Japanese architecture on display in Toronto

The Toronto Design Exchange has curated a new exhibition called Parallel Nippon, showcasing the best in contemporary Japanese architecture.

More than a hundred buildings, built between 1996 and 2006, will be presented in audio and video, including the Tokyo National Museum by Toshiharu Kitajima, the Sendai Mediatheque by Nakasa & Partners Inc., and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa by SANAA, creators of this year's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London.

Co-organized by the Architectural Institute of Japan and the Japan Foundation, the exhibition traces how the country's design and architecture have transitioned from economically thriving times to the post-'bubble' period.

" Parallel Nippon is built around the idea of contrast," explained the organizers. "Expanding metropolises versus local communities plagued by declining birthrates, grand cultural facilities with an international focus versus small but sensitive community facilities for local children or for the local elderly, and so forth."

Parallel Nippon: Contemporary Japanese Architecture 1996 - 2006 runs from November 10 through January 11 at the Design Exchange (DX) at 234 Bay Street, Toronto.

The Design Exchange is Canada's leading design center.

Site: dx.org