Architecture as an Urban Mixer

Essay, High Density, Kayoko Ota, Sharing Tokyo, Territory and mobility, Urban Paradigms.

Activation, Active Public Spaces, Adaptive reuse, Business, Circulation, Comfort, Community, Economic crisis, Essay, High-rise, In-between space, Japan, Landmark, Livability, Mass Transportation, Megacites & High Density, Pedestrian realm, Public engagement, Public realm, Public Transport, Social contributor, Starchitecture, Sustainable, Tokyo, Transportation Systems, Urban catalyst, Urban growth, Urban mobility, Urban planning.

Excerpt from Sharing Tokyo, by Mohsen Mostafavi and Kayoko Ota, published by Actar Publishers.

Denial or surrender? A contrast in how one encounters reality seems to be dividing the attitudes of architects in Japan, typically between those who started practicing before and after the turn of the century. One camp tries to offer society an alternative model of architecture by refusing urban reality, while the other tries to offer a solution through negotiating with that reality.