BMW i. Sustainable Neighbourhoods Project.

Tokyo Communication Art

September: The Results

Tokyo Communication Art's research into the evolving streetscape of the urban Shimo-Kitazawa district manifested itself in a raft of unconventional approaches to designing within the public realm, splicing transport and infrastructure together into one new radical confection. The 'Road Panel' concept is a key example, a system of pre-fabricated panels that stimulates and simulates desires paths and helps to trigger random connections and communication between the previously insular city dweller. Essentially a jigsaw-like lattice of roadway, the panels are stepping stones between the pedestrian, the street and the need for transport and mobility. Other TCA projects explored the possibility of a post-pod-based lifestyle, developing a highly flexible network of cabinet-like structures that act as living, working and sleeping environments. 'Sustainable Life Tokyo' is intended as a 'small grid society,' a microcosm of large scale city planning on a more sustainable scale. The BMW iConnect concept of 2030 also emerged from the workshops; this modular, mobile room on wheels illustrates a highly social transportation network of the future, where automobiles and architecture dovetail to shape new ways of maintaining and extending urban mobility.

August: The Development

Hideki Maruyama of BMW Tokyo joined Wallpaper* at Tokyo Communication Arts to discuss the research and presentation of the 40-strong student team. Students delved into the city's historic Shimo-Kitazawa district, looking at ways in which modern communication methods and technology have made the contemporary city dweller more insular than ever before. This led to a range of designs for urban additions that make the most of design, sustainability and the environment, while also tackling ways of improving the way people relate to one another, on the street, in stores and whilst travelling.

June: The Research

Flexibility, discovery, delight and personalisation have emerged as the key qualities of urban living for the three teams working on Sustainable Neighbourhoods at Tokyo Communication Art. The ongoing shift to digital culture will never succeed without the retention and evolution of the analogue services that underpin it: curved, complex streetscape, independent stores, small-scale architecture to bring the sky into dense urban environments. TCA's approach is cultural, rather than infrastructural. As one team notes, 'we believe that people in future Tokyo will desire originality and personality.' Research has centred on digging into the past to the Edo era when the city was one of the planet's first megastructures. 'While the Tokyo of today has a distinct culture in its own right, a simple walk down its busy streets would yield the observation that person-to-person interaction is scant, almost imperceptible,' one of the teams explains, 'so we propose that cities be transformed into establishments that function as interactive systems which serve to strengthen and facilitate these person-to-person interrelations, so as to evolve into a megalopolis with even more lasting charm.' Communication is therefore central to their approach, with concept design focusing on creating 'components' that can be brought together to make a more liveable, convivial and connective streetscape. They cite the inspiration of the classic Lego block, creating a framework into which evolving life could be poured. Ultimately, Tokyo will become a more sustainable and more sensitive place. 'Our vision is that residents of future Tokyo will be much more sensitive to trends and environmental changes through their lifestyle and they will require for much more creative and efficient life compared to systematic city of Tokyo in 2011.'

April: The Brief

Tokyo Communication Art is home to one of Japan's most respected automotive design courses. Students at TCA are taking a transportation focus for their collaboration with Wallpaper* and BMW. Yoshinao Fujimura, Educational Advisor to the TCA Automotive Design Department, explains that cities are central to our understanding and acceptance of new transportation products. 'In particular, in cities in countries which will develop the most in the future, such as Shanghai or Mumbai, the values of urban and non-urban areas differ considerably and give rise to new values,' he explains. TCA's neighbourhoods project looks at tomorrow's transportation - and the issues that arise around it - in one of the world's densest and most complex urban landscapes.

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