Julian Worrall Presentation

Last Thursday Julian Worrall, an architect in Tokyo came to talk to us about his research on urban public space in Tokyo. He concetrated on the concept of "public space" in urban Tokyo, and especially talked about his research on the connection between space and social encounters. His presentation had excellent examples of different train stations, the message towers and statues outside the stations, and the history of the structure of the stations. From this presentation, it was evident that there is a close link between the structure of stations, public space in Tokyo and the social interaction between people. The manner posters that Julian presented were very reflective of Japanese society. This illustrated how Japanese public space is strictly regulated and there is no real social freedom in these areas. For example, Julian talked about the space infront of the Tokyo Metropolian government building. It is modelled on the public "plaza" in Siena, Italy. Even though this was built specifically as a "public space", it is a drafty, uncomfortable area where no-one spends their time.

Julian's research on the statues and other sculptures surrounding train stations was also intersting. I pass these sculptures everyday, and I never question what these objects are and why they are there. It was amusing to look at the photos of these sculptures and the very cheesy, cliche messages that they held. Many of them resembled Greek sculptures and they had messages like "love" and "peace" depicting heart-warming (!) figures of mother and children.
Message towers all over Tokyo, also call out to the citizens to act more responsibly and treat others with kindness. The messages seem often very obvious and it is difficult to understand why the police station, the ward office or any other association would spend the money to post these messages that no-one appreciates.

The presentation last Thursday pointed out many interesting aspects about Japanese public space. It made me realise that Japanese society is very unique in the way that it functions, and many things that I hadn't noticed before came to light.
On my way home, I found a message tower next to the station. It says, lets build a brighter, better society with hands of love. Also I took a photo of the sun setting on the station.