Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Developer: Mori Building

Roppongi Hills is another integrated residential development by Mori Building. It is in stark contrast with Omotesando Hills with its 54-story high tower that house retail, hotels, offices and apartments as well as a few parks.

Architect: Tadao Ando
Developer: Mori Building

How does it fit into Tokyo?

The contrast of this internal street against the grand Omotesando Avenue is what Tokyo is all about: a constant transition from wide to narrow, monumental to intimate…

Tokyo is made up of such a multitude of experiences that it is impossible to sum it up in words.

In a poor attempt… Tokyo is dense and sparse, grand and small, wide and narrow, tall and petite, fashion and scruffy, charming and unappealing, beautiful and ugly, heavy and light, colourful and grey, varied and uniform, old and new, complex and simple, chaotic and orderly… it’s a city.

I had always thought that cities came about out of the basic human needs for protection (survival) & socialization, hence agglomeration. I was familiar with the fact that the first hint of urbanization appeared when Homo sapiens shifted from their nomadic lifestyle to permanent settlements. What I had never considered were the reasons that caused them to shift to permanent settlements: they understood the benefits of a network of people sharing a common outcome (that of survival & progress) through a division of labor.

Pourquoi privilégier ce qui n’existe plus au détriment de tout ce qui est là? Pourquoi donner plus d’importance à ce qui ne va pas au lieu d’aimer tout ce qui va?

(Marc Levy, Où es-tu?)

TOGS3 – Temporary Outdoor Gallery Spaces is a competition organized by Art Alliance Austin. The objective is to design a temporary gallery space to exhibit a variety of art works.

Today’s session focused on automating the rendering process of Radiance using python. It involved creating a bunch of randomly positioned & sized red spheres with a couple of lights before calling Radiance for the render scene.

Classes begin officially this Monday but I am currently attending some crash courses, Intro to Python & Houdini. Hopefully, I will find some time to commit to learning Houdini. I might need it very soon.

I miss design and I am seriously considering some ways to remain in touch, maybe via competitions, one each semester… ‘time’ will tell.

Below is a selection of modules for this first semester. They are all generally related to my proposed topic (will be available soon).

Le mieux serait d’écrire les événements au jour le jour. Tenir un journal pour y voir clair. Ne pas laisser échapper les nuances, les petits faits, même s’ils n’ont l’air de rien, et surtout les classer.

(Jean-Paul Sartre, La Nausée)