Digital City Briefs - Tokyo

Futuristic Urban Transport Technology for Tokyo’s Subway

2012-06-27T19:42:00.002-04:00

The subway riders in Tokyo are greeted by “Strappy”, a hanging strap which is an interactive device that connects with the phone using Near-Field Communication or NFC technology.

“When riders touch their smartphones to Strappy, a browser pops up with an advertisement, coupon, video, or whatever other marketing device companies choose to employ.”

Strappy represents the future of urban transport technology, that can connect subway riders to public information about transit fares, schedules, service updates, traffic data and so on.

Reference: Jaffe, Eric, Meet 'Strappy,' the Almost-There Future of Urban Transport Technology, theatlanticcities.com, June 18, 2012

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Shunkosha

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Tokyo as an Info-State

Tokyo’s Sky-Tree: A Building or a Spire?

Post Tsunami Architecture

Tokyo as an Info-State

2012-06-27T19:36:00.002-04:00

There are two major trends in the 21st century. The rise of mega-cities is one, while the pervasiveness of information technology is the other. The measure of success for a city is determined by how it harnesses the information technologies for the benefit of its people.

“To adapt and compete, hundreds of established cities will undertake technology upgrades such as traffic mapping, greening buildings, linking various modes of transport through electric-car-sharing schemes (including foldable cars) and offering personalized medical care through digital interfaces.”

Tokyo has been quite successful in harnessing emerging technologies for the benefit of its people. It continues to be the largest, wealthiest, and most futuristic city on earth.

東京として、情報状態が 21 世紀に 2 つの主要な傾向です。情報技術の普及、他の中の巨大都市の上昇、です。都市の成功の尺度は、どのように、情報技術、人々の利益のためにハーネスによって決定されます。「適応し、競争するには、確立された都市の数百などのテクノロジーのアップグレードマッピング、緑化建築、電気車の共有方式 (含む折りたたみ車）の輸送とパーソナライズを提供医療、デジタルインターフェイスのさまざまなモードをリンクトラフィック負いましょう」東京は、その人の利益のために新技術を活用することでかなり成功しています。それは、地球上の最大、裕福で、そして最も未来的な都市を続けています。

Reference: Ayesha and Parag Khanna , ‘Technik’ and the City: How Urban Centers Like New York and Tokyo Are Becoming Info-States, thedailybeast.com, June 20, 2012

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Tokyo’s Urban Development since World War 2

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Impact of 1964 Olympic Games on Tokyo’s Development

2012-06-26T20:49:00.001-04:00

The 1964 Olympics Games triggered massive urban renewal in Tokyo. At the same time there was new awareness about disaster preparedness for earthquakes and fires, which resulted in improvement in building construction technologies.

“Under the nation-wide campaign to promote Tokyo as an international city, many of the surgical operations of the city have been executed in a short term. Futuristic metropolitan highway and the bullet train system attracted people and Tokyo became recognized as the leading city in Asia.”

1964 オリンピックゲームは、東京での大規模な都市再開発トリガー。防災地震や火事についての新しい意識された同じ時構築建設技術の改善の結果。「全国のキャンペーンの下で、国際都市として東京を促進する都市の手術の多くは短期間で実施されてきた。未来首都高速道路と新幹線システム人を集め、東京でアジア主要都市として認識になった"。

Reference: Kubo, Takayuki, The Re-Making of Tokyo : lessons for Asian Megacities, mipimworld.com, May 22, 2012

Other Recent Posts:

Tokyo’s Urban Development since World War 2

Tokyo’s Edo Period

Tokyo’s Sky-Tree: A Building or a Spire?

Post Tsunami Architecture

Tokyo’s Urban Development since World War 2

2012-06-26T20:08:00.001-04:00

Tokyo’s democratic government relied heavily on the private sector to reshape Tokyo’s urban landscape after the second World War. The government also laid out a plan to reshape the city with new boulevards and infrastructure, however their plans were not not realized because of land ownership challenges.

“Land ownership has become stronger under liberalization policy so that free standing housing and building made the city chaotic compared to the ancient Edo period with uniformed cityscape.”

東京の民主主義の政府では大きく民間第二次世界大戦後の東京の都市景観の変形に依存しています。政府はまた新しい大通りやインフラストラクチャで都市を再構築するには、しかし彼らの計画ない土地の所有権の課題のため実現しませんでした計画を築きました。「住宅および都市がカオスでした建物の無料立って、古代の江戸時代制服を着た都市景観と比較ように、土地所有権自由化政策下で強くなりました。」

Reference: Kubo, Takayuki, The Re-Making of Tokyo : lessons for Asian Megacities, mipimworld.com, May 22, 2012

Other Recent Posts:

Tokyo’s Edo Period

Tokyo’s Sky-Tree: A Building or a Spire?

Post Tsunami Architecture

Tokyo: Harajuku

Tokyo’s Edo Period

2012-06-26T19:48:00.001-04:00

Tokyo, which was formerly known as Edo, has been a capital city since 1590. The city grew in an organic pattern with wooden structures and black tiled roofs during this period. While wooden structures were suitable for the humid climate, they were susceptible to fire damage.

“Major fires have destroyed huge portion of Tokyo many times, however, Edo has been regenerated repeatedly, maintaining its historical form. This historical form of the city was kept until the modernization introduced after the end of the Edo period in 1867.”

江戸として以前知られていた東京の江戸期東京首都 1590 以来されています。都市、有機のパターン木造構造と黒のタイル張りの屋根にこの期間中に育った。木造構造物の高温多湿の気候に適していたが、火災の被害を受けやすいたちです。「主要な火災は、何度も東京の巨大な部分を破壊したしかし、江戸繰り返し、その歴史的なフォームを維持する生成されていますいます。この都市の歴史的形態 1867 年江戸時代の終了後に導入された近代化まで続けた。」

Reference: Kubo, Takayuki, The Re-Making of Tokyo : lessons for Asian Megacities, mipimworld.com, May 22, 2012

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Is it an antenna or a spire? Height of an Iconic Tower

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Tokyo: Harajuku

Tokyo’s Sky-Tree: A Building or a Spire?

2012-05-29T20:28:00.004-04:00

Photo: Tokyo Sky Tree and Tokyo Sky Tree East Tower

At 2,080 feet, Tokyo’s Sky-Tree is the tallest tower in the world, and the second tallest structure. The tallest structure is Dubai’s 2,723 feet high Burg Khalifa.

The Sky-Tree is a part of a commercial complex that includes an aquarium, a planetarium, office spaces and retail areas. It has two observation decks and has been designed to absorb 50 percent of energy from a seismic movement, in the event of an earthquake.

東京の空-ツリー: 建物または、尖塔ですか？2,080 フィートで、東京の空-ツリーは、最も高い塔は、世界で 2 番目で最も高い構造。最も高い塔は、ドバイの 2,723 高城ハリファ足です。空ツリー、水族館、プラネタリウム、オフィススペース、小売店を含む複合商業施設の一部です。2 つの観察デッキがあるし、地震の地震運動からエネルギーの 50 ％を吸収するように設計されています。

Reference: Byrnes, Mark, Scenes From the World's Tallest Tower, Theatlanticcities.com, May 22, 2012
Photo Credit: Reggaeman under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Is it an antenna or a spire? Height of an Iconic Tower

Taipei 101 Highrise Building

Shanghai World Financial Center

Post Tsunami Architecture

2012-05-14T20:19:00.001-04:00

Kengo Kuma, a Japanese architect who witnessed the Great Japan earthquake and Tsunami of 3/11/2011, has published a book entitled, “The Principles of Place”. It was the destruction of 3/11 that prompted him to write this book. He rejects “concrete and steel” as products of urban-centric culture, and calls for reconstituting our link to the natural world by relying on natural materials such as wood and masonry. He refers to such architecture as “an architecture of small elements”, and states that such architecture is very democratic.

His approach to blend architecture with nature visually as well as materially would generate unique solutions for varied locales. “The 'strength' of architecture is not a physical 'strength' built into the individual unit. The total thing we call 'place' surrounding architecture is the strength that affords blessings to humans and gives them real security.”

When everything is destroyed by the force of nature, the place itself, or the memory of time built up there can never be destroyed.

ポスト津波アーキテクチャ隈研吾、偉大な日本の地震と津波の 2011/03/11、目撃した日本人の建築家は本権利「場の原則」を公開していますいます。それは彼の本を書くことを求め、3/11 の破壊だった。彼は「コンクリートと鋼"の中心都市の文化、製品としてを拒否し、、木材と石積みなど自然素材に依存して、自然の世界へリンク reconstituting のを呼び出します。彼はこのようなアーキテクチャとして「建築の小さな要素」を参照し、このようなアーキテクチャが非常に民主的であることを示します。自然と建築を視覚的にも、物質的にブレンドする彼のアプローチは、様々なロケール用の独自のソリューションを生成します。「アーキテクチャの '強度' 物理的 '強度' 個々ユニットに組み込まれていますないです。我々 'アーキテクチャを周囲の場所' を呼び出す、累計ものは人間に恵みを提供と、実際のセキュリティ強度です。すべて、自然の力、場所自体が破棄されるとき、または.

Here is a brief video on Kengo Kuma's Suntory Museum

Reference: Pulvers, Roger, Born of disaster, modern architecture is itself now an ongoing disaster, The Japan Times, May 13, 2012

Public Arts Festival

Tradition and Modernity Merge at the Russian Orthodox Center

Boston Modernism

Tokyo: Harajuku

2012-05-04T21:21:00.002-04:00

Tokyo: Harajuku

Tour of Paris

Music Cloud, New Philharmonic Hall, Paris - Parc de la Villette

Galleria Lia Rumma

Tour of Tokyo: Shibuya

2012-05-04T21:18:00.001-04:00

Tour of Tokyo: Shibuya

Real Estate Survey for Silicon Valley Area

Bidding Wars Return for Home Sales

One Morning in Tel Aviv

Urban Development Taxonomy

2012-05-04T20:29:00.003-04:00

How does a city develop into a global destination? Is a city more than a collection of great buildings? Is a city more than a collection of great people? What makes a city great? What are the forces that drive urban development?

There are many sites that provide tourism related information about cities. While we want to understand what makes a city great, we are also interested in the messy gray area, where decisions are made about the future of a city. What drives such decision-making? Is that purely a speculative gamble or are there hidden forces at work? What roles do design professionals play in such decision-making? What role does leadership play? Where does such leadership come from? What role does local government play?

We will focus on four broad categories of urban interventions:

Tourism development:

Urban interventions intended to spur or support tourism.

Hotels, convention centers, museums, art galleries, public arts festivals, fashion shows, business shows, public expositions, public events. Ecotourism, sustainable tourism, heritage tourism, leisure, recreation, urban tourism, parks, sports stadiums, arenas, public plazas,

Smart infrastructure:

Urban interventions intended to spur or support smart urbanization technologies.

Smart grid, smart design, smart transit, smart buildings, renewable energy, sustainable architecture, green building, smart architecture, smart meters, smart traffic signaling, mass transit, smart city, smart infrastructure, augmented reality, urban data networks, collaborative networks, digital city.

Economic development:

Urban interventions intended to spur or support economic development.

Business incubators, start-ups, universities, research centers, innovation labs, demonstration projects, affordable housing, transit hubs, rezoning, urban renewal, environmental remediation, brown fields, urban design, new construction, renovation, mass transit systems, manufacturing, warehousing, freight delivery, transportation, logistics, urban upgrading, finance, law, regulations, institutions, leadership.

Branding and global identity:

Urban interventions intended to create a unique brand.

Global influence, city image, uniqueness, branding, identity, signature buildings, global events, public expositions, leadership, historic preservation, tourist attractions, urban design, celebrations.

Miscellaneous Key words:

General information, summary, statistics, comparative study, geography, emergency preparedness, disaster mitigation, low income housing, urbanization, slum upgrading, geography, climate, culture, people, demographics, history.

Photo Credit: Morio under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.