Articles by Naomi Pollock, FAIA

Go Hasegawa and Associates

Finding inspiration in quirky, leftover urban sites, an architect makes the job of fitting in a defiant act of design.
Naomi Pollock, FAIA
December 16, 2014
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Tokyo may be among the world’s largest cities, but it has some of the smallest buildings. At critical nodes such as Roppongi and Shinjuku, the city has plenty of skyscrapers and hulking commercial complexes, yet its character is mostly defined by dense, low-scale neighborhoods where the majority of buildings are no more than five stories high.


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Arata Isozaki Opposes Zaha Hadid's Tokyo Olympics Stadium, Proposes She Downsize

Naomi Pollock, FAIA
November 24, 2014
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Zaha Hadid reduced the size and toned down the expression of her initial design for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Stadium, but it is still garnering criticism. In the latest round of public outcry over Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic Stadium, architect Arata Isozaki has stepped into the ring, joining a coterie of illustrious architects opposed to the project’s development. Though he favored the initial helmet-shaped scheme that landed the London architect Zaha Hadid the commission, the revised design has Isozaki deeply concerned. He convened last week with Hadid associate Satoshi Ohashi at a public forum in Tokyo intended to give both parties
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Louis Vuitton Matsuya Ginza Facade

Architect Jun Aoki's new facade for Louis Vuitton in Tokyo's Ginza district is a glowing tour de force that sets the shop apart from the Matsuya Department Store that houses it.
Naomi Pollock, FAIA
November 15, 2014
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Despite Japan's energy belt-tightening, triggered by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake of 2011, dazzling lighting effects still bedeck most luxury boutiques in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district.


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Toyo Ito's National Taichung Theater on Display

Naomi Pollock, FAIA
October 21, 2014
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Toyo Ito at the theater construction site. Displaying architecture in a gallery is always a challenge. This is especially true with a building still under construction. And even more so when that building is Taiwan’s National Taichung Theater—unarguably Tokyo architect Toyo Ito’s most ambitious project to date. Taking Ito’s structural know-how and spatial ingenuity to new limits, this extraordinary complex appears as a rectangular block. But contained within is a spectacular 3D grid of tubular voids hinted at by the hourglass-shaped cutouts that define the elevations. Expanding and contracting, the hollows accommodate the various programmatic pieces, including a 2014-seat theater,
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Nishinoyama House

Working All the Angles: Kazuyo Sejima designs 10 apartments united by a sequence of overlapping roof planes in Kyoto.
Naomi Pollock, FAIA
October 16, 2014
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Far from Kyoto’s temples and tourist attractions, the Nishinoyama House sits at the edge of the city surrounded by single-family homes and small agricultural plots.


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In Tokyo, Protestors Don't Want 1964 Olympics Stadium Replaced by Zaha Hadid's

Naomi Pollock, FAIA
July 7, 2014
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Protestors gather around the National Stadium on Saturday, hoping to save it from demolition. On Saturday, placard-wearing protestors took to the streets of central Tokyo and peacefully encircled the 50,000-seat Kasumigaoka National Stadium designed by Mitsuo Katayama and erected for the 1964 Olympics. In preparation for hosting the games again in 2020, the vintage structure is being readied for demolition followed by replacement with a futuristic, Zaha Hadid-designed arena several times its size. But a collection of architects and lay people alike are hoping to convince the Japan Sport Council (JSC) to do otherwise. Japan does not have a great
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