from Patrick McKenzie | by Patrick McKenzie

Ariake Garden, a newer but not particularly extraordinary mall development in Tokyo, has a solarpunk aesthetic that I thought many folks would like:

“Solarpunk aesthetic?” You could have a flat surface or you could have a plant or water feature. Choose to not just default to flat surfaces.

The fifth floor has a nice participatory water fountain area with greenery in it, which kids play in, drawing in their parents to do shopping before and after. One of the more thoughtful commercial developments I’ve seen in Tokyo.

“Why don’t more developers do this?” The OpEx for the plants and water features knocks probably tens of millions in the US, and millions in Japan, off the value of the development, and so you have to have a bit of vision to do it. (An example of “the will to have nice things.”)

Interestingly the developer maintains a real estate sales office here, which I suspect gives them a bit of skin in the game on making it obviously a destination location instead of “merely” a competently executed commercial space in Tokyo.