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Tokyo’s bustling Shibuya district will get a 230-meter high observation deck before the Olympics that could become more famous than its statue of Hachiko the dog or the “scramble crossing” by the train station, plans unveiled by Tokyu Corp. showed Thursday. [...]
Visitors will be able to see the capital’s other landmarks, including Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree, as well as Mount Fuji on a clear day.
— japantimes.co.jp
Two massive arches that form the backbone of the stadium's roof, a feature that critics blamed for raising construction costs, will remain part of the design. — usatoday.com
When confronted with Zaha Hadid's too-big and too-costly design for the 2020 Olympic National Stadium, Tokyo officials decided to go ahead with the designs anyway – or else, add "too late" to that list of descriptors. Any additional major changes to the design (Hadid already scaled back the... View full entry
The Hotel Okura, built in 1962 in time for the 1964 Olympics, is slated to be torn down in September to make way for a bigger, fancier Okura, in time for the 2020 Olympics. (The less-good, less-famous southern wing of the old Okura, added in 1973, will be allowed to stay.) [...]
There will never be this particular hush again in the middle of Tokyo. You will have to have been there to know what you will soon miss.
— nytimes.com
Previously: Farewell to the Old Okura View full entry
while the idea of a fully plumbed potty zooming up and down the sides of a Tokyo skyscraper may seem like Japanese technical ingenuity taken a step too far, in reality this idea is born of reasonable and sensible practical concerns. [...]
it remains likely that people will end up trapped in elevators if a large earthquake comes. [...]
Japan's elevator industry is among the most advanced in the world ... Its toilet industry also leads the world in technical advancements.
— washingtonpost.com
The below video (available in Japanese and English versions) shows off a version of a elevator-specific toilet:More elevator news:Installation of UltraRope elevators begins at Kingdom TowerIn case of fire, use elevatorsUp and Down, Side to Side; ThyssenKrupp's cable-free MULTI elevator to begin... View full entry
Tokyo is known for its mix of modern and traditional architecture, but for long-term residents it is easy to feel like the concrete is winning out. [...]
The buildings done by acclaimed Tokyo-based architect Kengo Kuma are different. [...]
Kuma’s campaign to bring Japanese-ness back to architecture has had fascinating results.
— qz.com
As rural Japan battles the twin afflictions of a population that is getting smaller almost as quickly as it’s getting older, Kamiyama is one of a handful of towns that is bucking the trend. It’s practicing 'creative depopulation' — trying to make sure it gets younger and more innovative, even as it shrinks, by attracting youthful newcomers who are weary of big-city life to work in new rural industries. — The Washington Post
More:Find your ideal neighborhood with this new 'Livability Index' online toolRevisiting Sharon Zukin's "Loft Living" and NYC gentrificationRenzo Piano: the future of European architecture lies in the suburbsDesigning for Seniors and Soldiers, Toward a "Silver" Architecture View full entry
A vibration control device to dramatically reduce shaking caused by long-period earthquake ground motion — a phenomenon in which major earthquakes shake skyscrapers slowly but severely — was shown to the media on Monday after being installed in a 55-story building in central Tokyo. [...]
The companies said it is the nation’s first rooftop vibration control device against earthquakes.
— the-japan-news.com
Exterior becomes interior, public space overlaps with private space, and society is integrated into nature: or is it? These are but a few of the concepts seemingly behind the design of MAD's Clover House, a Kindergarten adjacent to a Japanese rice paddy field that also serves as a private... View full entry
When an architect talks about “transparency,” as Sou Fujimoto did during his well-attended lecture at UCLA’s Decafe at Perloff Hall on Friday, it’s always a relief when it refers to more than a literal degree of opacity. Presenting nine of his projects in a lecture than ran ten minutes... View full entry
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants Japan to showcase its cutting-edge technology in the new national stadium being built for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
Abe made the remark on Monday at a meeting with a study panel on the stadium. [...]
Prime Minister Abe [...] said he wants to hear people in other countries calling the new stadium great.
Some people have raised concerns about high maintenance costs for the new facility.
— NHK WORLD News
While some of that Japanese cutting-edge technology (for example 3D projection) will be found in the entertainment department, other features, like facial recognition, could enable ticketless entrance and serve security and counterterrorism efforts.Previously View full entry
“They don’t want a foreigner to build in Tokyo for a national stadium. On the other hand, they all have work abroad. Whether it’s Sejima, Toyo Ito, or Maki or Isozaki or Kengo Kuma.”
Last month Isozaki, 83, wrote an open letter to the Japan Sports Council, the government body in charge of plans for the 2020 Games, in which he attacked the “distorted” process that has led to “a dull, slow form”.
— theguardian.com
Previously View full entry
Fujimoto’s goal isn’t just to make spaces—the basic function of architecture—but to make people relate to spaces in new ways. Watching the couple move around the house, approaching everyday activities with the finesse the unusual design requires, suggests he is well on his way to achieving it. — online.wsj.com
The Japanese designer’s “future primitive” structures harmonize nature and built environments, offering radical new versions of walls, ceilings and floors. View full entry
It was supposed to represent a dynamic future vision for Tokyo, flaring up out of the city’s Meiji Jingu park in sinuous white arcs. But Zaha Hadid’s design for the 2020 Olympic stadium [...] now facing its fiercest public attack yet. [...]
In a lengthy open letter to the Japan Sports Council [...] Isozaki rails against the “distorted” process that has led to “a dull, slow form, like a turtle waiting for Japan to sink so that it can swim away”.
— theguardian.com
Previously View full entry
MUJI HOUSE, the architectural entity of Japanese design brand Muji, recently released their latest prefab house in Tokyo called the Vertical House. The slender 3-story structure was primarily designed for urban dwellers living within Tokyo's tight living spaces.Designed with simple white walls and... View full entry
Acclaimed architect Steven Holl received the Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award medal for architecture in a ceremony in Tokyo today. Japan's Prince Hitachi, honorary patron of the Japan Art Association, formally presented the awards to each of the 2014 laureates. Created in 1988, the prestigious Praemium Imperiale recognizes lifetime achievement in the arts in categories that aren't covered by the Nobel Prize. — bustler.net
The 2014 laureates also include: South African playwright Athol Fugard, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, French painter Martial Raysse, and Italian sculptor Giuseppe Penone. The 2014 Grant for Young Artists (5 million yen, or US$50,000) was given to the Zinsou Foundation in Benin, West... View full entry
