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Planning: Motoo NAKANISHI
Fixed point photographs: Shuji YAMADA, Kengo TARUMI, Kazumitsu TANAKA, Hideto SHIMAMURA

This project evolved from a plan to "take fixed point photographs of the place in Japan that was set to undergo the most dramatic transformation in the years to come". The first building to go up on the huge lot that had been left empty by the Yodobashi Purification Plant in West Shinjuku was the Keio Plaza Hotel. Construction work began on July 10, 1969. Over the next 35 years, PAOS kept blow-by-blow records of the forest of skyscrapers that would sprout up in the area, starting with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building (we are still recording developments).

The skyscraper district that grew up in West Shinjuku is the product of Japanese technological prowess, construction expertise born of necessity in this earthquake-ridden country. It is also a symbol of Japan's high economic growth. At the same time, the area is a mirror of memories reflecting the personal histories of those people who grew up in the shadow of this development. It gives us great delight to present this socially and historically valuable record documenting an "epoch in the evolution of Japan" and we hope that it will contribute to discussions on urban development in the years to come.

Photo collection: "Fixed Point Photographs of West Shinjuku: Pulse of the City - 35 Years of Dramatic Change", published by Gyosei

This photo collection provides a valuable matter-of-fact record of the dramatic evolution of West Shinjuku's skyscraper district during 1969 through 2004 as it sprung up on the site of the old purification plant. Leaf through the pages and lose yourself in a succession of fond memories embedded in your own history.

Product details

Photographs: 120 cuts (fixed point images)
Dialogue: A conservation on the future of West Shinjuku – Hiroko NAKAYAMA (Mayor of Shinjuku) × Motoo NAKANISHI
Three-way conversation: Options for "West Shinjuku", the skyscraper city – Katsuhiko SHIRAI (president, Waseda University) × Shigeru ITOH (urban planner) × Motoo NAKANISHI
Contributors: Asato IZUMI (columnist), Tetsuo NAITO (chairman, Japan Society for Design Engineering), Osamu ITO (former general manager, Keio Plaza Hotel), Tama MIKAMI (manager, Yodobashi Town Council Cultural Affairs Department for Women), Kozo KONO (vice-president, West Shinjuku 1-Chome Town Council)
Data: The Evolution of West Shinjuku, data on skyscraper design, etc.

DVD – Fixed Point Photographs of West Shinjuku, "The Beating Pulse of West Shinjuku's Skyscraper District", released by World Good Design, Inc.

Two discs: Disc 1 contains a photographic account of West Shinjuku's responses to change over a period of 35 years; Disc 2 contains color excerpts of an 8-image-per-day photographic account of the construction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building.

PAOS reserves all rights to the fixed point photographs of West Shinjuku.
No part of these publications may be reproduced or transmitted in any form (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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