Week 9

Our second week of school in Tokyo was much more settled-in. We had several visits with Tokyo-based architecture firms, including one small practice that stands out in my memory as my favorite conception of a firm that I have seen. It was a group of 3 working out of a garage on a lesser-traveled street, with their garage door wide open to all passing by. When I asked them about that decision, they told our class that one of their primary drivers of incoming business is through direct interaction with the passerbys who stop in to see what the practice is working on. In a world that relies so heavily on photographability and digital marketing, I found this incredibly refreshing. Additionally, this week was full with explorations of some of Tokyo’s neighborhoods/cities, including Asakusa and Roppongi. Halloween also fell towards the beginning of this week, and each of my friends and I dressed as a band of clowns (some scarier than others) and spent a night out together in uniform in Asakusa, right near where we had explored earlier in the day.