An in-depth twelve-page profile interview with architect Osamu Okamura was published in the January 2024 issue of the monthly JIA MAGAZINE NO. 418, the journal of The Japan Institute of Architects.

His personal history and early childhood at Tokyo and Prague public housing projects. Study in the post-communist Eastern European Czechoslovakia, and his own architectural, journalistic, and curatorial practice. Finally, he taught at the Tokyo University of Science as a visiting professor. He focused on more liveable cities and the Tokyo for Everyone project. The text includes also a discussion of the outcomes of his “Tokyo for Everyone” student research & workshop. And the Tokyo Architecture Center concept. The conversation was led by the Editor-in-Chief Taku Sakaushi.

Architects, City Government and Architecture Policy

“In Europe, many architects go into local politics. They work for four years at the municipal level, and go back to architecture practice again. Or they work in the city government planning offices. Or they co-organize architecture competitions for public institutions trying to change things by opening up to the public. London, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Vienna, New York, or Chicago have their public Architecture Centers. I was very surprised to learn that there is no institution like that in the city of Tokyo. In the largest megalopolis in the world!”

“As an architect, I was on the Committee for Urban Planning and Development in one major downtown district of Prague for six years. We were discussing with the developers, investors, and builders every month their projects. We were trying to find a way to balance the public and private interests in these projects.”

Inspirational Dialogue With the Aim of a Better Result

“Surely developers appreciate such professional, transparent, and very individual and project-specific conversations. Yes, some were excited. Also, we were very clear about everything and we studied each project in great detail and complexity. We discussed it very openly. So it didn’t take too much time to get to the best solution. It was transparent, there was always a transcript of the public discussions and what we expected.

And they came back with the second version, sometimes even the third version, fourth version… Certainly, it was a longer process with some. Sometimes we asked them to work harder than they expected. To the mutual benefit. It was based on trust, and always we were trying not to only prevent or prohibit, but to inspire. To initiate, and to support. Because the city needs good, intelligent, experienced, and ethical developers. Now more than ever before.“

The full Japanese-English interview in PDF can be downloaded HERE.