9/23/2009

Fetichism of space Tokyo Land Shrinking (tiny plot—> small house)

I just bought a book titled "Small House Tokyo". As one knows, Japanese small houses are well-commented here and there because of Architects' capacity to build on such tiny plots. Since several years I've been interested in the transformation of Tokyo residential areas, in particular the land use. My research is focused on the transformation of Tokyo residential areas from 1923 to today. I will publish a small, very small part of my research but sometimes if I want to publish it, depending on of my humour. So let's start.
Mixity is the — 21th century city, post-kyoto city… — keyword: mixed-use land permits to mix habitat/work/leisure in an area. This is one of Tokyo Particularity. But the other side of mixity is fetichism of space, say, a competition for land. The graphic below sums up the consequences of various reasons explained in the graphic*:


The practice of subdivision (saibunka in japanese) is linked to the Japanese history of residential development. A next thread will present another aspect of saibunka: subdivided parcel and regulation laws (setback, daylights)... because imagine a congested (kamitsu) residential area (a density of 18 300 inhab/km2 such as Nakano-ku) with tiny plots and small houses poses the question of daylight. A law stipulates that a house has to be lighted up for 4 hours at least. so to be continued…

* (p.s.) : click upon the image to enlarge it

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