Tokyo - Vertical Urbanism

Arrived back in Los Angeles this morning after an overnight flight from Tokyo. I didn't have access to a computer while in Tokyo, so the plan for daily updates never materialized.

The density of Tokyo was different from anything I have seen in the US or Europe. This isn't high-rise density in the sense of NY city, but a vertical urbanism in which the street is carried up vertically through the buildings. In Tokyo there is a common building typology which positions vertical circulation on the front of the building, accessible from the street, and layers different shops and programs vertically. Each shop has its own signage visible from the street. This vertical ordering creates very interesting interior "streets" in which interactions can take place in a stairway or elevator lobby. In the US, it is not uncommon to see shops or restaurants located on the ground level of a building, and residential units located above, but the prevailing train of thought is that only the ground level of a building can function successfully as a retail space.



Another interesting result of extreme density is how Tokyo makes use of awkward and left over spaces to develop usable program. Some examples are: an outdoor soccer field on top of an 8 story retail building, a park and sports fields located between a train line and street, "golden gai" - a collection of tiny bars each of which can only seat about 5-7 people and are accessed by a 2 meter wide pedestrian street, and "memory lane" a collection of yakitori restaurants and bars located in a narrow alley behind a new retail establishment.

The Japanese also have an interesting habit of arranging objects or stores into highly organized similar collections. On an urban scale, Tokyo arranges shops which sell similar things into zones, ie: bookstores, music stores, motorcycle shops, bars, or sushi restaurants. This organization carries down to the object level, where similar objects are classified and organized by type.