Category: Architecture

  • The Bank

    I’m not sure if I already new about The Bank or not — a bar located in a space near Yokohama that previously housed a bank — but it’s great to hear that it has re-opened, and it’s a spot I’d love to check out someday. Interesting to hear that it was Masamichi Katayama’s first project…

  • Blue Bottle Coffee Nakameguro Cafe

    Not only has Blue Bottle Coffee opened up a new cafe in Tokyo — in Nakameguro no less — but it was designed by one of my favorite studios, Schemata Architects. They’ve posted plenty of photos that show off the interior, which on top of the cafe includes space for offices and a training area.

  • PKN at TDW 2016

    I’m sure we’ll soon get a full album of photos, but here’s the big traditional crowd shot that was taken at last week’s annual Tokyo Design Week edition of PechaKucha Night. Since leaving Tokyo, it’s always bittersweet for me to see these, as our TDW event was always one of the big highlights of the…

  • Ginza Place

    The latest project from my former employer (and good friends) Klein Dytham Architects is a gorgeous one, and takes the form of the brand new Ginza Place building in Ginza, which hosts swanky new showrooms for Nissan and Sony. It opened today. Here’s how KDa’s Mark Dytham describes the project: Our latest project, Ginza Place, opens…

  • Also Soup Stock Tokyo

    I’ve always quite liked the Soup Stock Tokyo chain — serving mostly nicely compact soup dishes — and now they’ve opened a new more restaurant-like (less fast-food) shop in Jiyugaoka called simply enough Also Soup Stock Tokyo, with a menu that is a bit more full featured. From all the photos found in this Spoon &…

  • Changes to Harajuku Station

    Harajuku station certainly is iconic in its own way — I still remember enjoying working across the street from it, in full view, when I was editor at PingMag. A recent Monocle Minute newsletter has an update on what’s likely to happen when it gets renovated in time for 2020. Tens of thousands of people…

  • Tomoyuki Tanaka

    I can’t believe it. The image you see here (of Shibuya station, from this Architizer post) was drawn first by pencil, and then pen, by Tomoyuki Tanaka. He has created these massive and insanely detailed works for various stations, and they’re currently on show at the “Doboku Civil Engineering” exhibition at 21_21 Design Sight.

  • House Vision 2

    It’s too late to take in the “House Vision 2” exhibition (it ended this past Sunday) but you can still experience some of the highlights courtesy of this Japan Times piece, written by Mio Yamada, who was the last editor of my “On Design” column (and who continues to write it now). The exhibition offered a…

  • Airbnb’s Tokyo Office

    A new post on Designboom showcases the beautiful new Tokyo offices of Airbnb, produced with Suppose Design Office. Despite the news we hear of Airbnb having some legal issues in Japan — or even just not being welcomed by residents who dislike seeing their neighbors rent out their spaces — it seems like the company is…

  • Global PechaKucha Day – Inspire Japan

    If you’ve been to the front page of this site sometime this week (I have to assume that many of you reading this in your feed reader), then more than likely you’ve noticed the giant banner I have there now. It’s for the big Global PechaKucha Day – Inspire Japan event I’ve been working on…