Despite all the work on the Yangon Architectural Guide, I managed to stick to a fairly regular posting schedule on my long-term Tumblr project. Time to look at some of the stats and features of the site.
Category Archives: Tokyo
Elusive Dharavi
Long overdue here are some notes from a walk we took through Dharavi last month. Dharavi is often referred to as Asia’s quintessential slum. What reminded me to put up this post was an article in the Architectural Review entitled “Enough Slum Porn: The Global North’s Fetishisation of Poverty Architecture Must End”.
Antilia
Mumbai is home to one of India’s richest men, Mukesh Ambani. His residence is probably the most extreme spatial manifestation of the super rich. His Antilia residence towers 170 meters above the city.
Hotel Okura to be demolished
The management of the Hotel Okura announced in late May that the iconic building in Tokyo’s Toranomon area will be demolished and redeveloped into a new hotel complex opening in time for the 2020 Olympics.
Hotel Okura main building – photo by Manuel Oka
Two great comments
I don’t get all too many comments on this blog, so it’s all the more relevant to share two recent ones with my readers. “Lamb” commented on the NOA Building, a post from my Tokyo times. More recently came Michelle’s comment on the post I wrote about the Schomburg Plaza in Harlem.
Schomburg Plaza, New York
Tumblr update
My Tumblr on postwar Japan has managed to attract 1,100 followers since I started it half year ago or so. It’s become the place for me to put up close to 1,000 pictures of everything from architecture, documentary photography, advertisements to a growing collection of shinkansen paraphernalia that I find during my research. A project for the future is better categorisation; this would allow me to curate mini-exhibitions on certain architects, areas or urban experiences.
1960s Tokyo photos
In 2013 Kyodo opened its archives for an exhibition showcasing Tokyo photos from the 1960s mainly. By juxtaposing them with shots from the same angle today, the incredible transformation of Tokyo over the decades becomes visible. I stumbled over its website where many of works can be seen. A small selection with links to posts from this blog after the jump.
1964 Transformations
I am planning to pitch a piece on the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the urban transformation the Games brought about. Besides some of Manuel’s photos, I want to use a slide I bought on ebay the other day (see below). We look up north across the newly-built expressway connecting Haneda airport with the city centre. The monorail track is to the right. More info here. Article abstract after the jump (comments more than welcome!).
Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line
Japan is any rail buff’s heaven. The punctuality and efficiency of the trains is one thing, the sheer scale of the network another: 82 out of the world’s 100 busiest train stations are in Japan. The role private rail lines played in the post-war urbanisation of Tokyo is explored in the post below, using Tokyu’s Den-en-toshi Line as an example.
Den-en-toshi Line signage. Thanks to kawawa for taking the shot!
American embassy housing
While in Tokyo we lived in a serviced apartment in Ark Hills, right next to Roppongi-itchome station. We could see the 1983 US embassy residences opposite Roppongi Dori from our windows. I found some pictures from before they were built. They illustrate how the area has changed since the war and bring back to life two historic buildings that occupied the site before. 30 Nov: Update at bottom of the post
September 1953 – Perry Apartments, left, with Harris Apartments on the right (Antonin Raymond), photograph from Gerald & Rella Warner Japan Slide Collection, reproduced with permission.