Tokyo Architecture and Design

Tokyo constitutes the most populated metropolitan area on the planet; it’s houses 33 million inhabitants who get around on the world’s most complex railroad system, as well as enjoying the highest number of restaurants per inhabitant in the world. It is also, possibly, the megalopolis with the highest proportion of recent architecture. Despite the fact that Tokyo’s origins date back to the 17th century _ when it was known as Edo _ and that it went trough a golden age at the end of the 19th century after being declared the capital of Japan, little remains of its original architecture as result of two significant events that almost completely destroyed it: an earthquake in 1923, which triggered plans for a rebuilding programme that proved unfeasible due to the high cost, and the bombardments of World War II, which almost halved the population.In no other city are the boundaries between inside and outside, public and private, up and down as blurred as in Tokyo; this lack of frontiers has shaped an urban setting without parallel, which is reflected equally by the most state-of-the-art skyscraper and the most intimate store. This amalgam of architectural typologies has established itself as a reference point for designers from all over the world.