Saturday, January 23, 2016

March 13 - Charles Laurier on Disappearing Doban Buildings of Pre-War Shimatchi Tokyo


Dear UFT friends,


Our speaker will be :

Charles Laurier, Lakeland College Japan Campus

 

The Disappearing Doban  Buildings of Pre-war Shitamachi Tokyo: 

What is worth  passing on of  our 20th century city-scape and history?

 

The copper-plated doban buildings of pre-war shitamachi represent one of the last living connections to traditional Edo and survived the building of a "modern" Tokyo after the 1923 Earthquake.

Unique in world architecture, these mostly 2-story retail /residential buildings, like all structures in Tokyo, have a very short life expectancy, and there are only a few left. Laurier will discuss their origins,  noteworthy features and variations(part of kamban commercial architecture), and will conclude with some thoughts about the prospects for preservation.

 

Sunday, February 14

3:00-5:00 (with dinner afterwards for those who can stay)

International House ((国際文化会館) between  Azabu-juban and Roppongi stations. See their website for a map. 

 

News update: Our January speaker Michael Berman made a thoughtful and enlightening discussion of modern (even post-modern) "relationless" society with a focus on Japan. We all felt it would be great to invite him again during the next year or so that he pursues his research based in Tokyo.

 

Peggy Kanada, moderator

Total Pageviews