Positive Olympic Effect, Hareza, Animate Cafe, Higashi Ikebukuro; by Kajima Achitect; 鹿島建設株式会社,

Despite the postponed Olympic event, the preparation has produced a general improvement for public spaces that

could not been possible without the Olympic Games as a desired guest in Tokyo. One, among hundreds, is in this square of Higashi Ikebukuro where the main trade is about anime world. Probably is one of the capital centre in the whole world for people who likes this hobby and all sort of things surrounding merchandise. I am not expert neither interest as you may have guessed.

Here they did this cafe front square with a centered unique design. I think the proposal fit the atmosphere.

 

 

 

Saturday afternoon the square is plenty of young and teenagers who are commercialing freely their goods, caards, games and so on.

Kajima Inc. has realized a massive Urban Development surrounding the plaza; where a tower; a theatre Hall and many Other spaces are born from almost nothing. I have seen even the Tokyo mayor paying visit to one of these one day.

There is free dowanloadable pdf that describe the project here, recently finished; I would say late 2019.

Kajima is one of the mayor Construction Company of Japan; their website here.

The square is called Park, 豊島区中立池袋公園, it is called c

 

 

NICHES in TOKYO land urban landscape 23 wards

I always pass running in front of this little Jinjia and I never noticed since last Sunday I walked instead of run…It was there between 2 properties, probably been there long ago as it is marked with such a respectful vertical column sing. What do you think, is that column appropriate ?

a nice facade for a Hospital, Kagayaki Plaza, by Ｋｕｍｅ Ｓｅｋｋｅｉ (久米設計)

finished in 2013, according to this article, during the Sakura week I was walking nearby.

It is interesting that with the Sakura excuse I was able to go in places where otherwise I would never step. This road was near the Budokan but just a turn that I never took before. (here the address 九段南1-6-10)

There was even a free shuttle to assist tourists…

and you know what, for the first time the people who tried to pass the lines were not Italians…I bet you know where they were from!

Architecture and Structuralism: the ordering of Space, Herman Hertzberger, Rotterdam, 2015, a review

The writer is also a University teacher (Delft  University) and an active architect (I am not sure he is still teaching though). He is over 8o. I found his name trough a recent project, and I decided to follow the path to see where it leads…

Totally amazed of the intensity of his thoughts, and sometimes in a full time agreement with his teories.

The book chapters, as to say index, is already a recension as reading carefully the titles one can imagine the content. The titles tell us a lot.

Introduction,

Structuralism and Architecture,

Open versus Closed Structures

The collective character of Structure

Interpretability

Architecture`s Unconscious Programme

Generic, Specific, and Polyvalent

Identity

Building Order

Construction Kits

Sustainability

Work in progress

.

Where I am totally in sintony:

“Innovations in architecture are not necessarily improvements but essentially are shifts in emphasis and, therefore, attention,. Besides changes that are difficult to explain there are constants that are equally inexplicable, such as the seemingly indestructible classicism. We see it cropping up wherever there is a need to express certainty , solidity, status and power, in one or other from remotely derived from Classical Antiquity with the quite arbitrary pretention of having eternal value. For the record, the basis of other styles of architecture as well as other collective modes of construction, whether or not religiously inspired,culturally determined or otherwisecommunally driven, generally speaking is every bit as arbitrary”[pg.186]

Also the chapter dedicated to Sustainability unveil some fictitious value related to green, and its prophets. It is truly a fervent pamphlet about the amount of lies that the term has been crammed.

Some chapters mark the link between his group origins, team 10, and the japanese metabolist movement of the sixties. The main value of his theory is how to design and address the space in between the pubblic and the private. A very soften regard leads the reader to understand why some choices are better than others. I would give 5 start just for this unique splendid and fully supported explanation.

The thoughts are explained to such a greater number of examples from the romans to Arles, the city of Lucca, Le Corbusier, and his mentor mr.Aldo Van Eyck another dutch architect that is convincing. Often Le Corbusier is cited both in positive and critic way. Structuralism has an interesting story that officially began with a scism inside the Functionalism, in 1959.

He may had not yet win the pritzker prize, but he does not need it.

 

 

House Vision 2016

I went yesterday, Saturday, the 27th to this wonderful exhibition.

Here some links of video I shot.

It closed on Sunday August 28th.

 

House nr. 9,here. Nippon Design Center, for Toppan Printing.

 

House nr. 1, here. Fumie Shibata for Yamato Holdings.

 

House nr.8, here. K.Kuma, Seijun Nishihata for Sumitomo Forestry.

 

The winner is, Jun Iagarashi and Taihi Fujimori with their Inside Out/Furniture room.

Really lovely, above all the others.  House nr.10,  here. for TOTO and YKK AP

 

IN total there were 12 houses, but not all of them were houses, like 8 and 11, were outdoor

places. nr4. an Office space by Bow Wow.

There is a book already onliune if you`d like to have everything collected. I bought it as a present to a friend in Italy.

Last, I think Kuma, with designing the whole exhibition and 3 years before the House vision 1, first gathering must be considered a leading figure into this productive, architectural environment.

(Also you can see other old posts on this blog about that exibihition, 1,        2,        3,       4,        5, )

So I will put a link to an interesting introduction to his japanese theory book, called defeated architecture, of a blogger also that seems to be one of his

teammates at the studio or just one of his student I do not know really. Here, His ore her name is Zhue, and the article is dated back 2009.

Fragment MIB、unknown

It was interesting,I thought I have lost these shots.

Although I am not a big fan of exposed conrete, I have to admit that this result is massive and well composed.

 

it is located in the surrounding of the notorius district of Ikebukuro

 

Are you up for Zushi this year?

So here it is, one hour from Tokyo straight to the South, technically one train stop after the famous Kamakura, there is a beach like in the western world.

A reign of youthness and fun, where the crowd ejnoy the crowd….

Suddenly the rainy season has not gone yet!

Milan, Italy-Torre Arcobaleno

Since the Architectural company has offices and clients not only in Italy but also in Kyoto,

I love to share their video about a renovation of a small tower in Milan, very effective.

Here is the video.

Rainbow Tower from Point of View on Vimeo.

 

AOYAMA (青山) does speak British? McCartney Stella store by Takenaka Corporation

From this interesting link , where different projects are ranked, I discovered that the Design is from Takenaka corporation. It is named also a cooperation with the McCartney store planning Office for the interior. They were wise enough to accept a Japanase firm to sing their exterior.

The dseignof Takenaka  might be a spin off of their previous creative successes, but it still playing well with such wild antagonists (Miu Miu and Prada, read Herzog & De Meuron-)

From the web, it seems during nights it even looks more interesting that during daytime.

IN the same day where we enjoyed the new store of Miu Miu, we discovered many stores that has british brands, taht were not there before. I guess it was a positive effect of the London Olympics, and in general of the increased access to English Schools all over the country. Aoyama is the end of Omotesando, so it is quite the same neigbourhour but it has some up class notes here and there. Like for instance if you, one day want to buy a Bugatti, you have to go up there.

Or there is a Noh Theatre space just few steps from this McCartney store. It has performances only once every month on fridays evenings….so there is also the jazz club, called Blue Note if I am not mistaking the name….and so and so…

 

Aoyama Store

 

Ｔｈｅ Ｃｈｉｄｏｒｉｇａｆｕｃｈｉ Ｇｒａｎｄ Ｐａｒｋ Ｈｏｕｓｅ、 Ｍｉｔｓｕｂｉｓｈｉ Ｊｉｍｕ Ｓｅｋｋｅｉ

It was adiacent to the sakura walking we did on  the first weekend of April.  It was clear enough, by the the finishing and the detailing marble, that was something for wealthy people or for, maybe ,diplomatic personnel, giving also the location not far from some Political Centres, as well the National Cemetery and the Imperial Palace.

When I looked for the architectural design thus I was not surprised to register the name of Mitsubishi Jimu Sekkei than I am starting to notice as an high valuable office, rather classic though. The building seems to be quite new, this article by the Asahi Shimbun, says 2015. On the other hand it looks also as a Bank investment with all the inferences ons One could do about the real estate property values History in Tokyo and world wide…

If you want inquiry for renting a flat , there, here the link.

I appreciated the most, the under stament and the stern decisive design.