Shinkenchiku's work reflects a long tradition and passion for setting, rather than following, trends in architectural publishing. Being invited to edit an issue of a+u magazine is a great honor for me, and I am especially excited about the publisher's request that I help explore two new developments - a+u moving from a predominantly design-driven perspective toward research-driven content, and its shift in focus from an architectural to an urban sensibility and scale. And, while foreigners typically guest-edit a+u issues devoted to their cultures, I was invited to focus on Tokyo. That recognition of my ways of dealing with this amazing city feels precious. Over the years of living and working in Japan I have learned to treasure cultural difference, the very quality that has inspired my move to Japan. Both my everyday life and my research are interaction- and dialogue-based, aiming to open up, rather than tamp down, cultural distance. I enjoy radical otherness, as encapsulated in the name of my research laboratory at Keio University: co+labo (2009-2021) and co+re.place, our new international, collaborative platform. Our ethos and praxis cherish "the dignity of bearing the + sign, that of joy, happiness, enjoyment, of sensuality - the sign of life", the sign that we share with a+u.
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