I skuggan av Tokyos skyskrapor - En studie av yokochoer
(2025) AAHM01 20251Department of Architecture and Built Environment
- Abstract
- Tokyo - the largest city in the world, full of skyscrapers, huge train stations, and large department stores. But in their shadows, in the tiny alleyways lined with bars and restaurants - one can find some of the most interesting aspects of the city. This thesis investigates Tokyo’s tiny alleyways that are remnants of the black markets that emerged throughout the city after the Second World War.
These alleyways are called yokochos and are places where the small scale is taken to the extreme, with alleys often not wider than a meter or two and with restaurants with only a few seats along a bar counter. They are fascinating places that captivate me as well as many others in Tokyo. Yet they lack many of the qualities we often would use to... (More) - Tokyo - the largest city in the world, full of skyscrapers, huge train stations, and large department stores. But in their shadows, in the tiny alleyways lined with bars and restaurants - one can find some of the most interesting aspects of the city. This thesis investigates Tokyo’s tiny alleyways that are remnants of the black markets that emerged throughout the city after the Second World War.
These alleyways are called yokochos and are places where the small scale is taken to the extreme, with alleys often not wider than a meter or two and with restaurants with only a few seats along a bar counter. They are fascinating places that captivate me as well as many others in Tokyo. Yet they lack many of the qualities we often would use to describe good architecture, they are narrow and cramped, often dark and dirty spaces. And with an architecture that is simple, and that emerged more than it was being planned.
By carefully studying yokochos through theory and repeated field studies, I wanted to find out which architectural qualities these spaces have that make them so fascinating, qualities often overlooked when we value architecture. It led to a discussion about tiny scale, emergent architecture, aesthetics and social architecture based on my research about yokochos. I also studied the yokochos that have emerged in the recent years, the so-called neo-yokochos, to compare them with the yokochos originating from the postwar black markets, to better understand what is essential to create the architectural and social qualities of a yokocho. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9207455
- author
- Kümin, Leonard LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- AAHM01 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9207455
- date added to LUP
- 2025-07-01 13:48:32
- date last changed
- 2025-07-01 13:48:32
@misc{9207455,
abstract = {{Tokyo - the largest city in the world, full of skyscrapers, huge train stations, and large department stores. But in their shadows, in the tiny alleyways lined with bars and restaurants - one can find some of the most interesting aspects of the city. This thesis investigates Tokyo’s tiny alleyways that are remnants of the black markets that emerged throughout the city after the Second World War.
These alleyways are called yokochos and are places where the small scale is taken to the extreme, with alleys often not wider than a meter or two and with restaurants with only a few seats along a bar counter. They are fascinating places that captivate me as well as many others in Tokyo. Yet they lack many of the qualities we often would use to describe good architecture, they are narrow and cramped, often dark and dirty spaces. And with an architecture that is simple, and that emerged more than it was being planned.
By carefully studying yokochos through theory and repeated field studies, I wanted to find out which architectural qualities these spaces have that make them so fascinating, qualities often overlooked when we value architecture. It led to a discussion about tiny scale, emergent architecture, aesthetics and social architecture based on my research about yokochos. I also studied the yokochos that have emerged in the recent years, the so-called neo-yokochos, to compare them with the yokochos originating from the postwar black markets, to better understand what is essential to create the architectural and social qualities of a yokocho.}},
author = {{Kümin, Leonard}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{I skuggan av Tokyos skyskrapor - En studie av yokochoer}},
year = {{2025}},
}