1930s Tokyo

@Tokyorich posted a link to some amazing color footage of Tokyo from the 1930s. The film shows several of Tokyo's downtown districts such as Ginza, Marunouchi, and Asakusa. There was a lot of western and western-inspired architecture in the first two areas (Asakusa was and still is a more traditional entertainment district) at one time before earthquakes, bombings, industrialization and modernization replaced the landscape with today's dense modern buildings. The footage also features Frank Lloyd Wright's imperial hotel in it's original location where it continued to be used until the 60s, after famously withstanding the great Kanto earthquake of 1923 (although the building was in fact damaged). After it closed in the 60's it was dismantled and the main entrance hall was reconstructed in an open air architectural museum in Nagoya where you can still see it today:

Japanese comments on the Youtube video of the old film show an extreme nostalgia for this "high class" (jyouhin or 上品) city whose modern equivalent is no match in terms of beauty, vision, and culture. Several comments nationalistically blame the American bombing for ruining the city, and it is hard not to sympathize. However this was also the seat of imperial power and the politicization of the urban spaces is striking, with imperial flags fluttering from the European inspired architecture of Ginza and Marunouchi. You get an uncomfortable mixed sensation of the immense freedom and social change of the turn of the century modernizations, and at the same time the impending imperial grasp on the populace. This is the city where Natsume Soseki had lived and written his novels only a few decades prior. Despite the nostalgic yearnings of the modern youtube audience, this was not a time without troubles, and Soseki had been the first to criticize both what he saw as a simplistic mimicking of western culture as well as Japan's rapid industrialization and the toll he saw it taking on society. The nation's imperialization and the spectre of extreme nationalism was also a target of carefully nuanced criticism from authors of the time. And yet comparing this footage to the modern city, there is a definite nostalgia for an urban setting that was in a way more coherent and personal, a place where humanity could be seen in full bloom.

My friend Luke writes via Facebook:

"My old office is in Nihonbashi, near the original Takashimaya department store. There were a few shots in the clips above of people walking on a sidewalk I used to take everyday. (I recognize the glass in the pavement and wall of the store.) There's another showing Takashimaya surrounded by bombed out lots--not even buildings remain. I thought... how many stories have been lived out on that corner, me completely ignorant of nearly all of them when I was there. So weird to see a city you know bombed out--washed out too, I suppose." 

Finally, here is a BBC documentary in 4 parts featuring more color photographs and film of pre-war Japan taken by western photographers, youtube user "Misaganokuni" writes:

"I was really impressed by this film. Many Japanese people still regard Japan before WWII as the country which was very poor and nations were suffering from poverty. But the truth may be completely different from what we were told. I felt that the people in those days were much more happier than people who live in the present society. Their innocent smiles have surely changed my view points toward Japanese. I really want to say thank you to all the staff who created this film." 

Instant Cities and Solipsism Disorder

Image from Gale International via sustainablecities.dk

I've been thinking about recent megacity projects in India and Asia, such as Songdo in Korea and several in China. Can we think about these extreme topdown master plans and constructions as falling victim to or generating a sort of Solipsism Syndrome? 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsism_syndrome

Solipsism Syndrome appears to be associated with theories on humans in space:

http://www.nss.org/settlement/nasa/spaceresvol4/images/monitor.JPG

"Something must exist beyond each human's manipulation because people learn to cope with reality when reality is different from their imagination. If the reality is the same as the imagination, there is no escape from falling into solipsism. In extraterrestrial communities, everything can be virtually controlled. In fact, technically nothing should go beyond human control even though this is psychologically bad; however, some amount of "unpredictability" can be built in within a controllable range. One way to achieve this is to generate artificial unpredictability by means of a table of random numbers. Another way is to allow animals and plants a degree of freedom and independence from human planning. Both types of unpredictability must have a high visibility to be effective. This high visibility is easier to achieve in a macrogeometry which allows longer lines of sight..." - Wikipedia

I see this applying to planning, architecture, and urban design as well. How far do topdown utopian planning architects need to go before they start having to consider 'introducing a level of unpredictability'? All this means in terms of cities is letting people do their thing. Most of our cities--being semi-organic--have so much unpredictability it boggles the mind, and according to the wiki on the 'disorder', this is probably not an unhealthy thing.


But what about this new breed of instant megacity where unpredictability has been minimized to an extreme? would new inhabitants start to exhibit the signs of this disorder in these environments? one has to wonder.. but rather than dismissing these new cities as unhealthy and staring with shock, disgust, and fascination as most features on them seem to, it might be more interesting to explore how they could incorporate enough unpredictability to grow into healthy inhabited settlements. One way or another people might have to live in these places. how can we create systems of governance and urban spaces that allow us to be just out of control enough to feel alive?


I am reminded of this "immune-system boosting house" 

What if a whole city were built like this?

Of course the real answer I think is not wacky design but rather loosening the creative grip (creatively loosening if you absolutely have to be 'creative') and planning for agent citizens with various interests and agendas, and for unexpected occurrences that multiply and build alternative urban systems from below.

What Meets the Eye in Northeast Portland, Oregon

Northeast Portland is a really interesting place. Historically a minority area known for its high crime rates, within the past 10 years or so it has become the new frontier for arts and culture in Portland, and accordingly a major site of urban gentrification. The two major commercial streets are Mississippi and Alberta, both dubbed "historic areas", while the surrounding area is primarily residential and low-rise as is much of Portland east of the river. Portland's lax ordinances when it comes to property and public right of way care allow for a plethora wonderful, flowery foliage that grows in the yards and sidewalks. Indeed many local streets are "unimproved", meaning that they have either been depaved, allowed to decay or augmented with gravel and greenery. Several intersections have undergone "repair", a procedure adopted into the city code that allows for a large, traffic-slowing mural on an intersection with majority approval and cooperation amongst its neighbors. Some groups that promote these kinds of spaces in Portland are "City Repair" and "Depave".

One interesting architectural characteristic of North East is the corrugated metal that you can find on homes (like the one pictured above), galleries, condos, and restaurants/bars like "Alleyway" and "Tin Shed". I'm used to seeing this material in the context of informal settlements in the developing world, so it was interesting to find such a local fascination with it here. Finally, Alberta and Mississippi have some great food carts, like the "Grilled Cheese Grill", housed in an old school bus.

Like many gentrifying neighborhoods, the north east seems polarized between neolocals and the area's historically black and latino population that has been increasingly pushed out. At the root of the divide is the discriminatory "red lining" practices of banks in the 40s which led to concentrations of "high risk" minorities in the only areas where they could buy from realtors, who risked losing their license if they sold properties to minorities outside of these areas (info from AlbertaMainSt.org). In the 1990s the area was rediscovered by artists and small businesspeople. Their attention brought down the historic crime rate but also raised rent and began to create tension and pressure on longtime poorer residents to move out. Friends tell me there is a noticeable divide and lack of socialization between the groups. Last summer when I was visiting I saw a homeless man berating the owner of a wine bar on the patio, telling him between slurs and curses that it wasn't fair for him to be asked not to bother the patrons when they invaded his neighborhood every month with their wild "Last Thursday" art fair. Bars tend to cater to one group or the other and there is at least a one-way stigma for neolocals to enter an establishment where longtime residents gather. One exception seems to be the neighborhood pub "Binks" where longtime residents and newcomers mingle.

Despite the narratives of gentrification surrounding Northeast Portland, the area is full of contradictions and places where the stereotypes break down. A leisurely stroll down Alberta St. during the yearly street fair revealed a diverse cast of Portland characters stepping out in the neighborhood in their own ways, and taking in the relaxed atmosphere of the street.

 

Update 9/26/11: check out this article in the Atlantic about bike lanes & racial tension in northeast: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2011/09/portland-bike-lanes-open-racial-wounds/138/

Restarting this page soon, either here or at a new address... stay tuned

Photo: Even the graffiti in Cambridge, MA is intellectual. Kendal SQ T, Red Line

Tokyo Urban Activism (update: from public space to brand space)

Update: Here is a video of Nike's vision of the space, a stark difference:

Miyashita Park in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo is the site of a struggle over urban public space. Activists are protesting the Ward's plans to turn the Park into a Nike Sponsored Skateboard Park, criticizing the privatization of a historic site of public assembly & protest, and shelter to many local homeless. One activist banner depicts a Nike swoosh turned into a swiping hand, adding a sinister inflection to the motto "just do it". A more detailed description can be found at West Tokyo Hustle. More at (japanese): airmiyashitapark.info ourplanet-tv

When the ward recently barricaded the park, ostensibly for "cleaning" and preparation for the new construction, activists gathered again to protest. The youtube video of the demonstration provides an interesting peek at Japanese activism (and its seemingly ubiquitous helmets, head and/or armbands). For a great history of public protest in Japan see Wesley Sasaki-Uemura's Organizing The Spontaneous: Citizen Protest in Postwar Japan.





update: @remmid links to a TBS interview with social scientist Miyadai Shin about Miyashita Park and the future of public space: http://podcast.tbsradio.jp/dc/files/miyadai20100917.mp3