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Tokyo’s historic Tokiwabashi district is undergoing a large-scale redevelopment that will see the construction of Japan’s tallest high-rise building. For centuries, Tokiwabashi served as the gateway to Edo Castle, the 15th-Century site of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. In 1914, it became the... View full entry
Father and son duos have been prominent in the past 50 or so years of sports history. Ken Griffey Jr. and his father, the Ripkens, Curry’s, Mannings, and many others. Now, with the Olympic games coming back to their home country, one Pritzker-pedigreed combination is leaving its mark on the... View full entry
A vacant hotel that had been in operation for 300 years until its closure in 2008 has been resurrected by Sou Fujimoto Architects. Situated in the center of Maebashi, a city about two hours northwest of Tokyo, Shiroiya Hotel’s revamp is part of a wider rejuvenation of the city, a plan... View full entry
Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district is set to get an elevated “green way” similar to the High Line park in New York City [...], or Paris’ Promenade Plantée.
The plan is to turn a 2km urban motorway known as the KK Expressway into the “Tokyo Sky Corridor”. The linear park will then form a green loop around the outskirts of Ginza.
— Global Construction Review
The Tokyo metropolitan government has invited the public to submit feedback on the proposed Tokyo Expressway (KK Line) revitalization. View full entry
A 390-meter-high (1,279 feet) skyscraper inspired by a flaming torch is set to become Japan's tallest building when it opens in 2027.
Standing above a new plant-filled public plaza in Tokyo, the tower will also feature a soaring observation area from which visitors can enjoy views over the capital and nearby Mount Fuji.
— CNN
In a recent set of Instagram posts, Sou Fujimoto revealed that his team was designing the top section of Japan's future tallest skyscraper, dubbed Torch Tower. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sou Fujimoto (@sou_fujimoto) View full entry
CASE-REAL has completed a new residence in Tokyo, Japan. The two-story wood-frame home sits in a residential sector in the city center and contrasts the surrounding structures with its metallic exterior, made of galvanized steel. From the street, the home displays a gridded system of the... View full entry
Mitsui Fudosan and Takenaka Corporation are planning to build a 17-story wood-frame office tower in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district. With a proposed height of 70 meters, this would be the tallest wooden building in Japan. — Japan Property Central
Related: A much taller, 70-story wood-framed skyscraper was proposed by Sumitomo Forestry and Nikken Sekkei in 2018 to be built in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district by the year 2041. View full entry
THE TOKYO TOILET, an initiative launched by the non-profit The Nippon Foundation to create save, clean, and appealing public restrooms throughout Tokyo's Shibuya ward, just completed its latest facility: Jingu-Dori Park, designed by Pritzker Prize laureate Tadao Ando, features a simple, functional... View full entry
Noteworthy Japanese architects, and even some Pritzker Prize laureates, are among the creators of 17 innovative public restroom designs throughout the bustling Shibuya area of Tokyo. Launched by the non-profit The Nippon Foundation, THE TOKYO TOILET project hopes to create save, clean, and... View full entry
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the Olympics’s first postponement: Tokyo 2020, its name unchanged, will now take place in July 2021 if it takes place at all. Yet all around the Japanese capital is the legacy of another Olympics: the 1964 Summer Games, which crowned Tokyo’s 20-year transformation from a firebombed ruin to an ultramodern megalopolis. — The New York Times
NYT art critic Jason Farago takes a look back at the now iconic architectural and visual design — and its transformative power — of the 1964 Olympic Summer Games in the Japanese capital, 19 years after WWII had ended. "Those first Tokyo Olympics served as a debutante ball for... View full entry
This is the fifth installment of Archinect Sessions six-part series of conversations we've had with architects, designers, and others in the industry. The discussions address the challenges experienced navigating these uncertain times, from the stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, to the... View full entry
Japanese-based firm Nendo has completed a novel three-story two-family home in Tokyo. With three generations of the same family sharing the space, the living quarters for the older couple is situated on the 1st floor, while the 2nd and 3rd levels house the younger couple and their child. ... View full entry
Veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told USA TODAY Sports Monday afternoon that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are going to be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. [...]
“It will come in stages,” he said. “We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”
— USA Today
While the IOC has not responded directly to veteran member Dick Pound's statement from today, the Committee did signal its commitment to scenario-planning for "changes to the start date of the Games" yesterday amid new outbreaks of COVID-19 in IOC member countries. This development comes only days... View full entry
Construction of all new permanent venues for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics is now complete, organizers said Friday, as preparations continue despite worries over the new coronavirus outbreak.
The announcement comes as the International Olympic Committee insisted this week that a potential cancellation or postponement of the Games due to the virus was "not mentioned" at a meeting of their Executive Board.
— Japan Today
According to Japan Today, the last venue to be completed was the Tokyo Aquatics Center for swimming, diving, and artistic swimming. It will seat 15,000 fans for the Olympic and Paralympic games. "The main pool features a movable wall allowing the 50-meter facility to be converted into two... View full entry
Step into the newly reopened Okura Tokyo, and you might be forgiven for believing in the existence of time travel.
That’s because the lobby, where John Lennon or Steve Jobs might have relaxed when they stayed, was demolished four years ago, to the dismay of patrons of the iconic hotel. And now it’s back, seemingly plucked from the past. During the hiatus, craftsmen recreated and restored the gold-hued space adorned with discreet touches [...].
— Bloomberg
Bloomberg writer Reed Stevenson visits Japan's iconic and recently reopened Okura Tokyo (formerly Hotel Okura) after undergoing a substantial $1 billion makeover. Fearing that the unique and charming mix of 1960s mid-century modern and traditional Japanese architecture, especially in the lobby... View full entry
