Takenaka Corporation

A corporation whose motto is to create "sustainable architecture" which meets both the demands and expectations of the client/society at large, and to exist in harmony with nature.

Some of the projects that they did include:
The 2010 Shanghai Expo Japanese Pavilion, whose theme was “Harmony of the Hearts, Harmony of the Skills,” with the concept of “architecture like a breathing organism.”It is covered in a double-layered pillow-shaped Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) film and used "ecotubes"-the protruding tubes that are visible in the picture- that allowed for natural sunlight and ventilation into the building. Along with that, it employed technology which made use of rainwater and was overall very eco-friendly.
Personally, I think the "high tech to be green" is a re-occurring theme that is seen quite a lot recently-especially in countries like Japan. However, if I were to consider the costs and energy required to manufacture something of this size, whose only intention is to show off products and ideas-and eventually torn down-is not very useful for our purpose. That being said, I (personal bias in mind) do believe that high tech is a good way to go-just, not like this.

Another project that seemed interesting was the Fukuoka PARCO.
I'll quote the exceptional summary they have given.
"This project entailed earthquake resistance strengthening and interior and exterior refurbishing of an old department store building in the Tenjin area of Fukuoka in order for it to be reused as a new commercial facility. While keeping the vestige of this historical building, a refreshing change has been made to the image. The image has been reformed by using glass to bring a feeling of transparency and uniformity to the existing volume, covered with a design of pure white aluminum panels. The light from LEDs inserted into the panel joints makes various illuminations, such as marking the time of day, or the season of the year. In addition to the earthquake resistance strengthening, such as strengthening the columns with steel sheet bracing, and the installation of steel bracing, safety measures have also been improved, such as the installation of emergency-use elevators and special evacuation stairways."

What I believe is important in this-and I think Wade and Paul have been going at it for a while now too-is that instead of making new architecture on blank ground, we should be reusing structures that are still somewhat stable and to build upon that instead-or we could use airplanes, which is, I think, a superb idea.

Another project is a student's residence for an "International College For Post Buddhist Studies."
It is based on an old samurai residence on the site of the Tokugawa Yoshinobu estate - the name Tokugawa being very important in Japanese history/culture, but that's for another time- it essentially used a similar style to the building before, and created a wonderfully green-lots of trees-campus for living.
In short, very ergonomic, incredibly beautiful, idea of harmonizing with nature and using old building as ready made structures is very interesting.

Of course, for slums, there isn't really any "ruins" that one could use as a ready made structure, and it is rather hard to incorporate high tech into a place with no infrastructure, but, I still think that it is another alternative to the "problem at large."

*To be honest, I still don't have a perfect picture of what it is we are trying to accomplish, but I suppose that just makes it more fun, right?

**Check out their website, if you want, decently cool stuff here
"Release of 'Topics of Major Works - Autumn 2010." Takenaka Corporation. http://www.takenaka.co.jp/takenaka_e/ (accessed 8 December 2010).