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The HRP-5P is a humanoid robot from Japan’s Advanced Industrial Science and Technology institute that can perform common construction tasks including — as we see above — install drywall.
HRP-5P — maybe we can call it Herb? — uses environmental measurement, object detection and motion planning to perform various tasks.
— TechCrunch
Ever had to install large sections of drywall and wondered if there wasn't a machine available that could do that for you while you take care of a bowl of nachos? Well, now there is: Japanese researchers have developed a humanoid worker robot, HRP-5P, which appears to be capable of performing the... View full entry
Architecture, after all, dictates behavior: Public or private, indoor or outdoor, extravagant or humble, old or new, fake or real — these are a few of the obvious binaries by which we assess the spaces we inhabit. They are also the edges against which most architects hone their signature styles. [...] Tanijiri and Yoshida have instead devoted themselves to the liminal place where these elements break down; their designs [...] unite concepts that seem opposed. — The New York Times
Office in Imabari, Ehime, Japan, 2013, Suppose Design Office. Image via suppose.jp.The NYT Style Magazine showcases the fascinating work of Japanese architects Suppose Design Office and their ongoing minimalist exploration of fluidity, porosity, and (in)completeness. "No matter how closely the... View full entry
But so far, things have remained “on schedule,” and the Olympic stadium is on pace to be completed by the end of next year. [...]
Takeo Takahashi, the general manager of the stadium project, told the media that “roughly four-tenths” of the construction has been completed, but the situation is “as planned.”
— The Japan Times
It's been deliberately quiet around the NEW New National Stadium in Tokyo after the original, winning design by Zaha Hadid Architects was publicly attacked, and eventually officially canceled by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe himself, and a replacement Olympic Stadium scheme was hastily selected from a... View full entry
A team made up of researchers at Shizuoka University and other institutions is set to conduct an experiment in September for a project to develop a "space elevator" connecting Earth and a space station by cable -- attracting attention as a possible dream vehicle for space travel and cargo shipments in the future. — The Mainichi
The idea of a space elevator has been around since 1895 when Russian/Soviet rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (inspired by the newly erected Eiffel Tower in Paris) envisioned a very long cable running from earth's equator to space beyond geostationary orbit with a counterweight at the top... View full entry
The organizers of the upcoming 2020 Olympics in Japan want to ensure that visitors from around the world feel welcomed in their capital [...] Japanese event company, Yasu Project, developed a mobile mosque that will travel throughout the multiple Olympic stadiums. The mosque on wheels is located inside a 25-ton truck, with enough room to fit up to 50 people. It is also equipped with an outdoor rinse station, so that users can participate in a pre-worship cleanse. — popupcity.net
In an effort to extend hospitality and cultural inclusion during the 2020 Olympics, Japanese event company Yasu Project has created mobile religious spaces for Muslim attendees. These pop up mosques attempt to solve the issue of limited public and religious infrastructure and the desire for... View full entry
A venture firm and a major taxi company began trials of passenger-carrying autonomous taxi services on Monday with an eye on launching the full service around 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympics and the Paralympics.
ZMP Inc., a Tokyo-based developer of autonomous driving technology, and Hinomaru Kotsu Co., said they are the first in the world to offer autonomous taxi services to fare-paying passengers in the test through Sept. 8.
— Japan Times
Other tech companies and automakers have also been testing autonomous driving services in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. If the Tokyo RoboCar MiniVan trial is successful, officials hope to scale up the program to assist with the increased transportation demand during the 2020 Summer Olympics and... View full entry
Thanks to the overwhelming clarity of [Le Corbusier's] positions, the bewitching nature of his epigrammatic style and the already-powerful international movement for Modernism, the impact he had on a rising generation of Japanese architects would prove to be immense. But it would be the nature of that impact to be felt only in conditions of overwhelming ambivalence. — The New York Times
Nikil Saval traces Japan's modernism back to Le Corbusier citing influences on Kunio Maekawa and Kenzo Tange. Japan was the earliest country in all of East Asia to engage with Le Corbusier's work in the late 19th century, and by the 1930's many of his books has been translated into Japanese. The... View full entry
MAD Architects have restored Japan's historic Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel as a permanent art installation, “Tunnel of Light”, coinciding with the 2018 Echigo-Tsumari Triennale. The art event hosts approximately 160 artworks across 200 villages, inhabiting abandoned spaces as sites for interaction... View full entry
World-renowned architect Shigeru Ban sprang into action again in a disaster zone by setting up temporary “homes” to give flooding victims here some much-needed privacy.
Ban, members of his Voluntary Architects’ Network (VAN) and student volunteers used recycled paper tubes and pieces of fabric to create partitions for evacuees in the gymnasium of the Sono Elementary School in the Mabicho district on July 14.
— Asahi Shimbun
Torrential downpours and subsequent floods and mudslides have devastated parts of Western Japan in recent weeks. With over 250 people dead or missing and more than 8 million people under evacuation order, this has reportedly been one of the country's most severe natural disasters in years... View full entry
Photogenic is probably not the first word that comes to mind upon hearing the phrase “public restroom”. But the Instagram account toilets_a_go_go by Tokyo-based photographer Hidefumi Nakamura proves that public toilets shouldn't have to look bland and gross. Since starting the Instagram... View full entry
Atelier Bow-Wow co-founder Momoyo Kaijima teamed up with Laurent Stalder (ETH Zurich Professor of Theory of Architecture, Director of the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture) and Yu Iseki (Curator at Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito) to curate the Japan Pavilion for the... View full entry
The fantasy world of Oscar-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki will come to life as a theme park, set to open in central Japan in 2022, the regional government said Wednesday.
Miyazaki is the cofounder of Studio Ghibli, the nation’s premier animation studio, and is renowned internationally for works including “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away.”
Studio Ghibli has released a basic concept for the vast park, which will be built by 2022 near Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture.
— The Japan Times
Plans for a Studio Ghibli theme park have been floating for some time, but they appear to become more concrete now with the announcement by local officials in Japan's Aichi Prefecture and the release of (very conceptual) illustrations of the park depicting structures that resemble buildings from... View full entry
The boutique hospitality chain, Ace Hotel has announced it will open its first-ever Japanese outpost next year with a Kengo Kuma designed building in Kyoto. According to the company's president, Brad Wilson, "it’s been [a] long-standing dream to put down roots in Japan." "We feel incredibly... View full entry
Freed from the conventions of architecture and construction, what would this world look like?
It’s a question Japanese architect Junya Ishigami has been trying to answer for the past decade, dreaming of structures that are as light as a cloud, as vast as the sky, as random as the trees in a forest or the stars in the sky.
— The Guardian
Glass Pavilion, Park Groot Vijversburg, NL. Image: junya.ishigami+associates.The Guardian's architecture critic, Oliver Wainwright, takes a closer at the fascinating work of Junya Ishigami, the bright new star on the Japanese architecture firmament, who is catching more and more mainstream... View full entry
[...] the value of the average Japanese house depreciates to zero in 22 years. (It is calculated separately from the land, which is more likely to hold its value.) Most are knocked down and rebuilt. Sales of new homes far outstrip those of used ones, which usually change hands in the expectation that they will be demolished and replaced. In America and Europe second-hand houses accounted for 90% of sales and new-builds for 10% in 2017. In Japan the proportions are the other way around. — The Economist
The Economist article describes Japan’s throwaway housing culture as a phenomenon that is not only a burden on the national economy and the environment but also does not see renovation and refurbishment of existing structures as an appreciation in value. There are exceptions of course: one rare... View full entry