Blowtorched mackerel, upscale downtown baths, shopping malls for supergeeks, gourmet chicken skewers, raw beef sushi, art in a shipping container and a story by Banana Yoshimoto... Get lost in the city of neon lights and cherry blossoms.

LOST iN Tokyo is—
68 technicolour pages filled with tips on:
Eating
Drinking
Shopping
Partying
Outdoor activities & wellness

> Includes 5 long-form interviews with celebrated locals on their relationship with Tokyo and their absolute favourite spots there

> A selection of the hottest places to visit in two of the city’s most charismatic neighbourhoods
> A selection of our top picks for the entire city

> An in-depth report on the infamous Yakuza and their link to Tokyo
> An enigmatic photo showcase by Masataka Nakano
> An original piece of fiction by internationally-renowned author Banana Yoshimoto

> Shopping guide
> Recommended books, films & music to get you in the Tokyo state of mind

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Paperback
Size: 21cm x 16cm x 0.6cm

a+u 2020:05

Architecture of Hope: 30 years of European Architecture – EU Mies Award

The a+u May 2020 issue features the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award (EU Mies Award). Its organizer, the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, was founded in 1983 during the reconstruction of the Barcelona Pavilion (1929). The EU Mies Award has been held biennially since 1988 and marked its 16th edition in 2019. The issue covers all the shortlisted works and the Jury proceedings of each edition that were curated together with Ivan Blasi, an architect and a coordinator of the award at the Mies Foundation, along with an essay by Angelica Fitz, one of the jury members in 2019. Additionally, the issue features another initiative of Mies Foundation, the Art Intervention at the Barcelona Pavilion. 8 works are highlighted here and supported with an essay by architectural historian, Dietrich Neumann. Finally, through the collection of more than 500 works recorded since the construction of the Pavilion in 1929, we are able to trace the trends and discussions of the “European architecture” that have continued since more than 90 years ago till today.

English + Japanese / 192 Pages / 219 x 292 mm / 650 g

a+u 2020:04
Computational Discourses

This issue of a+u examines the application of computational design and digital fabrication across a spectrum of scales – from a free-form high-rise exoskeleton, to bio-mimetic wearables for the body, to the printed structure of a nonstandard brick – taking its conceptual cues from Charles and Ray Eames’ 1977 film, Powers of Ten. Selected here are 14 projects by individuals and entities working in cross-disciplinary ways, that suggest what “thinking digitally” can do with the means of our present time.

For each of the issue’s projects, the shaping and organizing of various materials, via computational methods, serve as our starting points. Supporting them are texts by Jenny E. Sabin, Patrik Schumacher, and Achim Menges. Through the relationships drawn from this iterative collection of work, we hope to make the unfamiliar more familiar, and to provoke questions about the relationship between natural systems, digital technology, and the shaping of the material environment.

English + Japanese / 176 Pages / 219 x 292 mm / 640 g

a+u 2020:02 
Feature: Toshiko Mori

The February issue of a+u is our first monograph dedicated to the architectural practice of Toshiko Mori. Based in New York, the Japanese native founded Toshiko Mori Architect (TMA) in 1981. The introductory essay by Fred A. Bernstein, an architecture journalist, demonstrates her design approach and her keen eye for detail. Mori’s works are the result of an in-depth study of the site’s topography, vegetation, and landscape, as pointed out by Edward Eigen, a historian and scholar of European and Anglo-American landscapes in the long nineteenth century. Mori’s designs reflect a sensitive integration of design, materials, and technology with the site. In addition, Sean Kelly, one of Mori’s clients and an art gallery owner, speaks about the process of collaboration with Mori. 18 representative works after 2000, of which 9 are residences, are featured in this issue, alongside site photographs and survey maps.

To Mori, teaching is always in parallel with her practice. Her essay illustrates her career in architectural academia and the several initiatives she introduced while being a faculty member at various prestigious architecture institutions, including the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD).

a+u 2020:01 
Feature: SuperNormal Architecture in the Netherlands 2010–2020

In this issue, together with guest editor Kirsten Hannema, Chief Editor of the nai010 Yearbook Architecture in the Netherlands, we will take a look at the last 10 years of Dutch architecture discourse. Previously, in our a+u 12:01 issue (Architecture in the Netherlands 2000–2011), which highlighted the country’s architecture scene right after the global financial crisis in 2008, the construction industry faced a slowdown. What we saw then, as “typically” Dutch, has gradually faded. Looking away from the “SuperDutch” stigma, we now see projects combining broader social issues, and taking on new forms of cultural energy. Yet, compared to the superstar generation that preceded them, these architects and their projects often go unnoticed. Therefore, in this issue, 19 projects are selected and placed into 3 themes to introduce a new attitude on today’s architecture in the Netherlands – the “SuperNormal”.

The 3 themes: “Reshaping the Polder” looks into pilot projects that rethink the sustainability of our construction practice. “Tabula Scripta” introduces transformation projects exploring how we rebuild under pre-existing conditions. “After the NAi” presents a body of public projects built during the period after 2012 when the national budget was cut. Each theme is accompanied by an essay written by Bob Witman, Jarrik Ouburg, and Sergio M Figueiredo, respectively. Finally, Floris Alkemade, Chief Government Architect of the Netherlands, shares with us in an interview about his reflections, actions, and predictions on the country’s architectural setting.

Thanks to Eelco Van Welie, Director of nai010 publishers, for his support, and to the authors and the architects who contributed to this issue.

THE SCENT OF BOYS

Guest Editors
Victor Fan & Earl Jackson

Issue 7 is dedicated to the Scent of Boys. Film does not convey scent directly, though it is embedded in our embodied relationship with the cinematographic image through insinuation, imagination, synesthesia, memory, and physical immersion into the smell of the movie theater. The moment those patches of light and shadow on screen hit our retinas, the cinematographic image is generated as a consciousness: a milieu that we can see, hear, touch, and smell. Moreover, smell stimulates erotic sensations and longing; it gives body to our desire. In this Issue, filmmakers, artists, and scholars ruminate upon scent in Asian cinemas and the way olfactory memories have informed their same-sex desires, creativity, and research. Through words, images, and scents, this Issue seeks to engage the readers in an affective environment, bringing to light this oft-overlooked aspect of our cinematic experience.

Victor Fan is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, King’s College London, UK. Film Consultant for the Chinese Visual Festival. His articles have appeared in journals including Camera Obscura, Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Screen, and Film History. Author of Cinema Approaching Reality: Locating Chinese Film Theory and Extraterritoriality: Locating Hong Kong Cinema and Media.

Earl Jackson is Prof. Emeritus from UC Santa Cruz, USA. Currently Chair Professor, Asia University, Taiwan. Author of Strategies of Deviance: Studies in Gay Male Representation, and numerous essays on sexuality and Japanese and Korean Cinema. He has worked in the Korean independent film industry as a screenwriter, editor, dramaturg, and actor.

a+u 2019:06 
Diller Scofidio + Renfro

This issue of a+u is our first monograph dedicated to Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), a New York-based interdisciplinary design studio founded in 1981 by Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio.

Despite their initial interest in remaining independent from the architecture profession, DS+R have managed to enter and challenge it on their own terms. Today, with partners Charles Renfro and Benjamin Gilmartin, DS+R’s critical approach to their work remains the same—prioritizing the designing and “democratization” of space for the public.