"Eviction" became the byword for many of Tokyo's established contemporary art galleries as they crisscrossed the city seeking cheaper rents, often one step ahead of the wrecking ball. But finally last fall, the landscape shifted with the opening of two permanent art facilities backed by corporations with a modern taste for old-style art patronage. more...

For those familiar with the early career of Shigeru Ban, works that come to mind are those introducing paper tubes as a substitute for wooden structural elements. His vision transformed this simple element into a tool to realize spatial creations of great impact but modest economic means, and is still a symbol of his ability to focus on the inherent properties of materials to structure new spaces. more...