Building in Japan
Commentary ( 12 )
TOKYO —
Architecture in Japan is a broad canvas. A great deal of history – and a legacy of craftsmanship – is behind the formidable engineering and the highly regarded aesthetic sensibility driving the reputation today. Japanese architects have designed for Armani and Dior, and several of the world’s leading art institutions. Kenzo Tange, Fumihiko Maki and Tadao Ando have been awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.
One irony of Japan’s high-end design output is that it is mostly achieved through the smaller atelier-type design offices. The big, all-inclusive general contractors are very competent at the macro scale of multistory and infrastructural projects in which they specialize. Yet, the really exquisite, tailored, small to mid-scale projects are almost exclusively the domain of the design-driven atelier offices.
The more famous atelier offices in Japan – like elsewhere in the world – are infamous for ‘eating their young’. They attract many of the best graduates from the best schools (and more than a few from the West), who then work diabolical hours for survival wages.
Read more in Insight by architect Peter Boronski.
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12 Comments
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thepro
Japanese cities are the ugliest places on Earth
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Debucho
baloney! I am in the architecture industry and I can tell you there is zero creativity here. Mostly copies and knock-offs. Just like the Japanese music industry.
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Potsu
"and a legacy of craftsmanship "
That's the joke of the day.
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tranel
Actually, those Japanese architects who win renown are usually very good, very talented, excellent at adding subtle details that enhance ambience. But, with the exception of a few high-profile projects they don't do much in Japan. Most architects here just do what convention demands, ie draw an ugly box that has nothing in common with its surroundings... except, of course, that it is ugly as sin.
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Nessie
For a large share of Japanese apartments where real people live, it's like camping without the view.
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borscht
There are some great craftsmen in Japan when it comes to building construction. Unfortunately, their skills are being unused in the search for cheap and fast assemblers also, unfortunately, they are required to follow the plans put forth by housing construction companies: four rooms on the first floor, two on the second. Your choice of color, though. Within reason.
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haoushokuhaki
While housing here may lack creativity, they are quite durable. I especially like the art of putting together houses without the use of nails or screws. The use of double-paned windows which are standard now helps to keep noise out and allows for no build up of condensation and thus mold on the windows during winter. Fire-resistant materials are also standard in new houses, as is heated flooring, heated bathtubs, and IH cooking stoves. Also, the houses here make the best use of available space (or dead space) that I have ever seen. I guess form does really follow function. A good show to watch is "Before and After" on Sunday nights at 8:00 on Asahi Television. It shows how architects rennovate old homes.
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blvtzpk
It's those prison cell-like apartments that get me - the ones that all exit onto the open-air balcony - I expect that there's a jailer with a lever that opens the doors to let everyone out to head off to work.
Ugly.
There ARE exceptions, but they are exceptions.
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amakuri
Can anyone tell me what the laws are here on home ownership? If I have a permanent residency visa can I buy a home here? Or must one have Japanese citizenship? I imagine one could not buy or own a home with only a work visa.
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my2sense
try the gaijinpot forum bro...
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papasmurfinjapan
amakuri
If you've got the cash I'm pretty sure you can buy a property on a work visa. Just don't expect to get a home loan. You need PR for that.
As a home owner in Japan, I agree that Japan has some of the ugliest buildings/cities in the world. The majority of houses are cookie-cutter designs, which though practical on the inside, give no though to external aesthetics.
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