373,490. This is the number of registered first class architects in Japan as of April 2019. In the same year, the number of architects registered with the French Institute of Architects was 29,034. Japan's land area is only about 70% of that of France, but its population is about twice that of France. On the other hand, based on the aforementioned figures, the number of architects in Japan is slightly under 13 times that of France. While we cannot equate in absolute terms that a first-class architect in Japan is analogous to an architect in France, we can see that Japan is a country with a large number of architects.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were held in 2021. Due to the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus, many of the games were held without spectators, and the Games came to a close without us ever populating the venues. What will happen to Paris in 2024? The Trocadero Square in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Place de la Concorde, and the Palace of Versailles are planned to be used for the Games, which will be held outside the stadium, while the city will be greened and soft mobility will be promoted.
After the 1970 Osaka World Exposition, the architects in Japan increasingly became less engaged with the issues of the city, the topic of urbanity. The likes of Kenzo Tange, and Kisho Kurokawa and others found their way overseas, but the generation that followed them, like Tadao Ando's early "urban guerrilla dwellings," manifested the potential of individualized intervention in the city. At the same time, cities in Japan were being developed by politics and economics. However, it is also too willfully simplistic to say that all architects are not involved in the city. Frequently, Japanese architecture is characterized by the idiom of “scrap-and-build,” but the scale of a city does not allow for easy scrap-and-build. We live in a city that is a mosaic of the old and the new, and through architecture we are constantly renewing parts of that mosaic. And it is there that new possibilities emerge. Topically, “BONUS TRACK" just opened on the site of the former railroad tracks associated with the redevelopment of Shimokitazawa Station, which was developed by Lifestyle Creation Division of Odakyu Electric Railway, and designed by Tsubame Architects. Alternative commercial spaces and co-working spaces are also being created under elevated railway tracks in Hibiya, Okachimachi, Kamata, and Gotanda. When the existing contents of a city are updated, or when gaps are created, new pieces are engendered to fill them, and the urban mosaic continues to metabolize.
This pattern can also be seen even in rural areas far from the city centers like Tokyo. Affordable real estate prices, convenient transportation networks to Tokyo, and the development of fiber optics and other infrastructure facilities have led to the creation and revitalization of unexpected bases in all regions of Japan. Examples of satellite offices, co-working spaces, and work-in-residence facilities are often introduced, and unique stores that focus on online business are also increasing in many areas. Past three newsletters have focused on the ancient trails that have long been the foundation of Japan's economy, and through the analyses we explored the potential of cities in terms of points, lines, and surfaces. It is precisely these points that have been transforming since the 1970s, and it is in the pixels of this mosaic that architects have continued to be involved. The complex intertwining of different pixels is what makes a mosaic diverse.
What we should be aiming for now is not legacy, but to create pixels, a piece of mosaic, with higher resolution. Although I have said that it is difficult to scrap and build a city, various examples are actually increasing. Roppongi and Shiodome demolished all the buildings in their districts to create a new cityscape. Now, Toranomon and Shibuya Station are about to follow suit. What these cities have in common are homogeneous pixels. It is difficult to create an alluring surface with uniform pixels. A diverse mosaic is tolerant of failures as well as changes over time, and can be updated with the next piece. That is to say, a multifaceted city with perpetually kaleidoscopic mosaical pieces. Perhaps this is why the figure of 373,490 is essential.
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-Yoshinao Yamada
Editor and Writer Born in Hokkaido in 1980. After working in the editorial department of "Shotenkenchiku" and "Pen", he became a freelance writer in 2017. He has edited and written for Pen, Casa BRUTUS, ELLE DÉCOR JAPON, Harper's BAZAAR, madame FIGARO japon, and other magazines, focusing on features on architecture, design, and art. In addition to editing and writing for books such as Tendo Woodwork and Japanese Modern (Seigensha), he is also involved in exhibition planning and catalog productions.
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Editor: Hinako Izuhara
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