Tokyo has long been synonymous with the future in the global imagination; the manga metropolis, a pulsating megacity of droids and high tech and flying cars. city of high-tech. And now, this city brought up on Akira and Sailor Moon dreams is embracing its comic-book image with a new infatuation with robots and futuristic oddities. Take this just-unveiled 20 metre statue of Gundam – the robot comic character – which has been built in Odaiba for one month only (I was so lucky to see it!) to celebrate the character’s 25th birthday. The robot moves it head and arms.
And check this out: an amazing, gargantuan robot spider currently on display at the Y150 Exposition to celebrate Yokohama’s century and a half of foreign trade. The spider – by French engineering/art collective “La Machine” – ushered in the event by marching through the city streets, shooting water out of its creepy head at passers-by. It is now on display until September as the clear centrepiece of the (otherwise lacklustre) Y150 event.
I also like this; the “Natural Ellipse House”, an egg-shaped and apparently windowless dwelling on a small lot on Shibuya’s Love Hotel hill. I had found it in an architectural textbook in Australia and went with Daisuke to try and find it. We finally stumbled on it just down the street from “Womb” nightclub – and found out that its for rent! How great would it be to live in this?
