for Tuesday morning, May 22 at 9:15 a.m. local time.

Japan Goes Nuclear-Free For the First Time in Four Decades

2012-05-04T12:44:00-04:00

For the First Time in Four Decades Japan will shut down its last working nuclear power station this weekend, culminating — at least for now — a national shift away from nuclear energy in the aftermath of last year’s Fukushima disaster. The shutdown of the No. 3 Tomari reactor in Hokkaido will leave the country without nuclear power for the first time since 1970.

Architectural videography from Japan

2012-04-17T20:22:00-04:00

Michael Kim, from Tramnesia, has shared with us a couple new films he's recently completed, as part of a larger documentary about life in Kanazawa, Japan. The first one below is about SANAA's 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, and the following one is about a new public library by a smaller Tokyo-based firm called Coelacanth.

Company seeks to solve Japan’s earthquake woes by levitating homes

2012-02-29T12:32:00-05:00

In theory the mechanism is really quite simple: 1. A sensor detects the rumblings of an earthquake. 2. Within .5 to 1 second an air tank pushes air in-between an artificial foundation and the actual structure of the home, lifting it as high as 3cm off the ground. 3. While the earth below violently shakes, the levitating home quietly and patiently waits, returning back to the ground once the tectonic plates have settled.

Small House by Unemori Architects

2012-02-27T18:30:58-05:00

The “Small House” designed by Unemori Architects, is … small. It’s footprint is only 4 by 4 meters and it is 9 meters high. Apparently a family of three lives is this house in Tokyo.

saf, safdg

Japan Earthquake: Before and After

2012-02-24T17:38:00-05:00

In just over two weeks, Japan will be observing the one-year anniversary of the disastrous magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck its east coast in March of 2011. [...] Photographers documented the many faces of this tragedy and have now returned to give us a look at the difference a year can make, re-shooting places that were photographed during and immediately after the quake.

QUESTIONING CATASTROPHE

2012-01-23T20:24:00-05:00

Human beings and their communities are fragile because they are sustainable only within a narrow range of conditions and possibilities. It is the main task of architecture to maintain this range or to create it where it has not existed before. To some extent it is also architecture’s responsibility to expand this range when people require it not only for survival but also to flourish within the demands of change brought on by catastrophic events such as earthquake and tsunami.

Radioactive Fukushima Concrete Found In New Japanese Building

2012-01-17T12:47:00-05:00

Following last year’s nuclear disaster in Fukushima, there has been a great deal of public concern over the contamination of local food sources and water and now, newly constructed buildings can be added to the list of radiation fears in Japan. A three-month long survey of students in Nihonmatsu City turned city officials onto the presence of high levels of radiation in one recently built three-story apartment complex.

'Shining Tree in a Sacred Place' by MoNo

2012-01-05T17:45:22-05:00

Architects Fumiaki Nagashima and Mami Nagashima Maruoka, of small Japanese practice MoNo, have shared with us their art installation Shining Tree in a Sacred Place.

The piece was dedicated to the people who had perished in Japan's major earthquake and tsunami last March. Erected inside the historic Oshioi Shrine in the Shiga prefecture, the installation was part of a large annual illumination event and invited visitors to commemorate and mourn the victims.

Here is a project description we received from MoNo:

This art work was dedicated to the people who had passed away in several disasters in this year 2011.　Especially in Japan, the massive earthquake hit this country land with the huge tsunami so much that　considerable damage and profound sorrow came to us.　MoNo had the opportunity to join the illumination event “Kusatsu Machiakari Yumeakari Hanaakari – on autumnal Kusatsu road with sensory gratification”, which got over 30 thousands visitors. So MoNo could open our work...

U-40 Japanese Architects

2011-11-26T11:45:44-05:00

This movies try to give just a few glance of this specific generation of japanese architects. Under40japaneseachitects.com could be the start of a ambious project , focus on architecture communication by video's documentary support, in the wish to still create better connection between japan and foreign countries in architectural and design field.

Miyagi completes work on temporary housing

2011-11-08T18:24:00-05:00

Both the two- and three-story buildings, quakeproof and made from freight containers, were designed by architect Shigeru Ban. The second and third floors have balconies. Units are built in a staggered fashion to curb noise disturbance.

[Japanese] victims need art like a hole in the head

2011-09-27T19:57:59-04:00

I've lately been exchanging bile on this subject with a friend, a Tokyo architecture professor who, having seen off earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown, is having a harder time surviving the avalanche of well-meant, if simultaneously self-serving, condescension.

The Works of Yoichiro Kamei

2011-07-29T12:37:20-04:00

He is one of the most appreciated young ceramic artists. With more than 10 solo exhibitions had in the past ten years in Kyoto, Tokyo, Aichi, Osaka and Faenza, he was awarded Merit Prize at the 1st Taiwan International Ceramics Biennale in 2004. In 2010 he received the Kyoto City Artist Prize, which is one of the most valuable Japanese art awards.

Little Tokyo Design Week starts today!

2011-07-14T13:19:18-04:00

Little Tokyo Design Week: Future City (LTDW) celebrates the power and energy of cutting edge design and technology now emerging from Japan and its intersection with current trends materializing in Los Angeles. Design’s ability to move us towards a more sustainable and creative urban lifestyle is at the heart of this four-day festival, which will be open to the public from July 14 – July 17, 2011 (VIP Preview Night: 7/13).

If you're in or around Los Angeles from now until Sunday night, and aren't afraid of a little carmaggedon, make sure to come check out the really fun line-up. I'll be presenting at the Pecha Kucha event on Saturday night along with Pecha Kucha founders Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, local architect Barbara Bestor, and many others that have not yet been announced. Say hi!

From the Blogs: a small side project

2011-07-12T13:19:13-04:00

The fish are part of a small side project the lab is working on in the city of Kesenuma. You probably saw it on the news. It's the city that had a massive boat sitting on a street instead of in the water.

Check out the latest blog entry from the Keio University blog.

"The community asked us to think of something that kids could be involved in and that would be cheap to put together and somehow symbolic and fun. The students in the lab came up with using the laser cutter to make a small school of fish that could be assembled by children to make a simple arch. It's a cute idea. Perfect for Japan."

Information Center for Little Tokyo Design Week: Future City

2011-07-11T19:55:11-04:00

LA architecture office INABA and NYC graphic designers MTWTF have shared with us their design for the information center for Little Tokyo Design Week: Future City. The festival, which opens this Thursday, July 14, celebrates the intersection of Japanese design and technology with experimental architecture in Southern California. The event in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo will feature exhibitions, panel discussions, and other public activities that explore future approaches to urbanism.

The information center displays a video that introduces the festival and which features participating designers and scholars. The exterior of INABA and MTWTF’s project borrows graphic elements of the LTDW theme logo to create a new font. The word ‘info’ is spelled out and repeated as a black and white pattern on three sides. Along the two long interior walls letters of the info font are scaled up into a large graphic that appears to change in form and color as the visitor moves through the space.

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Ricardo Legorreta Honored with 2011 Praemium Imperiale Prize

2011-07-11T14:50:41-04:00

Today, the names of the new Praemium Imperiale Laureates were announced in London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, New York and Tokyo. The 5 recipients in their respective fields are Ricardo Legorreta (Architecture, Mexico), Anish Kapoor (Sculpture, UK), Bill Viola (Painting, USA), Seiji Ozawa (Music, Japan), and Judi Dench (Theater/Film, UK).

Korean-Japanese architect Itami dies

2011-07-06T18:31:41-04:00

Itami, whose Korean name is Yoo Dong-ryul, was born in Tokyo in 1937 during the Japanese colonial era (1910-45). He studied architecture at Musashi University’s engineering school and led an active career for over 40 years. In 2003, the architect’s oeuvre was highlighted in a solo exhibition, “Itami Jun, Japan’s Korean Architect,” at the Musee Guimet in Paris, France’s national museum dedicated to Asian art.

Arigato!

2011-06-24T14:32:00-04:00

DESIGN ASSOCIATION NPO, organizer of TOKYO DESIGNERS WEEK, has founded “ARIGATO” PROJECT

We’ve been receiving warm support from all over the world since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. People in many countries showed their warmth and support .This project is to show our thanks and, to make new connections and bonds across the world through kindness and warmth.

We are asking ARIGATO works from Designers, Artists, and Students.

The best works will be exhibited at TOKYO DESIGNERS WEEK 2011. (from 1st to 6th of November) at Meiji JinguGaien in central Tokyo, and will be given the prize.

We would like to ask you to inform about this project and send us ARIGATO works.

We are also going to disaster affected areas to hold special workshops, supported by companies, artists and designers, to care for children through art and design work shop.

All works that are created in workshops by designers, artists, and students. Will be collected and published world-wide in the offici...

Design 21 Announces Winners of ‘Help Japan’ Competitions

2011-06-22T16:02:19-04:00

DESIGN 21 just announced the results of its ‘Help Japan’ competitions, a multi-faceted effort to support Japan and help provide relief to the disaster areas at different stages of the recovery process. Two product competitions, based on the design of a greeting card and symbolic charity accessory, were created to provide mid-level support. [...] The third competition asked for ideas that contribute to long-term relief, recovery and rebuilding.