| The Kyoto Station 京都駅 contains Japan’s second largest train station, as well as a shopping mall, department store, hotel, movie theater, and government facilities. The original 1914 Renaissance structure was a well-known nationalistic figure. The current Station was designed by Hiroshi Hara and opened in 1997.An immense glass and steel structure runs the length of the public corridor, a gesture to the first station, but with folds and new structural materials. The folding structure builds relationships of spaces, particularly outdoor and indoor. The style, which has been described as futuristic, perhaps has more to do with reconciling Japan’s brutal past with a rapidly technological future. There are no nationalistic images to be seen, but rather a large pragmatic gesture towards identity- something that seems paradoxic. |
(Gavin Anderson– flickr/creative commons license)
(Steph & Adam– flickr/creative commons license)
(matsuyuki– flickr/creative commons license)
(David McKelvey– flickr/creative commons license)
(Li-Ji– flickr/creative commons license)
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(scarletgreen– flickr/creative commons license)
(featured image by Fg2 on wikipedia/public domain)
