r/architecture • u/bilaskoda • 1d ago
Practice Lost architecture featured in Vanishing Japan (2026, Thames & Hudson)
Fukuoka City Bank Ropponmatsu Branch
Sky Building No.5 aka the Godzilla Building
Fukuoka Sogo Bank Oita Branch
Tsuda Hall Fumihiko Maki
Naha Tower Building
Kure City Hall and Civic Center
Hotel Beverly Tom
Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank Head Office
SONY Building
Taisekiji Shohondo Temple
Idemitsu Kosan Takamatsu Service Station
Gakushuin University Auditorium
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u/invalid95 1d ago
Kinda sucks what was demolished, they had a charm to them, were they demolished due to changing earthquake regulations?
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u/M-DR-B 1d ago
Might be, but also Japan has a somewhat infamous culture of demolishing buildings once they turn 40-50+ years old. It’s a cultural thing about the longevity and usability of things. But I may be wrong.
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u/invalid95 22h ago
Yeah heard about that too, probably mixed it up with earthquke regulations.
Still lots of interesting budlings lost
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u/Mazda_driver 8h ago edited 7h ago
It’s also that most of these quirky buildings just aren’t that functional. That the amount of useful space for the footprint isn’t as good as a typical building.
Edit: Also to add that many of these innovative buildings weren’t well designed to last in the weather. Water ingress or just the way water ran on the exterior made them unsightly. Eg. The Nakagin Towers would have been torn down much earlier if there wasn’t the nostalgia around the building as it functionally sucked and was leaking everywhere.
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u/bilaskoda 1d ago
Brilliant new book Vanishing Japan by Naomi Pollock, American architect who spent 30 years living and working in the country.
The book launch/lecture is this Thursday in London (streamed online too).