Japan's Early-2000's Architectural Nostalgia

The architectural definition of “modern”¹ has always been a moving target. Every year, once “stylistically cutting-edge” buildings slip into the realm of “dated” and “cliche”. And the other day, I finally stumbled on across a building that proved this point. Nagoya’s Sasashima-Ribu station is totally representative of a particular architectural style; one that, at the time of it’s construction, was synonymous with “modern architecture”. But a quarter of a century has separated innovation from trend, revealing a slew of early 2000’s quintessential quirks. So let’s examine a building that the “architecturally modern” has since evolved past.

Note: This post is written from a total lack of qualified architectural training. I’m just a big fan of this architectural style, and I was surprised that I couldn’t find a name or movement associated with it aside from catch-all “postmodernism”. As such, I humbly propose some interim nomenclature: “00’s geometric”.

As a case study, let’s take a look at the Sasashima-Raibu Station. At the time of it’s construction, Aichi was hosting the environmentally-themed World Expo 2005. The station itself was constructed in 2005 along with the rest of the Aonami line, which served as a transportation link to the expo’s campus. Being built for such a high-profile event, The station’s architecture is truly a “greatest hits” of 00’s geometric themes. Simple shapes define the station’s facade. A shed-style roof covers the main station building, which complements the symmetrical, arched walkway coverings. Only the elevator shaft is square; the rest of the design is dominated by swooping contours and shallow angles, evoking (to me) themes of rolling waves. Gentle curves are a common theme that starkly contrasts to the imposing, rigid facades of modernist or brutalist buildings. In fact, 00’s geometric structures often seem friendly and inviting, despite being built with similar materials as their modernist counterparts.

Let’s dig a little further into these materials. 00’s geometric buildings mainly utilize plate glass and steel, but in unexpected ways. You see, gentle curves are very difficult to achieve using plate glass, because it doesn’t bend easily. For this reason, modernist structures are often massive boxes of steel and glass. 00’s Geometric buildings, on the other hand, seek to defy the limitations of their medium. Smaller panels of glass are arranged to create low-resolution curves. Steel is bowed into gentle arcs, purely for the sake of adornment. There is a sense of techno-utopianism in these structures: we have the technology to bend steel and glass to our will: not to improve function, but for form alone. While Sasashima-raibu’s view from platform 1 sports numerous examples of this, I think this style is best exhibited by Itsuko Hasegawa’s work. For example, Ryutopia Performing Arts Center utilizes segments of floor-to-ceiling plate glass to create a (some would argue superfluously) circular arena.²

While undoubtedly striking, steel and plate glass aren’t particularly “welcoming”. Using these materials alone, buildings could come off as clinical or intimidating. To compensate, 00’s Geometric structures utilize vibrant, bold hues on seemingly normal objects. Just take a look at the elevator passageway at Sasashima-raibu station: the entire elevator shaft is painted a royal blue, which complements the purple of the right-hand lighting nicely. Even the subway line’s trademark color is a shade of deep teal. Imagine this hallway without those splashes of color! Beautiful, sure, but nonetheless bleak and lifeless. Primary-school pigmentation gives the station a sense of openness and friendliness, which can make an otherwise unfamiliar subway station feel less intimidating.

All of the above points stand in direct contrast with Modernism. Where Modernist buildings seek to impose, 00’s Geometrics seek to invite. Stoic, rigid materials are bent and stretched beyond their limits to create simple geometric shapes. Splashes of color invite people to engage with the building’s space, while simultaneously rejecting the stodgy shackles of Modernism. This is the architecture of the early 2000’s, where change was right around the corner. The Cold War was over, and large-scale peace seemed to be working. The internet was promising to connect everyone and everything. All of the world’s problems seemed to be imminently solvable by technology, which would accelerate humanity’s progress towards a brighter tomorrow. We built the buildings of this imminent, techno-utopian future, and 00’s Geometric was the result. While that future never came, these silly, optimistic buildings remain a testament of the era’s bright-eyed enthusiasm. Every time I see one, I’m reminded that the future doesn’t have to be bleak. Not too long ago, the sky wasn’t falling.

More Examples