TOKYOARCHITECTURE&DESIGN-HB东京建筑与设计

Tokyoconstitutesthemostpopulatedmetropolitanareaontheplanet;it’shouses33millioninhabitantswhogetaroundontheworld’smostcomplexrailroadsystem,aswellasenjoyingthehighestnumberofrestaurantsperinhabitantintheworld.Itisalso,possibly,themegalopoliswiththehighestproportionofrecentarchitecture.DespitethefactthatTokyo’soriginsdatebacktothe17thcentury_whenitwasknownasEdo_andthatitwenttroughagoldenageattheendofthe19thcenturyafterbeingdeclaredthecapitalofJapan,littleremainsofitsoriginalarchitectureasresultoftwosignificanteventsthatalmostcompletelydestroyedit:anearthquakein1923,whichtriggeredplansforarebuildingprogrammethatprovedunfeasibleduetothehighcost,andthebombardmentsofWorldWarII,whichalmosthalvedthepopulation.Innoothercityaretheboundariesbetweeninsideandoutside,publicandprivate,upanddownasblurredasinTokyo;thislackoffrontiershasshapedanurbansettingwithoutparallel,whichisreflectedequallybythemoststate-of-the-artskyscraperandthemostintimatestore.Thisamalgamofarchitecturaltypologieshasestablisheditselfasareferencepointfordesignersfromallovertheworld.