Since the Sony Building, built in 1966 in Tokyo‘s Ginza shopping district by architect Yoshinobu Ashihara, was demolished four years ago to make way for a new showcase structure of the electronics behemoth, the location’s subterranean car park has seen a series of transformations. From cool retail to edgy cultural events, Sony Ginza Park has pulled an in-the-know demographic to its doorstep, and the venue’s latest iteration is no different. Launched today, Sony Park Mini is a 30 sqm. (323 sq.ft.) experimental pop-up space, designed by Tokyo-based practice The Archetype and situated in the underground car park, hosting a varied programme of events with creatives from a diverse number of fields. The programme kicks off with None Session, an open jam session series with musician Ayatake Ezaki who will play the piano that’s installed at the space. Visitors are invited to come to the space and bring an instrument of their own. Mind you, recordings (max. 15 seconds) can be made on the spot, and Ezaki will select one recording every day to which he’ll add his own piano score (on through Tue – Apr 5). And that’s not all. Sony Park Mini comes with an adjacent coffee parlour, aptly dubbed Nishi Ginza Parking Coffee, which serves a wide range of coffee concoctions and hot/iced cocoa and lemonade, in addition to doughnuts, cookies and nutritious CENZ bars. Following this month and in April events are to be staged with artist Takuro Tamayama, painter Chiaki Kadota, and last but not least, film director Neo Sora and movie curator Aiko Masabuchi.
Sony Park Mini
5-3-1 Ginza, Level B1F (Ginza)
Tokyo 104-0061
Daily 11am-7pm (coffee shop: 8am-6pm)
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
