the japanese don’t bother with the whole new-architecture-ruins-the-old-architecture thing. actually, as they have a culture of continuous renewal, not many of the temples or traditional buildings you see are their original selves: most have been re-built many times over, not in the lest perhaps due to the frequent earthquakes.
also, the country is full of tiny yet fully-formed building serving either residential or commercial purposes. the architect will work with the client’s brief as well as with the land limitations which are rarely permissive.
these being said, i’ll tell you how, walking around in nagoya, i came across this 1+1 concrete store. the japanese are quick to adapt to the trends so i noticed concrete being used quite often all over the country.
the store’s name is lad and it has its own collection of men’s wear. i was not so much impressed with the clothes (when does that happen?) but i was impressed by the small, simple, windowless building. after a little research i found that it was made by the japanese studio general design. (check out their list of works ) while checking out their site, i found out that the store in nagoya has two siblings in tokyo: the flagship in shibuya and the newest one, in shinjuku.
when will i walk around bucharest and find a cute, little concrete shell of a store? my guess is not during my lifetime.
