Understand the work of architect Masato Otaka (1923-2010) in meticulous detail through an exhibition highlighting his life's work, Uniting Architecture and Society: The Approach of Otaka Masato. Currently showing at the Agency for Cultural Affairs's National Archives of Modern Architecture in Tokyo, this is an extensive collection of his sketches, plan drawings, and models that have fortuitously been preserved for over a decade. Read more HERE. #society #design #residential #
Nothing could have prepared me for the experience of visiting Louis Kahn's Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College. After seeing so many images of this buildng in textbooks it was indeed an experience to walk through it in person. Not only the large scaled geometric openings, layering of spaces, and framed views, but the overwhelming presence of humanity of the people using it was very moving. A young doctor was very happy to see us visiting the building, and graciously took th
I have learned that traveling in Dhaka means sitting for hours in traffic. There is never a dull moment gazing out the window, with everyone vying for space to inch forward. Has givem me lots of time to people-watch, and thank goodness for instagram. #travel #society #dhaka
Well it has only been our first night and this trip to Dhaka has already come up with some surprises! Before going out to dinner my colleague asked a hotel employee at the front desk if he could recommend a nice restaurant. It turns out that the gentleman we asked was actually the hotel owner, and instead of suggesting a restaurant he said we should join the wedding banquet of one of the hotel staff. So we piled into the hotel van with lots of other staff, and ended up hav
Standing on the 7th floor of Ginza Uniqlo and curious where the bridge to the neighboring building leads, I was very pleasantly surprised to find a tranquil roof garden including the "Tenku Jinja, " or Shrine in the Sky. Dedicated to the Shinto god of Omiwa Shrine in Nara, and located on the roof of the Komatsu Building, it is open to the public and a great place to take a break and relax. Why the building owner decided to locate a shrine on the building rooftop is an int
Last month I had the great opportunity to meet with the leaders of GAKKO, which is a summer camp program here in Japan. Catapulted along by the extraordinary energy of recent Yale graduates Kenta Koga and Rafi Khan, GAKKO is structured by bringing together enthusiastic university students as instructors to be the senpai of the high school participants from Japan and beyond. Kenta and Rafi have tailored this program to concentrate on building the students' creative confidenc
They were discussed a lot in 2009 when they were first installed, but since then many people new to Tokyo may be a bit perplexed by the funny blue LED light found on many JR platforms. They were actually installed in order to help stem the terrible suicide rate prevelent in Japan, the theory being the that the calming effect of the blue light will soothe peoples nerves and help disuade them from suicidal thoughts. The really interesting thing about this project is that ther
