Re Made in Tokyo

‘Re Made in Tokyo’ concerns one piece of urban-architectural literature: Made in Tokyo, by influential architects Momoyo Kaijima, Junzo Kuroda and Yoshiharu Tsukamoto. Made in Tokyo documents a study into the urban condition of the Japanese metropolitan capital. It presents an aspect of the built environment that goes unseen by the orthodox architectural discipline: unnamed and authorless buildings seemingly unconcerned with aesthetic standards. Kaijima, Kuroda and Tsukamoto term these buildings b-grade, no-good – ‘da-me architecture’ – and present a ‘guidebook’ to help their readers find and consider these artifacts. ‘Re Made in Tokyo’ is a project of inquiry and interpretation into this one text. It interrogates formal, graphic and discursive aspects of Made in Tokyo to discover the book’s epistemological and methodological frameworks. The thesis contends these frameworks are valuable not only in providing tools for the urban researcher in Tokyo, but as articulating a sensibility and attitude suitable for broader investigation. As evidence, ‘Re Made in Tokyo’ adopts the frameworks and attitude of Made in Tokyo and redirects them back onto a piece of architectural-urban studies literature – namely Made in Tokyo itself. The thesis activates the attitude by performing a sustained and focused act of reading its key text, relating and comparing it with a broad range of other texts, and producing a series of independent but interrelated chapters focused on significant themes. It spatialises the book’s treatment of a city. At the same time, ‘Re Made in Tokyo’ argues that Made in Tokyo is a valuable resource with which to question architectural orthodoxy and re-view urban space. It sees Made in Tokyo as more than a simple ‘guidebook’, presenting Kaijima, Kuroda and Tsukamoto’s publication as an embodiment of a significant disciplinary and philosophical agenda. The thesis reads Made in Tokyo as inviting interaction and creative production; and responds accordingly with ‘Re Made in Tokyo’