2021
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Bocconi University by SANAA
Architectural Record, November 2021
Full Article
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Chicago Exhibit Explores Razed Wright and Sullivan Works
Architectural Record, October 2021
Full Article
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Majimaya Confectionery Tool Shop & Kama-Asa Knife Shop by KAMITOPEN Architecture-Design Office
Architectural Record, October 2021
Full Article
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Marusho Kimono Shop by Tsutsumi & Associates
Architectural Record, October 2021
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Takanawa Gateway Station by Kengo Kuma & Associates
Architectural Record, August 2021
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Bay Window Tower House by Takaaki Fuji & Yuko Fuji Architecture
Architectural Record, April 2021
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The Plaza at Kanagawa Institute of Technology by Junya Ishigami + Associates
Architectural Record, April 2021
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2020
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Rattan to Radios: The Ingenuity of Postwar Japanese Design
Financial Times, October 2020
Full Article
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How Japan Became the Land of Good Design
Nikkei Asian Review, September 2020
Full Article
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Quiet Beauty
Gray Magazine, Issue 53, August 2020
Full Article
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Rolex Building in Dallas by Kengo Kuma & Associates
Architectural Record, June 2020
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Venture Lab Silicon Valley by Katagiri Architecture+Design and Kakizoe Architects
Architectural Record, June 2020
Full Article
2019
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PATH by ARTechnic architects
Architectural Record, April 2019
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Kengo Kuma
Kinfolk
Full Article
2018
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Wrightwood 659 by Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
Architectural Record, December 2018
Full Article
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JINS Eyewear, Shanghai by Junya Ishigami
Architectural Record, November 2018
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Welcoming the West: Japan’s Grand Resort Hotels (Book Review)
Architectural Record, July 2018
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Lath House by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
Architectural Record, May 2018
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Fujisan World Heritage Center by Shigeru Ban Architects
Architectural Record, March 2018
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Enoura Observatory by Hiroshi Sugimoto
Architectural Record, February 2018
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OTA Museum & Library by Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office
Architectural Record, February 2018
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Maki and Associates Completes a Museum in Tokyo Dedicated to Swords
Architectural Record, February 2018
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Tree-ness House: Best Green Space
Wallpaper*, February 2018
100 Best Green Space
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Japan’s New, New Thing: Young Designers Invigorating Aging Industries
Impressions: The Journal of the Japanese Art Society of America, Volume 39, 2018
Full Article
2017
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ArtLab by Kengo Kuma at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Architectural Record, November 2017
Full Article
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Portland Japanese Garden Cultural Village by Kengo Kuma & Associates
Architectural Record, August 2017
Surrounded by majestic Douglas firs, Oregon’s Portland Japanese Garden (PJG) is a piece of Japan transplanted to the Pacific Northwest.
Full Article
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Erretegia Restaurant by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
Architectural Record, August 2017
Some buildings merely coexist with the landscape, but others enhance it. Located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Erretegia does both.
Full Article
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‘Shizuku by Chef Naoko’ Restaurant by Kengo Kuma & Associates
Architectural Record, July 2017
Like Japanese cuisine, Kengo Kuma’s Portland, Oregon restaurant utilizes the finest natural ingredients.
Full Article
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Kamikatz Public House
Architectural Record, June 2017
Defined by a 26-foot-tall patchwork of repurposed windows, this combined shop and craft beer pub takes recycling to new heights.
Full Article
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Triangle House by Shigeru Ban
Architectural Record, June 2017
For Pritzker laureate Shigeru Ban, nothing beats the private house when it comes to testing out new ideas.
Full Article
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The Girls of ’77
Groton School Quarterly, May 2017
The story behind Groton’s coeducation pioneers.
Full Article
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Dolce & Gabbana by Curiosity
Architectural Record, April 2017
A striking contrast to Tokyo’s eye-popping fashion boutiques, this elegant Omotesando shop is a simple, black box accented by innovative lighting.
Full Article
2016
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Grand Opera: National Taichung Theater
Architectural Record, December 2016
More than a decade in the making, Toyo Ito’s masterwork redefines the relationship between form, space, and structure.
Full Article
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Design Vanguard: Facet Studio
Architectural Record, December 2016
A bicontinental practice unearths hidden meaning to create refined architecture.
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Ginza Place
Architectural Record, November 2016
Backlighting an 11-story commercial building’s metal facade creates a focal point for a busy intersection.
Full Article
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Sou Fujimoto: Foreigners Don’t Really Want Crazy Things
The Architectural Review, October 2016
Although small design challenges still excite Fujimoto, he is now thinking big and merging architecture with urbanism.
Full Article
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Umeda Hospital
Architectural Record, July 2016
Kengo Kuma introduces new materials to take the edge off his earlier concrete design.
Full Article
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Interiors: Intersect by Lexus
Architectural Record, July 2016
Wonderwall’s combined cafe and exhibit space is essentially a car showroom minus the cars.
Full Article
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All Wrapped Up
Dwell, June 2016
How is a 921-square-foot, 44-level house possible? Tokyo architect Akihisa Hirata’s sculptural staircase is a mind-bending, shape-shifting solution to small-space living.
Full Article
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Helix House
Architectural Record, April 2016
TNA’s 21st-century twist on an early Corbusian concept creates a roomy spatial arrangement for a young family.
Full Article
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Kiln-hopping in Kyushu
Japonica.info, February 2016
In Japan, you don’t have to go far to find a potter. From Hokkaido to Okinawa, they are here, there and everywhere. Many live and work in beautiful places out in the country. Visiting their workshops can be both fun and fascinating. Plus buying pots directly from the artist not only makes a wonderful souvenir, it also supports a deeply rooted ceramics tradition.
Full Article
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Newsmaker: Kengo Kuma
Architectural Record, January 2016
A conversation with Kengo Kuma after being selected by Japanese officials as the architect for Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic Stadium.
Full Article
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Toyo Ito Libraries in Japan and Taiwan
Architectural Record, January 2016
The proliferation of digital data available with a laptop has taken its toll on public libraries but this pair entices visitors to come and linger.
Full Article
2015
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Onomichi and its Uber-Cool Hotel for Cyclists
Japonica.info, December 2015
Onomichi may be a little past its prime, a little over the hill, and a little overlooked by development. But therein lies the charm of this Hiroshima Prefecture town perched at the edge of the Inland Sea.
Full Article
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Jutaku: A Slide Show
Japonica.info, December 2015
A combination of two kanji characters, jutaku is a standard Japanese word that means “house.” But today many architect-designed homes in Japan are anything but standard. Freed from preconceived ideas about size, style and even shape, designers up and down the archipelago are building some of the most unique homes on the globe. Defined by contorted geometries, daring feats of structural engineering, awkward site circumstances and a host of other extreme conditions, many would be unthinkable anywhere else. It is this wild outburst of design creativity that is the subject of my latest book: “Jutaku: Japanese Houses.”
Full Article
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Grace Farms
Architectural Record, November 2015
A ribbon of glass, steel, and wood serves a nonprofit foundation dedicated to bringing people closer to art, nature, and faith.
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Tea House
Architectural Record, September 2015
Kengo Kuma’s Beijing Tea House blends past and present with its elegant material palette.
Full Article
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Uehara Gardens Apartment
Architectural Record, September 2015
Exquisite materials and excellent craftsmanship characterize this renovation by Curiosity.
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Last Call at Tokyo’s Hotel Okura
Architectural Record, August 2015
After Yoshiro Taniguchi’s midcentury classic closes, much of the building will be torn down. But should it be saved?
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Onomichi U2
Architectural Record, July 2015
A former seaside warehouse shifts gears to become an uber-cool hotel where cyclists can stay with their wheels.
Full Article
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A Separate Peace: Sayama Lakeside Cemetery Park Community Hall and Forest Chapel
Architectural Record, July 2015
Two thoughtful buildings that elevate the architecture of grieving and remembrance at burial grounds near Tokyo.
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Record Houses: Yamate Street House
Architectural Record, April 2015
When it comes to home-building in Tokyo, empty land is good land—even a tiny triangular lot wedged between a heavily trafficked boulevard and a narrow side street.
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The POOL Aoyama
Architectural Record, February 2015
A former swimming space turned into a trendy boutique is a refreshing surprise.
Full Article
2014
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Design Vanguard: Go Hasegawa and Associates, Tokyo
Architectural Record, December 2014
Finding inspiration in quirky, leftover urban sites, this Tokyo architect makes the job of fitting in a defiant act of design.
Full Article
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Design Vanguard: UID, Fukuyama City (Hiroshima Prefecture), Japan
Architectural Record, December 2014
Though contemporary, UID’s work is rooted in historic Japanese architecture and its integration with the landscape.
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Arata Isozaki Opposes Zaha Hadid’s Tokyo Olympics Stadium, Proposes She Downsize
Architectural Record, November 2014
In the latest round of public outcry over Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic Stadium, architect Arata Isozaki joins illustrious architects opposed to the project’s development.
Full Article
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Louis Vuitton Matsuya Ginza Façade
Architectural Record, November 2014
Jun Aoki’s new facade for a Louis Vuitton boutique exemplifies Japan’s energy belt-tightening triggered by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake of 2011.
Full Article
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Toyo Ito’s National Taichung Theater on Display
Architectural Record, October 2014
Displaying a work of architecture in a gallery is always a challenge, especially when that building is Taiwan’s National Taichung Theater—unarguably Tokyo architect Toyo Ito’s most ambitious project to date.
Full Article
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Nishinoyama House
Architectural Record, October 2014
Kazoo Sejima’s collective housing in Kyoto uses overlapping roofs to create a sense of place.
Full Article
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Kayanoya
Architectural Record, September 2014
Kengo Kuma incorporates the fittings of a traditional soy sauce brewery in a fine foods store in downtown Tokyo.
Full Article
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Protestors Don’t Want 1964 Olympics Stadium Replaced by Zaha Hadid’s
Architectural Record, July 2014
Placard-wearing protestors peacefully encircled the 50,000-seat Kasumigaoka National Stadium erected for the 1964 Olympics in the hope of saving it from demolition and replacement with a Zaha Hadid-designed arena several times its size.
Full Article
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JAL Skyward Series: Kayari
JAL Skyward, June 2014
A fresh take on the traditional mosquito-repelling incense holder by product designer Shinichiro Ogata.
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Sengukan Museum
Architectural Record, May 2014
Devoted to Japan’s sacred Ise Shrine, this museum utilizes historic elements from Japan’s most important Shinto site.
Full Article
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JAL Skyward Series: 15.0%
JAL Skyward, May 2014
Architect-product designer Naoki Terada creates a trio of ice cream spoons with metal casting techniques developed by a traditional maker of Buddhist ritual objects.
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JAL Skyward Series: Otehaki
JAL Skyward, April 2014
The Tokyo design concern Azmaya creates a mini-broom and matching dustbin.
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JAL Skyward Series: Spoke Chair
JAL Skyward, March 2014
Created by furniture designer Katsuhei Toyoguchi in 1963, this iconic chair is an elegant blend of East and West.
Download Full PDF
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Material Girl: Reiko Sudo Q&A
JAL Skyward, February 2014
A classically trained textile illustrator and designer, Reiko Sudo combines traditional fabrics with cutting-edge technology.
Download Full PDF
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JAL Skyward Series: Kimura Glass
JAL Skyward, February 2014
Exceptionally clear and impossibly thin–each glass is just 0.9 millimeters thick– Compact brand drinking glasses developed from light bulb making technology.
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Snapshot: Teshima Yokoo House: Tower
Architectural Record, January 2014
A combination museum and funeral hall, this renovated house is one of many art venues being developed on islands in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea.
Full Article
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JAL Skyward Series: Koyori
JAL Skyward, January 2014
Designed by Studio Gala, Koyori brand boxes are helping to keep traditional, Japanese paper-making alive.
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2013
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Ando Museum
Architectural Record, December 2013
A building within a building, the Ando Museum turns an antique house into a celebration of work by one of Japan’s most influential architects.
Full Article
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Design Vanguard: Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office
Architectural Record, December 2013
Inspired by smoke, bubbles, and other natural phenomena, this Tokyo architect integrates his passions for buildings and biology.
Full Article
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Product Focus: Anatomy of a Dream
Architectural Record, December 2013
Architect Tadao Ando’s first chair design for mass production, this sculptural wooden piece is manufactured by Carl Hansen & Søn.
Full Article
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JAL Skyward Series: Step Step
JAL Skyward, December 2013
An elegant wooden stool with a matching shoehorn, Step Step makes it easy to switch footwear.
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Will Tokyo’s Second Olympics Leave a Design Legacy?
Architectural Record, November 2013
A town with a good track record, Tokyo beat out Istanbul and Madrid to win the 2020 Olympics bid. What will be the design legacy of this decision?
Full Article
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JAL Skyward Series: Paper Wood
JAL Skyward, November 2013
Plywood–that inexpensive composite of laminated layers–often plays a supporting role in construction projects. But to Drill Design, this lowly material is full of aesthetic potential.
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Zen and the Art of Mentoring
Rolex Mentors & Proteges, October 2013
Instead of asking her protégé Yang Zhao to observe from the sidelines, Kazuyo Sejima put him to work designing a gathering place for a Japanese village devastated by the 2011 tsunami.
Full Article
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Profile: Sou Fujimoto
Dwell, October 2013
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JAL Skyward Series: Fujiyama Glass
JAL Skyward, October 2013
A conical cup with a flat top, the Fujiyama Glass combines two of Japan’s great loves: beer and Mt. Fuji.
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Quick Take: Shigeru Ban’s Cardboard Cathedral
Architectural Record, September 2013
Inside Christchurch’s decimated central business district, Shigeru Ban builds a temporary replacement for the city’s Anglican cathedral, a 19th century, Gothic style structure damaged beyond repair by the earthquake of 2011.
Full Article
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Architect We Love: Sou Fujimoto
Dwell, September 2013
With his experimental buildings, the Tokyo-based architect is creating a new breed of hybrid design.
Full Article
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JAL Skyward Series: Kudamemo
JAL Skyward, September 2013
A striking facsimile of an Anjou pear or a Fuji apple, Kudamemo is a notepad that looks good enough to eat.
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Pit Stop
Architectural Record, August 2013
Sou Fujimoto’s transparent, public toilet is a loo with a view.
Full Article
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JAL Skyward Series: Silent Guitar
JAL Skyward, August 2013
This revolutionary device makes it possible to play anywhere, anytime and without disturbing anyone.
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JAL Skyward Series: Mindbike
JAL Skyward, July 2013
A clever design for a do-it-yourself bicycle puts a new spin on convention.
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JAL Skyward Series: Umbrella Tea House
JAL Skyward, June 2013
Enclosed within a frame of bamboo ribs and fabric resembling washi paper, this portable, tatami-floored room is a collaboration between a contemporary architect and a traditional umbrella-maker.
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Video: The making of Sou Fujimoto’s 2013 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion
Source, May 2013
This year’s Serpentine Pavilion in London’s Hyde Park is a jumbo, 3D grid that grows organically from the ground. Articulated by slender, white, steel bars, this assemblage of small cubes, it is a cross between a garden folly and a mathematical model.
Full Article
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Daikanyama Tsutaya Books
Architectural Record, May 2013
Klein Lytham architecture’s airy, three-building campus is an ode to the printed page.
Full Article
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JAL Skyward Series: Allround Bowls
JAL Skyward, May 2013
A perfect marriage of form and function, Allround Bowls is is 13-piece kitchen set created for the Japanese home cook.
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Record Houses: Found in Translation
Architectural Record, April 2013
A house in Monterrey demonstrates that Tadao Ando’s Japanese aesthetic is at home in contemporary Mexico.
Full Article
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Record Houses: House K
Architectural Record, April 2013
Sou Fujimoto’s loft-like house encourages togetherness, a quality of life still prized by the Japanese.
Full Article
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First Look: OMA’s Coach Omotesando Flagship
Architectural Record, April 2013
Occupying a corner site within a new commercial complex, Coach’s flagship shop is distinguished by an elegant, transparent façade and an internal stair tower designed by OMA New York.
Full Article
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Graz House/showroom Japan
Wallpaper*, April 2013
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JAL Skyward Series: Wasara
JAL Skyward, April 2013
Biodegradable and beautifully proportioned, Wasara disposable dishes cater to Japanese cuisine.
Download Full PDF
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Japan Drive: The Heat is On
Lexus Magazine, Spring 2013
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At Last Toyo Ito Wins the Pritzker
Architectural Record, March 2013
Toyo Ito has been awarded the 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize, announced Thomas J. Pritzker, Chairman of the Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the award.
Full Article
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Prince of Paper: Shigeru Ban Q&A
JAL Skyward, February 2013
The projects closest to Shigeru Ban’s heart are those made with simple, reusable, easily transported materials–such as paper tubes–for people who can’t help themselves.
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Design Awards 2013: Best Plant Shop
Wallpaper*, January 2013
Hiroshima’s Qusamura specializes in pairing unusual cacti with characterful crockery.
Full Article
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Uto Elementary School
Architectural Record, January 2013
A Tokyo firm replaces an outdated schoolhouse with a vibrant, flexible facility that satisfies stringent seismic codes.
Full Article
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Making a Good-Looking Book about Good Design
Swet.jp, January 2013
A well-designed object about Japan’s recent, well-designed objects, Naomi Pollock’s Made in Japan: 100 New Products was released in September 2012 by Merrell Publishers in the U.K. and is now readily available in Japan. On October 16, 2012, architect-turned-writer spoke to SWET about her new book. Her remarks about the making of Made in Japan, summarized here, offer insights into making decisions about finding a career niche, book composition and design, and writing in the world of architecture.
Full Article
2012
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Design Vanguard: Hironaka Ogawa & Associates
Architectural Record, December 2012
With an eye to his rural roots, a Tokyo architect incorporates landscape and nature into his built work.
Full Article
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Design Vanguard: Yuko Nagayama & Associates
Architectural Record, December 2012
A rising star, Yuko Nagayama is breaking new ground in design.
Full Article
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Ellipse Sky
Architectural Record, November 2012
Soft concrete may be an oxymoron, but Ellipse Sky, a four-story residential building, deftly pokes holes in that notion.
Full Article
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Japanese School Restoration Wins the 2012 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize
Architectural Record, November 2012
The beautifully restored Hizuchi Elementary School is an exquisite example of Japan’s homegrown Modernism.
Full Article
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Kennel club: Japan’s Kenya Hara launches Architecture for Dogs
Wallpaper*, November 2012
It may be tough to teach old dogs new tricks, but perhaps they can learn to live in new houses. Japanese graphic designer and curator Kenya Hara has made it his mission to find out.
Full Article
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All Wrapped Up
Dwell, November 2012
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100% Chocolate Café
Architectural Record, September 2012
Blending subtle kitsch with classic materials, Wonderwall spins its client’s specialty with delectable results.
Full Article
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Futakotamagawa Rise Galleria
Architectural Record, August 2012
Completed just six days after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, the outdoor illumination for this shopping plaza had to be revamped before it ever had a chance to shine.
Full Article
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Record Houses: House NA
Architectural Record, April 2012
A clear breach of form within a discreet city, this simple glass house raises the bar on transparent living for a working couple—and their neighbors.
Full Article
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Bathhouse
Architectural Record, March 2012
This integrated community meeting place and bathhouse for a quake-ravaged town is made of interlocking plywood panels which can be easily assembled with simple hand tools.
Full Article
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Container Housing
Architectural Record, March 2012
The residents of Shigeru Ban’s Container Temporary Housing in earthquake-blighted Onagawa consider themselves lucky after moving into Ban’s buildings.
Full Article
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Interim Housing for Rikuzentakata
Architectural Record, March 2012
Two Tokyo architects repurpose an existing campground for recreational vehicles as temporary housing for earthquake victims.
Full Article
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Japan Post Disaster
Architectural Record, March 2012
One year after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, Japan is making progress toward rebuilding its devastated east coast—but there is still a long way to go.
Full Article
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Kamaishi City Proposal
Architectural Record, March 2012
An advisor to the earthquake-stricken Kamaishi City, architect Toyo Ito has proposed a reconstruction scheme incorporating both built and landscape elements.
Full Article
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Shizugawa Banya
Architectural Record, March 2012
When the 2011 earthquake hit, students at Sendai’s Miyagi University flocked to the campus’ generator-powered buildings. The plight of one budding architect’s family prompted his teacher to take action.
Full Article
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In Quake-Ravaged Christchurch, Ban’s Cardboard Cathedral Ready for Groundbreaking
Architectural Record, February 2012
A year after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake left Christchurch’s central business district in shambles, Shigeru Ban’s Cardboard Cathedral is ready to start construction.
Full Article
2011
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Design Vanguard: Koji Tsutsui & Associates
Architectural Record, December 2011
Born and bred in Japan, educated in England, and having built his defining work to date in Uganda, this architect divides his time between offices in Tokyo and San Francisco.
Full Article
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L’Opera Restaurant
Architectural Record, October 2011
A masterful insertion transforms the porte cochere of the Palais Garnier opera house into a seductive haunt.
Full Article
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Shigeru Ban Conceives Simple Solutions for Post-Disaster Zones in New Zealand, Japan, Architectural Record
Architectural Record, September 2011
An architect committed to disaster relief work, Shigeru Ban is hard at work on temporary housing for Onagawa, a coastal town in Japan decimated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and a cardboard cathedral for Christchurch now recovering from an earthquake of its own.
Full Article
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Metal Shutter Houses
Architectural Record, September 2011
Shigeru Ban transports his unique sensibility to a Chelsea condominium with High Line views.
Full Article
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Marc Jacobs Flagship Building, Tokyo
Architectural Record, May 2011
Textured materials and a creative lighting strategy make the most of a small footprint within a crowded shopping district.
Full Article
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Shigeru Ban Offers Aid to His Native Japan
Architectural Record, April 2011
For quake and tsunami victims left homeless, emergency centers help ease discomfort but offer little privacy. Shigeru Ban’s partition system made of paper tubes and canvas sheets is helping to solve the problem.
Full Article
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Record Houses: InBetween House
Architectural Record, April 2011
A cluster of boxes united by irregular, interstitial space, InBetween House mimics the Japanese urban condition out in the country.
Full Article
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Musashino Art University Museum & Library, Architectural Record
Architectural Record, March 2011
Dividing the school’s gallery-library in two, Sou Fujimoto turns a historic building into a museum and erects a new library next door.
Full Article
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Newsmaker: Fumihiko Maki
Architectural Record, January 2011
The American Institute of Architects honors this esteemed 1993 Pritzker Prize winner and 1999 recipient of Japan’s Praemium Imperiale with the AIA Gold Medal.
Full Article
2010
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Design Vanguard: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Architects
Architectural Record, December 2010
A Tokyo-based architect demonstrates a knack for handling materials and fitting buildings into their natural and urban contexts.
Full Article
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IWI Orthodontics
Architectural Record, September 2010
Filling the fourth floor of an existing Tokyo building, this sleek clinic interior merges cutting-edge medical technology with gracious Japanese hospitality.
Full Article
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Nezu Museum
Architectural Record, July 2010
With a new name, a new logo, and a new building, the Nezu Museum and garden is transformed from a staid cultural institution into Tokyo’s latest “it” destination.
Full Article
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Shigeru Ban Aims to Build Waterproof Shelters in Haiti
Architectural Record, May 2010
When a 7.0 magnitude earthquake jolted Haiti, Shigeru Ban’s knee-jerk reaction was to get on a plane and go build shelters at the disaster site.
Full Article
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Record Houses: Tree House
Architectural Record, April 2010
Inspired by that magical space sheltered beneath leafy, deciduous branches, Tree House, designed by Mount Fuji Architects Studio, revolves around a single column supporting frames (aka “branches”) of engineered wood.
Full Article
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National Stadium of Sports Affairs Council
January, 2010
In a fitting match of design and program, Toyo Ito performed a feat of architectural athleticism in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Full Article
2009
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Tiffany Ginza
Architectural Record, November 2009
Kengo Kuma creates a luminous jewel-like facade for Tiffany Ginza.
Full Article
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Interactive floorplan: Celluloid Jam, Yokohama
Wallpaper*, September 2009
A private house in the heart of suburbia, Celluloid Jam looks like it dropped off another planet but the futuristic form was just the thing for the clients’ hilltop site.
Full Article
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Inujima Art Project
Architectural Record, July 2009
Sambuichi Architects breathes new life into an old refinery on a secluded island in Japan’s Inland Sea.
Full Article
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Record Houses: House N
Architectural Record, April 2009
A tidy package with a porous wrapping, Sou Fujimoto’s House N is a set of three nesting boxes that span the scales of city and residence.
Full Article
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Global Report: Japan
Architectural Record, March 2009
Storm Clouds Gather In Most Parts of Country Architects are feeling the chill of an economic recession and the effects of the U.S. subprime crisis. Despite an estimated 2.2 percent drop in GDP in 2008, a decrease in housing starts, and a reluctance on the part of banks to lend, design firms large and small are hoping to wait out the storm. Due to its dependence on foreign financing, speculative housing has been particularly hard hit, falling 5.8 percent in December from the year before. As a result, developers are going bankrupt and projects are dying
Full Article
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Wilkhahn Japan
Architectural Record, February 2009
Noiz Architects infuses a cavernous, aging space with new light for the German furniture company’s Tokyo showroom.
Full Article
2008
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Design Vanguard: Suppose Design Office
Architectural Record, December 2008
This Hiroshima firm is making a name for itself by taking on jobs that others take a pass on.
Full Article
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Kanagawa Institute of Technology Workshop
Architectural Record, November 2008
Supported by 305 tiny columns, Junya Ishigami’s glass-encased workshop is so ethereal that it is barely a building at all.
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Inujima Art Project
Wallpaper*, October 2008
Architect Hiroshi Sambuichi teams up with conceptual artist Yukinori Yanagi to turn an old refinery into a destination art installation.
Full Article
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Ban-Aid
Architectural Record, October 2008
Shigeru Ban discusses architects’ duty to do good.
Full Article
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Bape Shibuya
Architectural Record, September 2008
Glass boxes and reflective surfaces create an uber-cool boutique for the street fashion brand BAPE.
Full Article
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Miki Disaster Management Park Beans Dome
Architectural Record, June 2008
Encased in a steel shell mostly covered with grass, this combined tennis dome/emergency center is Shuhei Endo’s response to Japan’s Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.
Full Article
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Shigeru Ban Pavilion Could Fetch Upward of $1 Million at Auction
Architectural Record, June 2008
This Saturday, Sotheby’s will auction the 1,991-square-foot, portable Artek Pavilion designed by architect Shigeru Ban. The auction house estimates that bids may exceed $1 million before the gavel closes the sale. On Saturday, June 14, Sotheby’s will auction the Artek Pavilion designed by architect Shigeru Ban, as part of its semiannual Important 20th Century Design sale in New York. The 1,991-square-foot portable building is being sold on behalf of Artek’s major owner, the Swedish investment firm Proventus, which plans to donate the proceeds to arts and culture
Full Article
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AGC Quality Manufacturing Training Center
Architectural Record, May 2008
Takenaka Corporation’s design for the AGC Training Center transforms a building into a nighttime rainbow. A quiet collection of aging factories and outdated manufacturing plants, the Keihin industrial district of Tokyo seems light-years away from the city’s eye-popping, neon-clad commercial centers.
Full Article
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Nicolas G. Hayek Center
Architectural Record, May 2008
Like an expertly crafted Swiss watch, Shigeru Ban’s Nicolas G. Hayek Center, created for the Swatch Group, is an assemblage of movable pieces that work together with machinelike precision.
Full Article
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Soft as Steel
Metropolis Magazine, May 2008
Skin as well as structure, Kengo Kuma’s monocoque steel shell encloses this single family home in a residential Tokyo neighborhood.
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Record Houses: Nora House
Architectural Record, April 2008
A single-family home facing a field of cabbages and carrots, Atelier Bow-Wow’s Nora House takes its cues from traditional Japan’s agricultural architecture.
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The National Museum of Singapore
Architectural Record, February 2008
A glass and steel addition to a neoclassical building proudly showcases the country’s heritage.
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New Library, Tama Art University
Architectural Record, January 2008
Toyo Ito combines a new kind of grid with an innovative arch system on the outskirts of Tokyo.
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Nishimachi International School Yashiro Media Center
Architectural Record, January 2008
A school library in a residential neighborhood serves as a “home” for books.
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2007
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Design Vanguard: Sou Fujimoto Fractures Plans and Sections While Bringing Together People
Architectural Record, December 2007
One of Japan’s most promising young designers, Sou Fujimoto launched his career with the design of a mental health facility in the middle of snowy Hokkaido.
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21_21 Design Sight
Architectural Record, November 2007
An installation space dedicated to design, Tadao Ando’s concrete building is interwoven with the ideas of fashion great Issey Miyake.
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Suntory Museum of Art
Architectural Record, November 2007
Kengo Kuma’s signature screens, deployed inside and out, enclose a serene oasis for viewing art amid Tokyo Midtown’s SOM-designed towers.
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Tokyo Midtown
Architectural Record, November 2007
A group of Western and Japanese designers try to create a Rockefeller Center for 21st-century Tokyo.
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Jins Global Standard Nagareyama
Architectural Record, 2007
Ryuji Nakamura tweaks visual perception with Jin’s Global Standard, a curious Japanese eyeglass shop of unfathomable depth.
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Record Houses: Ring House
Architectural Record, 2007
Designed by the Tokyo architects tna, this mini-tower of a second home is wrapped with alternating bands of charred wood and glass, evenly balancing transparency and opacity.
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