Weaving a New Urban Fabric

In this issue we finalize publishing chapters from the book “Sustainable Architecture in Japan: The Continuing Challenge 1900–2010 & Beyond “, published to coincide with the 110th anniversary of Nikken Sekkei. In the previous issues of our magazine (“Green Buildings”, 2013, № 2–4; 2014, № 1–2), we brought to your attention the chapters dealing with the projects, in which design were used natural phenomena such as light, heat, wind, water and geothermal energy. Now let us focus on the urban fabric.

IDefining the City
Over 70% of the Japanese population is said to live in cities. No clear definition, however, can be given to what constitutes a “city,” alternatively measured by its population, boundaries, or surface area. Perhaps it would be better to qualify it more simply as a lively environment with robust businesses. A level of efficiency and convenience is guaranteed by the transport infrastructures for trains and cars and the energy networks for power and gas. But at the same time there is a price to pay as the cost of living rises and the natural environment recedes. Uniquely urban problems arise; the most recent one being the “heat island phenomenon.”

Since it has become impossible to isolate architecture from the city, designers should be seeking new, fruitful relationships. Landscape architecture, often invaluable in threading buildings into the urban fabric, has the potential to recover what has been lost in nature. And in the age of sustainability, strategies for energy reduction must always consider their urban implications. Last but not least, the architectural “function of history” is vital in giving meaning to the city and its people.

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Materials provided by Nikken Sekkei
Text: Fumio Nohara