I picked up the great “Architects of Affluence: The Tsutumi Family and the Seibu Enterprises in 20th-Century Japan” the other day. It’s a fascinating monograph written about 20 years ago by Thomas Havens. It helped me connect the dots between railroad, (sub-)urbanisation and the onset of mass consumerism in post-war Japan. Can an architectural dimension be woven into this? Let’s visit Shibuya!
Category Archives: Architecture
Book update / chapter ideas
As the book project on Tokyo’s architecture takes up a lot of my time, I thought I’d post an update on where we stand. There are also a few new chapter ideas I wanted to brainstorm – and what place better for that than my blog.
Sakuradai Village, photo by Manuel Oka
Criminal Courts Building
New York’s 20th-century beaux arts and art deco architecture doesn’t generally get my heart rate up. There are exceptions to this, including some of the famous early skyscrapers. Another building I like is the Criminal Courts Building in the Civic Center of Manhattan. I find its architecture incredibly symbolic.
Peabody Terrace
I spent two days in Boston last weekend, visiting a friend. Partly thanks to its universities, Boston has plenty of modern architecture. I found this great brochure (Boston Modern: The Spirit of Reinvention) only after walking around town but plan to return to the city with it in my bag. One of these modern gems I managed to find on my own is Peabody Terrace in Cambridge, next to the Charles River.
State Office Building
The Adam Clayton Powell Junior State Office Building divides Harlem geographically. It also divides opinions. Some call it a Brutalist eyesore from the urban renewal era, others think that it is an important memorial, commemorating the battle for the soul of Harlem.
Spiritural Harlem
Harlem is home to churches of various congregations. They have been in the news as of late due to the “Gospel Boom” that sees large numbers of tourists flock here on Sundays. I took a look at two churches designed by a Greek Cypriot architect which are not far from my house.
Empire State Building
We trekked up the Empire State Building on Friday, skipping all queues courtesy of a friend who works here. It’s great to get a feel for New York from atop the highest observation platform (until the one in Freedom Tower opens in 2015, that is). A very vertical experience, some impressions of which are posted after the break.
Mount Sinai vs. Central Park
The massive Mount Sinai Hospital fills a few blocks on Fifth Avenue alongside Eastern Central Park. The big Annenberg Building, built in 1976, literally towers above all other structures. Many have called it an eyesore and are keen on the block’s destruction. In what can only be called a revenge act, the hospital management has fought back by building another tower nearby.
Schomburg Plaza
Up ten blocks from the Mount Sinai is this additional beauty from the 1970s called Schomburg Plaza (thanks to Julius for the hint!). The two towers have been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the past. Looking for information, I also stumbled upon an interesting exchange about how safe it is to live in South Harlem.
Tokyo Olympics continued
While researching for my book chapter, I just stumbled upon this amazing simplified map of Tokyo. It appeared in Sports Illustrated in 1964, and shows all the venues and points of interest for the visitor to the Summer Olympics, which took place here in October. You can access by clicking on “view this issue” (or try this link instead and go to pages 44/45). See below for a screenshot (click to magnify).
Several of the buildings on the map will be discussed in the upcoming book: Hotel Okura, Yoyogi National Gymnasium as well as Komazawa Olympic Park with its great stadiums. I wrote up a few facts on the Games here.
The photos preceding the map are gorgeous and the American tourism guide immediately after the map is worth the (cumbersome) read as well. From cheap taxis, road naming conventions, long nights followed by a Tsukiji fish market experience to buildings to be avoided for their apparent ugliness (Diet building, Tokyo Tower), the article is a great reminder of what has and what hasn’t changed since fifty years ago.
