Contributing Editor Naomi Pollock, FAIA, is the author of Japanese Design Since 1945: A Complete Sourcebook and the editor of NUNO: Visionary Japanese Textiles.
Singapore may be a tiny city-state, but its rich culture incorporates multiple ethnic groups, and its complex history stretches over several centuries.
Like young architects everywhere, Japanese designers often get their first job from a family member or friend. Rarely, though, does the assignment involve a mental hospital in the middle of a remote, northern island buffeted by Siberian winds. But Sou Fujimoto's psychiatrist father runs a residential facility on Hokkaido.
For years, the Japanese have been infatuated with Manhattan real estate. Timeless and elegant, New York landmarks fronting gracious avenues are everything that the vast majority of Tokyo buildings are not.
Even though Jin’s Global Standard occupies a busy corner inside a shopping center near Tokyo, this eyeglass boutique looks nothing like your typical suburban mall shop.