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vol.327
January 31st2023"definition"

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TOKYO — through the perspective of "Ryugakusei"

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デザ研書初め企画 ～抱負を一文字に込めて～▲ワークショップの様子

URBAN DESIGN LAB. MAGAZINE

vol.327"definition"

TEXT_ITO/M1

TOKYO -URBAN DESIGN LAB. MAGAZINE

through the perspective of "Ryugakusei"

Things occasionally seem something completely new
from a different angle and so are cities. We had aworkshop with four members of our lab's "Ryugakusei",
who took part in the "Urban Design Studio 2022", todiscuss the words and pictures that they think representthe city of Tokyo. Now, let's reexamine Tokyo from an
original and fresh perspective through the ﬁlter of foreign
students.

— So, the first part is “Tokyo is ○○”. Luka,
you wrote Tokyo is “universe”, right?
Luka: Yes, Tokyo to me is a universe, because one
can ﬁnd anything here. Also, to me, it seems endless.
Spatially it also resembles a universe full of planets.
The diﬀerent urban cores and neighbourhoods havetheir very distinct personalities that makes them feellike their own worlds.
Basia: yeah, I feel the same way. For me, Tokyo isa city made up of a bunch of smaller cities, which is
opposed to European towns where the development
was started from a singular spot, and later sprawled
out onto the mid-town and subsequently suburbs.
Travelling through Tokyo, you can observe equal
intensity of built-up in multiple points of the city ‒more than one center. One would imagine Shibuya
to be the `agora` of Tokyo, but there are umpteen
smaller or bigger focus points. Coincidentally theseare oftentimes located around the train stations,making it convenient to supply of residents andtourists. On the other hand, looking back at Europeancities, the centralized development with an activity
core and suburb areas, sometimes presents a notvery attractive image in the further areas in of thecity ‒ the fringe can become rundown, haphazardly
planned and left to fend for itself. Whereas inJapanese case, the city has to oﬀer an evenly

spread-out urban tissue, with equally attractive
ʻcentreʼ and midtowns.
— Itʼs interesting that you two mentioned theword “core”. I guess your opinions reﬂect thestructural

diﬀerences

between Japanese andEuropean cities. So now,
letʼs look at Sunʼs Tokyo.

sundaibasiA

Swedenchina(xinxiang)china(shanghai)polandmany areas in Tokyo. But I didnʼt know that inChina, both areas are more separated. Is thesituation the same in Europe?

it is inclusive but also has strong contrasts. I would

Luka: Yes. Preservation laws are obviously very
strict. It decides speciﬁcally what types of buildings
you can build or not so that it wouldnʼt spoil thecityscape.

make up skyscrapers or low, rustic, crumbling— I get it, thank you. Solast but not least, what's
youropinion
about
Tokyo, Dai?

make me feel depressed either, it's just a diﬀerent

part 1"words"Sun: I think Tokyo is a citythat old shrines hidden in themodern architecture. One of
the most striking features of this city is the way inwhich ancient shrines and temples are often tuckedaway amidst the hustle and bustle of the cityʼsmodern buildings and skyscrapers. This createsa unique contrast and sense of history that canbe seen throughout the city. This is diﬀerent from
China because Chinese historic architecture is often
concentrated in speciﬁcareas.

LUKA

like to represent Tokyo with the colors of buildings
like gray/earth, the same building materials thathouses, which are all part of Tokyo. For me Tokyoand Shanghai are the same type of cities, just at
diﬀerent stages of development. The big city doesn't
state of living. Tokyo has been trying to become
a city where more people can live decently andhappily, but lower salaries and higher costs of living

Dai: I think of Tokyo as

have made it diﬃcult to achieve the goal.

a trance, a place where there are many mixtures,
cut-oﬀs, and dreams. I've been in Tokyo for over

— Thank you, your answer “trance” wellfour months now, but I'm still often surprised byrepresents the contrast between the two

the fact that I'm currently living in Tokyo, as if it'sdimensions of Tokyo.

not real. Tokyo has all kinds of people and things,— Right, you can see a
lot of mixtures of new
and old buildings in

The different urban cores and neighbourhoods have their very distinct
personalities that makes them feel like their own worlds.

２３3

vol.327"definition"

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LUKA

URBAN DESIGN LAB. MAGAZINE— So now let's move onto the picture part. I asked you all to bringthem, and the Japanese are also very concerned about privacy. This is thepictures for two topics―pics that represent Tokyo and pics thatﬁrst time I thought about the issue from the perspective of a Tokyo resident

represent your studio site. So first, letʼs take a look at Luka's pic-

rather than a tourist.

suntures.
— Interesting, from Luka and Daiʼs points of view, I can clearly see
Luka: Ok, I chose two pictures to represent Tokyo. The ﬁrst one (upperthat your impression about Tokyo has changed during your stay inleft) is the initial, or “tourist” experience. It was taken from Miyashita Parkthis city. So next, let's see what Sun brought here.

towards the centre of Shibuya. The picture contains the skyscrapers, theshibuya

komabarailway, but also a lantern decorated yokocho of small bars in the shadow

Sun: Sure, these pictures (upper) show the symbols of Japan like the To-of the high-rises. I think this townscape might represent Tokyo to someone

kyo tower, Tokyo Skytree and the temple. Visitors can explore these hiddenthat doesnʼt live here. Areas like Shibuya and Shinjuku have a strong per-gems and discover the rich cultural heritage of Tokyo, while also enjoying

sonality that takes up space in a person's memory as an image of Tokyo.

the many modern amenities and attractions that the city has to oﬀer. AndHowever, the second picture (upper right) that I chose represents Tokyo tothen this one (bottom) is about my studio site, Kanda. Kanda is a historicme, now that I had the chance to live here as a “resident”. It shows a street

area in Japan which has a history from the Edo period. This picture showsin Komaba, Meguro, near where I live. I think most of Tokyo looks more sim-a very important shrine for the residents there. But it was hidden in theilar to this. Calm, narrow, human scale, where pedestrian and car traﬃc canpencil buildings. At ﬁrst, we even didnʼt ﬁnd it. Although there are not soshare the same street without the need for pavements. A train station which

many traditional characteristic spaces remaining in Kanda, the community

is still visible in the background represents the good railway connectivity.

spirits still exist.

tokyo tower

tokyo skytree

The real ordinary life happens here. And the picture (bottom) I chose for myadachi/arakawasite is representative of the minimum housing proj-— Thank you. Your pictures show exactly whatects that we have analysed in our studio. It shows ayouʼve told us in the first part. So finally, it's

typical lot division to place as many detached homes
as possible in previously one bigger lot. This site
showcases the level of density that is created due todai

part 2your turn, Basia.

"pictures"

buyer demand and developer ingenuity.

kanda

Basia: Thank you. This photo (upper left) was taken in the Ueno district, overlooking the Shinobazuno

basia

Pond. In the far background we see the Shinobazu— Thank you so much. Since Luka and Dai were in the same groupnoike benten-do Temple. At this time, it struck me just how much greeneryat the studio, can you show us your pics next, Dai?

there is in Tokyo, and how every little non-occupied corner is utilized as apocket park. This photo (upper right) was taken on the top terrace of Skyshinjuku

adachi/arakawa

４

Dai: OK, this (upper) is a picture I took in Shinjuku while traveling in 2019.

Tree, during the Christmas period. In the background we see the Tokyo

For me Tokyo is such a place full of tall buildings, lights, billboards andcityscape with a family, posing for a photo in a Christmas arranged scenery.

consumer signals. It is a showcase of Tokyo's high level of development,

I ﬁnd interesting the contrast between the obvious Japanese landscape inand my ﬁrst impression of Tokyo as a tourist. These (bottom) are pictures ofthe background and celebrating an American tradition in the foreground.

our studio site in Adachi and Arakawa wards. Through site visits, I learned

For me it is a theme also seeping into the built-up of Japanese cities. There

about the preferences of middle-class and nuclear families living in Tokyo.

are lots of American/European-stylized restaurants and cafes, sometimes

Nowadays, people still prefer to live in the center of the city or in areas withstuck in between very traditional Japanese architecture. Next, this one (bot-easy access to the city center, but such areas are usually expensive in termstom) is my studio site, Kanda ‒ Photos represent the variety of architecturalof land and housing. As a result, real estate developers have divided up

development of the site. On the one hand we have the “Shoutengai” street,land in such a way that individuals occupy smaller lots, lowering the pricewhich would pose as the activity core of the site, and a particularly prom-of housing while guaranteeing living space, and allowing more families toising direction for extension. On the other hand, we have so-called ʻpencil

own single-family homes in better locations. But closer proximity to neigh-buildingsʼ, a ﬁll-in between the dense tissue, with extreme Floor area ratio.

bors can involve a lot of questions about the ownership, management andEvery now and then we see an architectural marvel, left unattended foruse of public space, and the relationship between privacy and public space

years, overgrown with greenery. Kanda strikes me as a district with a lot

needs to be balanced. For example, many architects advocate the conceptof potential for growth. Its non-uniformity in aesthetic standards can be aof sharing, but many people prefer to protect the space that belongs tomasterplan negligence for some or a unique feature for others.

ueno

tokyo skytree

kanda

３５

デザ研書初め企画～抱負を一文字に込めて～大学生になってからというもの筆で文字を書く機会がなくなったという人は多いと思う。小学生の頃にあれだけ練習した筆遣いも今や忘れかけてしまっているのではないか。そんな都市デザイン研究室のメンバーに漢字一文字で新年の抱負を書いてもらう機会を設けた。漢字の意味や字形から彼らの込めた思いを想像してみるのも面白いだろう。

続きは都市デザイン研究室 HP で！

路地裏が文化を生む！
ワークショップは自身にとって東京がどんな都市か、書初めは自身にとって今年がどんな一年（であってほしい）かという「定義」に関係すると考え、タイトルを “deﬁnition”とした。今月号はデザイン面で個性溢れる号となったが、いかがだっただろうか。「全体と しての統一性と各自 の個性のせめぎ合い」が 2023
年のマガジンの “deﬁnition”になるのかもしれない。（M1伊藤）

6

増淵敏之
青弓社
2012

推薦者
M1 平野

喫煙所事例見学ツアー！

青木先生とみなかみ調査

上野公園内袴腰広場の喫煙所の設計を依頼され、都内にある喫煙所の事例調査に行ってきました。場所に応じたデザインや喫煙者の居心地の良さへの様々な配慮が見られ、非常に参考になりました。（M1 橘）

みなかみ PJ では、今年から新たに着任された青木特任助教と現地調査を行いました。現地はすっかり雪景色で、何度も現地に行っている私達
M1 にとっても新鮮な現地調査となりました。 (M1 ⾧谷川 )発行：東京大学都市デザイン研究室マガジン編集部
神谷南帆・合田智揮・杉本莉菜・若松凪人・渡邉大祐
伊藤純也・佐橋慶祐・高野楓己・橘俊輔・永井鷹一郎・⾧谷川帆奈・平野真帆・森屋友佑

曲がり角での談笑、外階段での定例会。
そんな路地裏での光景の尊さを言語化してくれる一冊。現代人の、作られた都市空間の隙間に自ら意味を与える力を信じ、人々にそうさせる空間とは何かを考えたい。あの街のあの店の、意外なルーツも見どころである。

発行日：2023 年 1 月 31 日