Architecture

The publisher of Shinkenchiku, one of Japan’s leading architecture journals, has launched a bookshop. Post Architecture Books (also known as Shinkenchiku Shoten) in Tokyo’s Aoyama district presents about 500 titles selected by Yusuke Nakajima, the owner of independent bookshop Post. Seeking to offer a broad perspective on architecture, the shop has assembled a line-up that includes both Japanese and foreign titles, covering spatial design, monographs, urbanism and anthropology. The space also serves as a venue for events and exhibitions.
post-architecture-books.com

This outdoor annexe to the Edo-Tokyo Museum is an architectural park on the outskirts of the city. Home to buildings from a Tokyo that has long since disappeared, it is a revelation. From farmhouses to public baths, prewar shops and even a kabuki theatre, there are buildings here that have been saved from the ravages of earthquakes and developers. The museum also has a number of private residences, including the 1942 home of the architect Kunio Maekawa.

Prolific architect Kenzo Tange’s concrete St Mary’s Cathedral was built in 1964 to replace the original Catholic church on the site that was destroyed during the Second World War. From the ground, Tange’s design recalls a bird with outstretched wings soaring upwards to the heavens.