Currently, my favorite architectural firm is
Atelier Bow Wow, a young Japanese firm that specializes in small scale residential projects. In there 2006 they published a book
Post Bubble City. Their work responds to the economic climate since the Nikkei crashed in the 1990’s. Needless to say a survey or buildings leading into the economic collapses in
Japan and US (and worldwide) were plagued by tremendous proportions and irrational exuberance. In the 80's
Japan built massive buildings by the lies of Arata Isozaki, Kenzo Tange (
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building), Hiroshi Hara (Kyoto Station) and Kushio Kurokawa. Conteporary NYC is represented by condos such as 40 Bond (Herzog and DeMueron),
Beekman Place Tower (Gehry), 5 Franklin (Ben Van Berkel) and everything on
http://www.triplemint.com - I won't even mention the Toren.
Shanghai and
Dubai are competing to build skylines and the Burj is secretly adding another floor. Interestingly enough the
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building held the title of the tallest building in
Tokyo from 1991 until 2006. The economy crashes were in 1990 and 2008 respectively.
Amid our current economic situation there is an opportunity to specifically crafted. I believe it become utterly important to understand and appreciate smaller scale developments as a response to economic instability.
Atelier Bow Wow epitomizes this. Their projects deal predominantly with the complexities of dense urban environments. Conversations on twelve different urban and architectural issues relevant to their practice are threaded throughout this book which comes exhaustively illustrated with photographs, models, plans, sketches and elevations. If the American recovery can take a lesson from the recovery of post bubble Japan the silver lining will be a renaissance for small scale residential projects This new scale of operation is exemplified the current generation of Japanese architects, Kengo Kuma, Atelier Bow Wow. Images from their portfolio website.
