Misaligned
This
scene is quite common in Tokyo. Now, I realize you'd find old houses
and buildings misaligned in any city around the world, but here they
build them new this way. It can be charming, of course, but it can be a
big mess, too. When I first got here, I had figured that over time
they'd straighten things out a bit as buildings died and new ones were
constructed. Nope. Land is tight. Use every inch. No matter the shape,
no matter the offsets, no matter the location. Consequently, urban
sprawl here is extreme. And good luck finding your way around, too,
because the streets aren't aligned either, and, of course, street signs
are another interesting mystery in this city. When I ask why to all this, people
just look at me like the question itself is odd or something. I never
get a response, too. Ok. So, I stopped asking. I don't know how to
describe it, really. I've been searching for some logic -- or even a
zoning map -- but I have no clue. It just is. GPS is required, I know,
but how did people survive before that?Anyway. In this image, a new building is going up at the bottom next to the road. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a house, or an apartment building, or a convenience store. It'll be a mystery for a little longer. But they are building in a box down there. It's wild. That little crane in the lower right corner can't move at all. He can only dig, and then back out when he's done. And the basement walls are braced with heavy steel i-beams. The guy in the white shirt walking in the front yard of his little brown house right now is probably hoping that the building going up a few feet away isn't too high or he'll lose all his sun. Perhaps he already knows what's coming. And check out the beautiful lawn and garden on the yellow building at the top of the image. Very nice. I've never mowed my roof before, have you? But that would make a great little Lacrosse field for practice close to home. Everything's all very ... snug.
But I keep wondering about that new building going up. Every time I see construction like this, I always wonder what the land is worth. Construction means land has economic value. That property looks like, I don't know, about 50 x 60 feet, so I asked around. Probably around a million dollars. Maybe more. And as I walked around the previous demolition and now the new construction, I couldn't fine one stray nail on the road or the sidewalk. I looked, too. Hard. No scrap pieces of wood. No mud or dirt. No tire tracks from trucks going in and out. Not even a piece of paper. Nothing. How is this possible? I've been on many construction sites, and I've never seen such highly contained jobs in my life. And, of course, not a sound. Total silence. Wild.
What really impresses me in these photos is how similar the contemporary Japanese architecture is to the European one. If I didn't know this was in Japan, I'd say it was anywhere in Europe (sans alignment issue).
Simply amazing. I did not expect that in the least.
Posted by UX-admin on August 30, 2008 at 11:25 PM JST #
Yeah, nice pic and commentary.
UX-admin: I grew up in France. When I first went to Japan (2000) I was surprised by the modern, european-like atmosphere. It was really great.
I have residency rights in Japan (Japanese wife) and I think I'll end up there one day.
Posted by Chris Mahan on August 31, 2008 at 02:20 PM JST #
Thanks, guys. :) Small world, I guess ...
Posted by Jim Grisanzio on August 31, 2008 at 04:41 PM JST #
It's also interesting to see a 1980s America style house shoved in behind the hole. I saw my first "pencil building" in Dublin recently, but development here is messier and noisier. I thought Japan was one of the few countries which didn't go property mad in the past 8 years because it was still recovering from the 1980s property bust hangover, declining property values and population. The garden roofs are a fantastic idea though. I'd like to see more of this in milder parts of the U.S. (Steep roofs in snow country make mowing even more challenging)
Posted by bnitz on September 05, 2008 at 11:26 PM JST #