[Link: Tokyo Twilight Zone]

See also:
- Suburban Tokyo nightscapes
- Highway interchange photos
- Fantastic Japanscapes

To NY-based architect-poets and “reversible destiny” philosophers Arakawa & Gins, comfort deserves only a limited role in the home. In their vision, a home that keeps its inhabitants young and healthy should provide perpetual challenges. A tentative relationship with your environment, they argue, is key to “reversing the downhill course of human life.”

This video takes a peek inside their Reversible Destiny Lofts in the Mitaka area of western Tokyo. Designed to stimulate the senses and force inhabitants to use balance, physical strength and imagination, the lofts feature uneven floors, oddly positioned power switches and outlets, walls and surfaces painted a dizzying array of colors, a tiny exit to the balcony, a transparent shower room, irregularly shaped curtainless windows, and more.

For the adventurous, two rental units are now available for 220,000 and 250,000 yen ($2,000/$2,400) per month, which is a bit pricey for Tokyo, but not outrageous. Short-term stays can also be arranged.

While styrofoam may be most commonly associated with disposable coffee cups, meat trays and packaging, prefab home manufacturer Japan Dome House Co., Ltd. uses it to construct easy-to-assemble modular kit homes.

Dubbed the “habitat for the 21st century,” the Dome House is an igloo-shaped structure built from snap-together wall sections made of 100% expanded polystyrene foam (styrofoam). It might seem like an odd choice of material for a house, but the company lists a number of advantages that styrofoam has over traditional materials. Unlike wood and metal structures, for example, the styrofoam Dome House does not rust, rot or attract termites. It is also highly resistant to earthquakes and typhoons. In addition, the walls, which are treated with a flame retardant, emit no toxic fumes in a fire.

Dome House interior

The styrofoam used in the Dome House’s 175-millimeter (7 in) thick walls is significantly denser and stronger than ordinary packing foam. The material has excellent thermal insulation properties, resulting in higher energy efficiency and lower heating and cooling costs.

Construction of the Dome House shell is quick and easy. The prefabricated pieces, which each weigh about 80 kilograms (175 lbs), can be carried by 2 or 3 people and assembled in a few hours. Once the shell is put together, coats of mortar and paint are applied for further protection from the elements. (Watch a short video of the assembly process.)

Measuring 7.7 meters (25 ft) wide and 3.85 meters (13 ft) tall, the basic Dome House has a floor space of 44.2 square meters (475 sq ft). It is possible to construct larger, elongated domes by adding more pieces, and joint units allow multiple domes to be connected into a single structure.

Dome Houses, which are approved by Japan’s Land and Transport Ministry, can be erected anywhere in Japan with the proper permit. According to the manufacturer, the versatile structures are suitable for use as hotel rooms, restaurants, freezer rooms, or even as hog farms.

The Aso Farm Land resort village in Kyushu uses about 480 styrofoam domes as lodging, recreational facilities and retail shops.

Aso Farm Land

The Dome House can also be used as a bar, karaoke room, steam room, and more.

Styrofoam dome bar

Mushroom House karaoke room at Suijin-no-mori hot spring (Oita prefecture)

Styrofoam dome steam room

Whether or not this type of home is truly “perfect for the modern age” as the company suggests, the price is right. Dome House kits start at around 3 million yen (under $30,000), which does not include the cost of transport, assembly, interior construction, etc.

[Link: Japan Dome House]

Japanese construction firm Kajima Corporation is using an innovative new skyscraper demolition method to dismantle a pair of old company buildings in Tokyo. (Watch a time-lapse video.)

Unlike conventional demolition that begins at the top of the building, Kajima’s new method starts on the bottom floor, where the support columns are cut and replaced with giant computer-controlled jacks. Once the floor is demolished and the debris removed, the entire building is lowered and work begins on the next floor. The process is repeated for each floor until the entire building is gone.

Kajima informally calls this the daruma-otoshi method, after the old Japanese game consisting of a daruma doll made of stacked pieces that players knock out one by one without toppling the doll. (Watch a super slo-mo video.)

According to Kajima, the daruma-otoshi demolition method — which is now being used to dismantle a 75 meter (246 ft) tall, 20-story building and a 65 meter (213 ft) tall, 17-story building — is safer and creates less noise and dust pollution because the work is kept close to the ground. In addition, this method cuts demolition time by 20% and makes it easier to separate and recycle the building materials.

[Link: Kajima]

Ibaraki, 1997

Tochigi, 2006 // Saitama, 2007

Saitama, 1999

Chiba, 1997

Saitama, 1999

Saitama, 2006

Saitama, 2006 // Saitama, 2007

Ibaraki, 1998

Saitama, 1998

Miyagi, 1998

Visit Sato’s Floodgates site for about 600 more photos. (Use the links at the top left to scroll through the 37 galleries.) There is also a book.

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has released a few details about the “Zero Emission House,” a state-of-the-art green home under construction at the site of the upcoming Hokkaido Toyako G8 Summit, where environmental issues will be high on the agenda.

Incorporating the latest in sustainable building technology, the 280-square-meter (3,000 sq ft) Japanese-style home is designed to have a small carbon footprint. A 14.5-kilowatt solar array and a small 1-kilowatt wind generator provide power to the home, which is equipped with next-generation energy-saving appliances, thermal insulation glass, vacuum insulated panels and a green roof. The interior is illuminated by a system of light ducts and OLED lamps.

Honda’s Asimo humanoid robot — whose exact carbon footprint size is unknown — will be on hand to serve tea to guests, who are welcome to test-drive the electric vehicles in the driveway and soak their feet in the fuel cell-powered foot bath.

Construction of the 200 million yen ($2 million) home is scheduled for completion at the end of June, at which time it will be unveiled to the foreign press. After the summit, plans are to transport the house to another location, where it will be opened to the general public.

[Source: METI]

“Musashino Plateau” and “Japan” — a pair of 3D computer animations directed by Nobuo Takahashi — illustrate (in dramatic fashion) how Japan’s landscape changed during the postwar period of rapid economic growth. The animations begin slowly with the early postwar recovery years, but the pace quickens to a frenzy as explosive growth during the bubble years (late ’80s/early ’90s) transforms the cityscape into a chaotic, tightly packed jumble of single-family homes, large apartment complexes and high-rise buildings. In the end, development grinds to a halt with the collapse of the bubble.

Video 1: Musashino Plateau

Video 2: Japan

[Source: Yoshida Gakuen Joho Business]

Nihonbashi [Tokyo] — Photo: Altus

Wave Gate [Numazu] — Photo: Altus

Cloudy Day in Gotokuji [Tokyo] — Photo: stu72

No.6 [Kanagawa prefecture] — Photo: dokool

Machinery [Nippori station, Tokyo] — Photo: heiwa4126

Landmark Tower and Minato Mirai 21 [Yokohama] — Photo: shinnygogo

Shibuya Backstreet [Tokyo] — Photo: yongfook

From Frederic Gautron’s Urbano-vegetal series of digital photomontages.

[Link: Made in Tokyo]

[Link: tsaka.jp]

Designed by architect Shin Takamatsu (whose famed Kirin Plaza Osaka building located in the heart of Shinsaibashi will be closed and demolished after the end of October), the 18 billion yen ($157 million) namba H!PS complex is poised to become Osaka’s newest landmark. At 86 meters (280 feet) tall and 12,000+ square meters (130,000 square feet) in area, the building will house a variety of entertainment facilities, along with separate floors for golf, beauty salons and restaurants. Yabafo, which is seen as the building’s main attraction, is expected to draw an estimated 400,000 thrill-seekers per year.

[Sources: Namba Keizai Shimbun, namBa H!PS Construction Blog]

Sumitomo is set to begin field testing the technology at its cement factories this month, with the aim of making it available to large construction companies in the spring of 2007.

While the potential applications of cyber-concrete are endless, the companies are initially promoting it as a new tool for managing structural safety data. Cyber-concrete can store information about itself, such as when, where and how it was manufactured and data about strength and quality, making for more efficient and reliable safety inspection systems. This traceability data can be used by construction companies, inspectors, or tenants concerned about building safety.

Public concern for structural safety has risen with a recent building safety inspection scandal involving the discovery of falsified quake-resistance data for a number of buildings in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. Perhaps cyber-concrete will bring a little peace of mind, allowing people to bypass the shady inspectors and ask buildings directly how safe they are — which is great as long as buildings have no reason to be dishonest.

And should you find yourself trapped under three floors of cyber-concrete after the Big One, at least you’ll have something to talk to while waiting for the rescue bots to arrive.

[Sources: Fuji Sankei, Nikkei Net]

RoomRender relies on AmiVoice voice recognition technology (developed by Advanced Media) to recognize and analyze spoken commands, enabling the room to close the blinds, turn on the heater, etc. as instructed. When linked with a home entertainment system, RoomRender can be instructed to record TV shows. At present, RoomRender does not have the ability to learn the routines and preferences of its inhabitants, so it has to be told specifically what and when to record, but perhaps one day when RoomRender can predict your behavior, you won’t have to tell it to record your favorite show — it’ll just know.

RoomRender also includes features that respond to the mood of its occupants. FeelingWall — a wall whose colored lights change according to the mood of the people in the room — relies on Sensibility Technology (developed by SGI and AGI), the same technology used in KOTOHANA, which was developed by SGI Japan and NEC. Like KOTOHANA, FeelingWall interprets emotions based on the intonation and rhythm of voices, adjusting the color and lighting accordingly. RoomRender can also be programmed to control an aroma diffuser, releasing fragrances that correspond to various moods. Features like these mean that if an inhabitant sighs “I’m tired,” the room can automatically respond by dimming the lights, causing the light of the FeelingWall to pulsate gently, turning on some relaxing background music and emitting a soothing fragrance from the aroma diffuser.

SGI, which recently became Segway’s official distributor in Japan, is also developing a function that enables RoomRender to control the two-wheeled transportation devices. In the future, RoomRender will be able to send a Segway to an occupant that asks for it, and it will return a Segway to its battery charger when the power starts running low.

Unfortunately, this also means you won’t be able to use the Segway as an escape vehicle if your relationship with RoomRender suddenly turns sour.

[Source: IT Media]