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August 27, 2025
 

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ARCHITECTURE

Suyun Ham, an engineering professor at UTA, reviews data from a recent inspection with two other researchers. Ham likens his technology to a “portable MRI,” which can detect cracks and other hidden dangers in a bridge.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 26, 2025
Are bridges near you safe? This MRI-like scan may prevent disaster
An engineering professor from the University of Texas at Arlington is experimenting with a novel approach to inspecting bridges for heat damage.
With graffiti now covering the crumbling walls of the main thermal baths in one of Europe's oldest spa towns, a group of young architects hopes to restore the picturesque Romanian resort.
WORLD / Society
Aug 19, 2025
The volunteers battling to save Romania's famed thermal baths
The picturesque Baile Herculane spa town's baths have fallen into an advanced state of decay.
The inverted cone, one of Atsushi Kitagawara’s six signature elements in architecture, is a key feature of the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection museum building.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 16, 2025
Atsushi Kitagawara’s exhibition finds poetry in architecture
Award-winning architect Kitagawara's work is displayed at the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection museum he designed, making it both a venue and a centerpiece of the exhibition.
A student leaves the secondary school building built by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kere, in Kere's home village of Gando, Burkina Faso, on June 3, 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 17, 2025
How schools are being built for extreme heat — without air conditioning
With techniques such as cross-ventilation and materials such as clay, architects around the world are adapting schools to climate change without the use of air conditioning.
Nakagin Capsule Tower architect Kisho Kurokawa in front of the structure two years after its completion in 1972.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 11, 2025
The many lives of Nakagin Capsule Tower on display at New York’s MoMA
“The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower” showcases the 50-year history of the building through nearly 45 pieces of contextual material and one of the capsules on display.
Tokyo’s skyline keeps evolving, but the country’s drab, outdated government district, long hours, low pay and poor work conditions are driving young bureaucratic talent away just when it needs them most.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 11, 2025
Tokyo is missing 'Blade Runner' where it needs it most
Until the 1960s, Japan had strict prohibitions on developments higher than 31 meters (around 100 feet), a provision that kept cities dense but low.
The exhibition of Fujimoto’s architecture surveys his career to date, as well as looks ahead as shown in his proposal of a future floating city designed in collaboration with data scientist Hiroaki Miyata.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 4, 2025
The future is bright inside the visionary mind of architect Sou Fujimoto
From a model of the Grand Ring you can walk through to a futuristic city design, the architect’s exhibition at Mori Art Museum is an invitation to engage with architecture.
The Hotaruan Royal Garden Suite, a renovated traditional "minka" home, will host the second iteration of the Minka Preservation Society's MinkaMeets event.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 31, 2025
Traditional home experts to gather at MinkaMeets event
Roof thatching expert Haruo Nishio is one of several experts scheduled to speak at the June 7-8 event.
“Ambient, Environment, Circumstances — The Typography of Contemporary Art —” is Simose Art Museum’s first contemporary art exhibition.
CULTURE / Art
May 15, 2025
Emerging Asian artists converge at the 'world’s most beautiful museum'
The Shigeru Ban-designed Simose Art Museum celebrates its Prix Versailles architectural award with its first contemporary art exhibition.
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 24, 2025
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Architects of country pavilions speak on the challenges that shaped their design choices.
The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art is just one of many hidden art and architectural gems across the Kagawa coast.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 15, 2025
‘Resorts for the spirit’: Touring Kagawa’s art and architecture
The seaside cities of Takamatsu and Marugame are home to a heritage of beauty, from the monolithic to the modern.
The iconic ring-shaped roof at the venue of the World Exposition in Osaka on Friday
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025
Osaka Expo ring roof recognized as world's largest wooden structure
The 60,000-square-meter Grand Ring has the largest building area on record for a wooden structure, according to Guinness World Records.
Tsuyoshi Mizukoshi, owner of a pub in Nishiogi’s commercial area, is a community organizer who is rallying local residents against the road development plan.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Mar 3, 2025
Redevelopment and resistance in historic Nishiogikubo
Stakeholders in Suginami Ward have been fighting against a road development plan for some years — but economic forces are already transforming the neighborhood.
Japanese architect and Expo Site Design Producer Sou Fujimoto stands on the construction site of his Grand Ring.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jan 1, 2025
Architect Sou Fujimoto says his 'Grand Ring' will be a symbol of unity at the Osaka Expo
Traditional techniques for joining wooden pillars were used and inspired by the raised platform at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto.
The facade of the Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum graces the cover of Paul Tulett’s new book “Brutalist Japan: A Photographic Tour of Post-War Japanese Architecture.”
CULTURE / Books
Nov 16, 2024
Brutal beauty worth saving from the wrecking ball
Paul Tulett advocates for preserving concrete Brutalist architecture in his new book “Brutalist Japan.”
The Usasuka Ryuchu throne carving on the second floor of Shuri Castle’s main hall features a unique twisted dragon design — a detail missing from prior reconstructions.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2024
Okinawa's Shuri Castle marks five years since devastating fire
With completion set for 2026, national and Okinawan authorities are working together to restore intricate details.
Construction at Michaelerplatz in Vienna, Austria, in July
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 7, 2024
Europe’s urban dilemma: Saving the past from a warming future
European cities face a tough choice: adapt to rising heat or preserve historical landmarks.
The Sharp air purifier's furniture-like design was overseen by architect Kengo Kuma.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2024
Sharp collaborates on wooden air purifier with architect Kengo Kuma
The purifier is aimed at corporate clients and will sell for ¥550,000 yen.
Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School in Kanoi village near Jaisalmer, India, earlier this month. In the sweltering heat of India's Thar desert, an architecturally striking school is an oasis of cool.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 24, 2024
Indian desert school's unique design offers respite from heat
Temperatures inside the school, designed by U.S. architect Diana Kellogg and built by local artisans, can be as much as 20% lower than those outside.
If there is one person who can tell you all about the building that used to be the Bank of Japan's Hiroshima branch, which survived the atomic bombing, it's Yasuhiro Nanba.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Aug 19, 2024
A building that survived the A-bomb, and the man who tells its story
A security guard's fascination with the Bank of Japan's Hiroshima branch led him to compile personal accounts of people who were there when the bomb was dropped.
Tokyo releases AI-generated video of Mount Fuji erupting
A screenshot from an AI-generated video showing what could happen to Tokyo if Mount Fuji erupted
Japan aims to tighten rules for business manager visas from October
The number of foreign residents with business management residency status had reached a record 41,615 as of the end of 2024.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Japan ranked one of the most peaceful places in Asia as global tensions rise
Visitors look at paper cranes hung at Peace Park in Nagasaki on Aug. 8, a day ahead of the 80th anniversary of the World War II atomic bombing of the city.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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