The new national stadium of Japan, by Zaha Hadid Architects, will be built for the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo. In September, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the host city for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020. A town with a good track record, Tokyo beat out Istanbul and Madrid and took the prize for the third time. The city was first selected for the 1940 summer games, which were canceled due to World War II. Tokyo’s second win was for the 1964 summer Olympics. Symbolizing the end of Japan’s post–World War II reconstruction, new athletic facilities
On September 1, 2013, the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, had its Civic Opening. Measuring 8,611-square-feet, it is the latest and the largest paper tube structure designed by the Japanese architect and the world’s go-to guy for emergency buildings, Shigeru Ban. Located within the city’s decimated central business district, Ban’s building is a temporary replacement for Christchurch’s Anglican cathedral, a Gothic style structure built in the 19th century but damaged beyond repair by the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that shook the city in February 2011. Inspired by the original building, the Cardboard Cathedral is trapezoidal in plan and triangular in
Ichihara, Japan Forty miles southeast of Tokyo, Sou Fujimoto's transparent outhouse beside a railroad station provides visitors with a restroom–and a view–of their own. Photo by Iwan Baan A single glass-encased stall in the middle of a meadow, Sou Fujimoto's new public toilet is a loo with a view. Located in Ichihara, Japan, a city of 279,000, the tiny restroom is ringed by an oval fence that shields patrons without severing visual ties to the surrounding landscape: low mountains and blossoming cherry trees that draw tourists from near and far. Adjacent to the local railroad station, Fujimoto's facility caters to
Bookstores may be closing right and left in cities all over the world, but in January 2012 Tokyo welcomed Daikanyama Tsutaya Books with an enthusiastic embrace.
A Slice of Life for a Modern Family: In sharp contrast to the client's previous Western-style dwelling, this open, loftlike house encourages togetherness, a quality of life still prized by the Japanese.
Opened on April 4, Coach’s Omotesando Flagship shop is the latest addition to the stunning array of designer boutiques lining one of Tokyo’s most elegant shopping streets. Occupying a prime, corner site at the base of the new commercial complex Oak Omotesando, the shop interior was created by Coach’s in-house design team. But its standout visual features—an elegant, transparent façade and an internal stair tower—were designed by OMA New York. Composed of glass boxes arranged in a bold, herringbone pattern, the entire exterior surface doubles as display, enabling not just the brand, but also individual bags and boots, to have
Toyo Ito has been awarded the 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize, announced Thomas J. Pritzker, Chairman of the Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the award.
A Breath of Fresh Air: A Tokyo firm replaces an outdated schoolhouse with a vibrant, flexible facility that satisfies stringent seismic codes and provides a healthy environment.
In Japan, where the birthrate is dropping and the elderly population is rising, more schools are closing than opening. But in Kumamoto prefecture on the nation's southernmost island, Kyushu, the city of Uto was faced with an aging elementary school and nearly 800 youngsters to educate.