Updated on 2025/12/18

写真a

 
DIMMER, Christian
 
Affiliation
Faculty of International Research and Education, School of International Liberal Studies
Job title
Associate Professor
Degree
Ph.D. (Urban Engineering) ( 2008.01 The University of Tokyo )
Qualified Engineer in Spatial and Environmental Planning (Diplom-Ingenieur Raum- und Umweltplanung) [Master's equivalent]] ( 2001.10 Technical University of Kaiserslautern )
Mail Address
メールアドレス
Profile

Dr. Christian Dimmer is Associate Professor for Urban Studies at Waseda University’s School of International Liberal Studies, where he teaches courses on 'Transition Design', ‘Urban Commons’, ‘Theories of Placemaking and Urban Practice (commonly known as Planning Theory)’. ‘Sustainable Cities and resilient Communities’, 'Politics of Public Space,' as well as ‘Global Urbanism.’

He graduated from the interdisciplinary ‘Spatial and Environmental Planning’ program at the Technical University of Kaierslautern/ Germany with his graduation project comparing different 'cultures of public space' in the USA, Germany and Japan. He was supervised by Prof. Markus NEPPL and Prof. Bernd STREICH and also studied under Alber SPEER *junior*.

Besides his academic work he has cooperated with numerous planning and environmental consultancies in Germany and with architectural firms such as Arata Isozaki and Associates or property developers like Mitsubishi Estate Inc. in Japan. He functioned as urban design and placemaking consultant for large-scale urban regneration schemes in central Tokyo as well as on various new town projects in China. In 2006 he established the architectural and design practice Frontoffice/ Tokyo together with Koen Klinkers, William Galloway, and Erez Golani Solomon.

Christian has earned his PhD in Urban Engineering from the University of Tokyo with his dissertation ‘[Re]negotiating Public Space: a Historical Critique of Modern Public Space in Metropolitan Japan and its Contemporary Re-valuation’ under the supervision of Prof. NISHIMURA Yukio and Prof. KITAZAWA Takeru.

As a JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) post-doctoral research fellow he was affiliated with the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies at the University of Tokyo, where he examined the 'Politics and Contestations of Public Space in post-growth metropolitan Japan'. This project was carried out in cooperation with his research host Prof. YOSHIMI Shunya.

Christian has worked as assistant-professor for Urban Design at the University of Tokyo, where he taught post-graduate courses on 'Advanced Urban Studies' as well as 'Dissertation Writing.'

He is co-founder of the charitable, design-led disaster response organisation, Open Architecture Collaborative｜Tokyo Chapter, the Alliance of Humanitarian Architecture｜Sendai, as well as of the TPF²｜Tohoku Planning Forum, which facilitates the exchange of ideas, projects and initiatives for rebuilding resilient, liveable, sustainable communities in the disaster-hit areas of Tohoku in north-eastern Japan.

Specialties: urbanism, urban theory, planning theory, urban governance, new urban commons, public space, civil society, sustainable cities, adaptive cities, resilient cities, citizen participation

Research Experience

  • 2021.10
    -
    Now

    Waseda University   School of International Liberal Studies   Associate Professor for Transition Design + Urban Studies

    community/ governance innovations, new urban commons

  • 2016.04
    -
    2021.03

    Waseda University   School of International Liberal Studies   Assistant Professor

    renewable energy and community development, new urban commons

  • 2012.04
    -
    2016.03

    The University of Tokyo   Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, Department of Urban Preservation Systems   Assistant Professor

    Research on post-disaster recovery community/ governance innovations, new urban commons, privately owned public spaces (POPS)

  • 2010.10
    -
    2012.03

    The University of Tokyo   Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, Department of Urban Preservation Systems   Specially Appointed Researcher

  • 2008.10
    -
    2010.09

    The University of Tokyo   Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies   Post-doctoral fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

Education Background

  • 2008.10
    -
    2010.09

    The University of Tokyo   Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies   Post-doctoral fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)  

  • 2001.10
    -
    2008.01

    The University of Tokyo   The Graduate School of Engineering   Doctoral Program  

    Laboratory of Urban Design

  • 1995.10
    -
    2001.09

    Technical University of Kaiserslautern   Department of Architecture, Spatial and Environmental Planning, Civil Engineering   Spatial and Environmental Planning Program  

    Qualified Engineer (Spatial and Environmental Planning) [Master's equivalent]

Professional Memberships

  • 2025.01
    -
    Now

    Akira Tamura Memorial - A Town Planning Research Initiative NPO

  • 2021.12
    -
    Now

    Alumni Organisation of "Spatial and Environmental Planning', Technical University of Kaiserlautern

  • 2016.03
    -
    Now

    INURA ー International Network for Urban Research and Action

  • 2011.12
    -
    Now

    Pacific Rim Community Design Network

  • 2010.10
    -
    Now

    German JSPS Alumni Association (Deutsche Gesellschaft der JSPS-Stipendiaten e.V.)

  • 2010.02
    -
    Now

    German Association for Social Science Research on Japan (VSJF Vereinigung für sozialwissenschaftliche Japanforschung e.V))

  • 1998.01
    -
    Now

    Japanese Garden Society Kaiserlautern (Japanischer Garten Kaiserslautern e.V.)

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Research Areas

  • Architectural planning and city planning   Civil Society, Community Empowerment, Participatory Design, Urban Commons, Placemaking, Social Design, Transition Design, Contestations of Public Space

Research Interests

  • Transition Design, Participatory Placemaking, New Urban Commons, Participatory Governance, Community Design, Community Resilience, Empowerment, Capacity Building

Media Coverage

▼display all

 

Papers

  • Tokyo’s Perpetual Resilience Project: Between Local Knowledges and Universal Modernist Concepts

    Christian Dimmer

    in: Barnes, P. ‘Climate Change and Risk Mitigation (Reducing Vulnerabilities & Enhancing Resilience)’, CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International)     144 - 157  2025.11

    Authorship：Lead author

    DOI

  • Tokyo Olympic “Bubble”: The Spatialisation of Corona Politics for and around the 2020 Games

    Christian Dimmer, Erez Golani Solomon

    In Faure, A. (Ed.). : Olympic Games and Global Cities: What Future for an Olympic System in Turmoil? Palgrave Macmillan     63 - 78  2024.07  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Sustainability and Adaptation in Planning: Community Resilience Against Accelerating Environmental Change

    Christian Dimmer, Mark Kammerbauer

    In: Hommerich, C. And Kimura, M. Sustainability in a Fragile World - Approaches from Germany and Japan,  Sophia University Press     95 - 122  2024.07

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Les Jeux catalytiques de Tokyo 2020. Possibilités et difficultés des mouvements de protestation urbains au Japon (The Catalytic Tokyo 2020 Games. Possibilities and Difficulties of Urban Protest Movements in Japan))

    Christian Dimmer

    Savoir/Agir   64 ( 1 ) 105 - 113  2024.06  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Towns in Transition - Regional and Ideological Diversity among Local Climate Protection Projects and Regional Revitalization Efforts in Rural Japan

    Christian Dimmer, Daniel Kremers

    S. Moloney, H. Fünfgeld, M. Granberg (Eds.) Local Action on Climate Change Opportunities and Constraints, Routledge     72 - 91  2019.07  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Tokyo’s modern legacy and the 2020 Olympic Games

    Christian Dimmer, Erez Golani Solomon

    V. Bharne; T. Sandmeier (Eds.) (2019) Routledge Companion to Global Heritage Conservation, Routledge     487 - 500  2019.02  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Miyashita Park, Tokyo: Contested Visions of Public Space in Contemporary Urban Japan

    Christian Dimmer

    Hou, J.; Knierbein, S. (Eds.) (2017) City Unsilenced: Urban Resistance and Public Space in the Age of Shrinking Democracy, Routledge     199 - 213  2017.07  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Japan After March 11th 2011: Between Swift Reconstruction and Sustainable Restructuring

    Christian Dimmer

    Rethinking Resilience, Adaptation and Transformation in a Time of Change     23 - 40  2017.03  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

    DOI

    Scopus

    8
    Citation
    (Scopus)

  • Place-Making Before and After 3.11: The Emergence of Social Design in Post-Disaster, Post-Growth Japan

    Christian Dimmer

    Review of Japanese Culture and Society   28 ( 1 ) 198 - 226  2016.12  [Refereed]  [Invited]  [International journal]

    DOI

  • Evolving Place Governance Innovations and Pluralising Reconstruction Practices in Post-disaster Japan

    Christian Dimmer

    Planning Theory & Practice   15 ( 2 ) 260 - 265  2014.04  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

    DOI

  • Re- imagining public space: the vicissitudes of Japan’s privately owned public spaces

    Christian Dimmer

    Brumann, C., & Schulz, E. (Eds.). (2012). Urban Spaces in Japan: Cultural and Social Perspectives (1st ed.). Routledge.     74 - 105  2012.06  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

    DOI

    Scopus

  • Introduction: Urban Spaces in Japan

    Christoph Brumann, Christian Dimmer, Evelyn Schulz

    Brumann, C., & Schulz, E. (Eds.). (2012). Urban Spaces in Japan: Cultural and Social Perspectives (1st ed.). Routledge     1 - 14  2012.05  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Renegotiating Public Space :: A Historical Critique of Modern Public Space in Metropolitan Japan and its Contemporary Re-valuation

    Christian Dimmer

    Graduation Thesis, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Urban Engineering     1 - 356  2008.01  [Refereed]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Mythos öffentlicher Raum-wie öffentlich muss der Stadtraum der Zukunft noch sein? (Myth Public Space - How public must Urban Spaces be in the Future?))

    Aesche Jens, Christian Dimmer

    Graduation Thesis, Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Department of Architecture, Spatial and Environmental Planning, Civil Engineering     1 - 248  2001.09  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Rhythmic Shinjuku: An attempted Deep Map of Flows and Disruptions

    Christian Dimmer

    Lived Shinjuku: Collected Essays — Urban Experiences 1975–2025     61 - 66  2025.10  [Invited]  [Domestic journal]

    Authorship：Lead author

    　View Summary

    Edited book, Miyazono, Y.; Saito, N.; Nakajima, N.; Hatsuda, K. and Sand, J. (Eds.)

  • Conversation: Life in Tokyo after the Corona Pandemic

    Christian Dimmer, Yu Honma, Hiroto Kobayashi, Daisuke Tanaka, Taku Tanikawa

    Mita Hyoron   89 ( 8-9 ) 10 - 25  2022.08  [Invited]

  • Soziale Resilienz – Lehren / Lernen aus dem internationalen Kontext (Social Resilience - Learning from an international perspective)

    Christian Dimmer, Mark Kammerbauer

    PlanerIn   22-2   21 - 23  2022.04  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author, Corresponding author

  • Assembling Sony's Presence in Ginza

    Christian Dimmer, Erez Golani Solomon

    Proceedings of the 16th International Docomomo Conference, Tokyo Japan 2020+1   4   1412 - 1417  2021.10  [Refereed]  [International journal]  [International coauthorship]

    Authorship：Lead author

    　View Summary

    This paper offers a critical re-evaluation of what is arguably the clearest representation of a Japanese consumer electronic and media corporation in architectural form: the Ginza Sony Building. The paper argues that architect Yoshinobu Ashihara’s 1966 modern master- piece can be seen as a multilayered assemblage through which a number of distinct modernist traditions have evolved. This aspect of the building, we argue, is clearer in the present, ironically, after it has been demolished; in its absence. The building’s status as a modernist icon and, consequently, fame, developed gradually since it was opened. But a series of recent events and the resulting dynamic encouraged us to revisit the building to construct a wider, more satisfying understanding of its value. The renewed relevance of the Sony Build- ing, we know in hindsight, was determined when Tokyo was announced as a host of the 2020 Olympics. That announcement in September 2013 was a catalyst for a chain of events that revealed four distinct ‘evolutions’ in which the iconic building plays a distinct role. We discuss the change over time of: (1.) the emergence and presence of Sony in Ginza; (2.) the employment of modern architectural traditions and ideas; (3.) the linkage between Sony’s flagship products and the building; and (4.) the representations of Sony as an architectural form and how it evolved from building to park and the expected building-park. The paper, then, offers a re-reading of the modernist building as a non-discrete urban assemblage at the intersection of new technologies in consumer electronics, novel architectural ideas, a Post-War nascent consumer society, and, an urban district that transformed because of the 1964 Olympic Games and is currently re-transforming through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The paper recognizes the Sony Building as a relevant object of study and repositions it in the current context. It accounts for the main evolutionary traditions and shows how the building encourages their composition.

  • Bubble Protocol

    Erez Golani Solomon, Christian Dimmer

    Review of Japanese Culture and Society   33/34 ( 1 ) 25 - 40  2021.07  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

    DOI

  • Smart Cities in Asia: Governing Development in the Era of HyperConnectivity. Cities. Edited by Yu-Min Joo and Teck-Boon Tan

    Pacific Affairs, Volume 94, Number 2     401 - 403  2021.07  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Tokyo: Common Matters

    Christian Dimmer, Keigo Kobayashi

    Cuff, D; Loukaitou-Sideris, A; Presner, T.; Zubiaurre, M.; Jae-an Crisman, J. (Eds.) Urban Humanities : New Practices for Reimagining the City     76 - 84  2020.04

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Techniques for Collective Creativity - Technique 4.4: Community Innovation Forum

    Christian Dimmer, Yu Ohtani

    de la Peña, D.; Jones Allen, D.; Hester, R.; Hou, J.; Lawson, L.; McNally, M. (Eds.), Design As Democracy: Techniques fo Collective Creativity, Island Press     122 - 127  2017.12

    Authorship：Lead author

  • 1am-5am: Tokyo, Urban Rhythms and the politics of trains schedule

    Christian Dimmer, Erez Golani Solomon, Brian Morris

    Scapegoat Publishing, Special Issue Night   4   29 - 39  2017.04  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • {Re}assembling Public Space: Evolving Geographies of Contestation, Celebration, and Collaboration in Contemporary Tokyo

    Christian Dimmer

    F. Atsumi (Ed.) OrNamenTTokYo - in/significance of the ‘common’ in Japan, Art-Phil Publishers     33 - 37  2016.11  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Re-use of Former Military Brownfields and Environmental Model Projects in Small Rural Communities in Germany

    Christian Dimmer

    City Planning   64 ( 3 ) 56 - 59  2015.06  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

    CiNii

  • From Laissez-faire and Nonchalance to Noblesse Obligé – Tokyo’s New Corporate Place-Making Paradigm

    Christian Dimmer

    Honda, S.; Radović, D. (Eds.) Measuring the Non-Measurable 07, Mn’M Workbook 3: Future Urban Intensities, Flick Studio     10 - 17  2014.03  [Invited]

  • Kultur, Kommerz, Community – Kunst als Mittel der Stadterneuerung in Japan (Culture, Consumerism, Community – Art as Means for Urban Renewal in Japan)

    Christian Dimmer

    PlanerIn   5   55 - 56  2013.05  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Japan im Spannungsfeld zwischen raschem Wiederaufbau und nachhaltigem Umbau (Japan after 3.11: Between quick reconstruction and sustainable Transformation)

    Christian Dimmer

    Geographische Rundschau   ( 3 ) 4 - 10  2013.03  [Refereed]  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

  • Aesthetic Intelligence: Designing Smart and Beautiful Architectural Spaces

    Kai Kasugai, Carsten Röcker, Bert Bongers, Daniela Plewe, Christian Dimmer

    Lecture Notes in Computer Science     360 - 361  2011.11

    Authorship：Last author

    DOI

    Scopus

    10
    Citation
    (Scopus)

  • Die Welt im Garten : Fachbereich ARUBI möchte Kooperation mit japanischen Universitäten intensivieren (The World in the Garden: Department of Architecture, Spatial and Environmental Planning, Civil Engineering wants to strengthen Cooperation with Japanese Universities))

    Christian Dimmer, Franz Kohorst, Hanns-Stephan Wüst

    Universität Kaiserslautern: Uni-Spectrum. (2000), 2     32 - 33  2000.08  [Invited]

    Authorship：Lead author

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Books and Other Publications

  • Catalytic Mega-Events: Tokyo 2020 and Planetary Urban Transformation

    Filippo Bignami, Christian Dimmer, Erez Golani Solomon, Devena Haggis, Naomi C. Hanakata( Part： Joint editor, Contribution of 2 book chapters as author; editor of sub-section on Tokyo's olympic urban transformation; co-author of introductory essay, co-editor of overall book)

    Transcript Publishing  2026.12 ISBN: 9783837665192

  • Shinjuku: Urban Anthropology of the World's largest Infrastructure Hub (Forthcoming)

    Marco Amati, Brandon Barre, Izumi Kuroishi, Christian Dimmer( Part： Joint author, Joint authorship)

    Palgrave MacMillan  2026.12

  • Common Matters

    Christian Dimmer, Keigo Kobayashi, Ayano Kumazawa, Hyeok Namkung, Haruka Uemura, Wataru Kitaoka, Hayate Watanabe, Nozomu Shiotani, Shun Kuronuma, Wataru Nakanishi, Chen Jiahui, Junko Kawabata, Ryuta Fujii( Part： Joint author, Co-curator, Editor)

    self-published  2017.08

    　View Summary

    Exhibition booklet for an exhibit representing the global city Tokyo at the 2017 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (Imminent Commons: Commoning Cities).

    We surveyed the Yanaka area in line with the exhibition theme of introducing examples of Tokyo’s commons. In the city of Tokyo, filled with the paint-by-numbers of private and public land, people have forgotten that they can change the environment they find themselves in by being a part of it. In the Yanaka area, there are a number of activities that are an extension of personal life and hobby activities, which cross the boundaries and build a number of loose relationships to form a bottom-up living environment. What each of them picked up as a resource were the seemingly “ordinary” things in their lives.

  • Living Together - Living in a community; Sweden’s Collective Housing

    Christian Dimmer, Aiko Okazaki, Emiko Ura, Rieko Shiraki, Yumiko Ito, Yu Wada, Yoshie Sakamoto, Yumiko Yanagisawa( Part： Joint author, Editorial team, segment author)

    Collective Housing Study Group  2016.12

  • This is Collective Housing! 12 Years Collective Housing Kankanmori

    Collective House, Kankanmori Residents' Association, Mori no Kaze( Part： Joint editor, Contribution of two chapters and joint editing)

    2014.11 ISBN: 9784810708141

  • Planning for sustainable Asian cities : APSA 11th International Congress - Selected Papers

    Christian Dimmer, Yukio Nishimura( Part： Edit, Selection of best papers, editing of submission, compilation of the volume)

    The University of Tokyo  2012.03

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Presentations

  • Co-creating the City as a Commons

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    International symposium 'Design + Commons', Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia 

    Presentation date： 2025.10

    Event date：
    2025.10
    　
    　

  • Reflections on Rural Regeneration in Japan and Germany

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    Panel discussion: ‘Rural Revitalisation by Creative Industries in Germany and Japan’Pavilion of the Federal Republic of Germany'. Pavilion of the Federal Republic of Germany, Osaka EXPO 2025 

    Presentation date： 2025.10

    Event date：
    2025.10
    　
    　

  • ‘Convening Publics, Fomenting Change: Catalytic Role of Creative Practices in Times of Accelerating Change II

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    International Colloquium – Tokyo meeting: Takayama Akira: Performance, Social Change and Preparing for the Japanese Future 

    Presentation date： 2025.05

    Event date：
    2025.05
    　
    　

  • Convening Publics, Fomenting Change: Catalytic Role of Creative Practices in Times of Accelerating Change I

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    International Colloquium – New York meeting: Takayama Akira - Evacuation-Performace, Social Change the Japanese Future 

    Presentation date： 2024.11

    Event date：
    2024.11
    　
    　

  • Smart and Ethical Cities through Smart Citizens

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    Panel discussion 'Smart City wird Wirklichkeit. Konzeption und Planung unserer nachhaltigen Städte der Zukunft (Smart Cities becoming a Reality: Conception and Planning of sustainable Future Cities)', DJW (Japanese/German Business Association / 日独産業協会), Nagatacho 

    Presentation date： 2023.11

    Event date：
    2023.11
    　
    　

  • Towards ‘Deep Adaptation’ and Community Resilience in post-3.11 Japan: The Onagawa Case

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    Post Disaster Reconstruction: Learning from Japan  (Beirut)  American University of Beirut, School of Architecture and Design

    Presentation date： 2022.04

  • Deep Adaptation, Community Resilience and Sustainability - Examining Emergent Bottom up Placemaking in post-disaster Japan

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    (University of Illinois, Japan House)  University of Illinois, Japan House, Designing Everyday Life in Modern Japan Course, Instructor: Chris Palmieri

    Presentation date： 2022.04

    　View Summary

    What is the purpose of urban design and placemaking? What is our 'endgame'? What are the big objectives, every individual design project should address? The presentation outlines the planetary crisis the world is facing - resource depletion, climate change, migration crises, geo-political conflict - and it argues that placemaking plays a crucial role for tackling global challenges, locally. What are the ontological and practical implications for designing sustainability transitions? After outlining some theoretical implications and discussing possible benchmarks as metrics for meaningful transition design projects, the presentation examines the example of the emergent, participatory placemaking practice in Onagawa, Miyagi prefecture, and tries to draw concrete lessons for wider, global debates on sustainability transitions.

  • Deep Adaptation, Resilience and Sustainability - The Rise of Bottom up Placemaking in post-disaster Japan

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    Guest lecture: National University of Singapore - Course Urban Design Theory and Practice  National University of Singapore, College of Design and Engineering

    Presentation date： 2022.03

    　View Summary

    Linking the concepts of resilience and sustainability for deep adaptation to climate change. For facilitating sustainability transitions and community resilience participatory planning plays a key role.

  • ❒³ LE Minimal Shelter Space: Proposals for Providing Individual Shelters for Evacuation Centers in Japan

    Christian Dimmer, Liz Maly, Astrid Klein, Yoshinori Abe, Hideki Konno  [Invited] [International coauthorship]

    "❒³LE: Minimal Shelter Space" International Competition, Final Jury  (Sendai, Sendai Forus)  Alliance for Humanitarian Architecture

    Presentation date： 2022.01

    Event date：
    2022.01
    　
    　

  • Facilitating community-to-community Learning: Rural Revitalisation in German and Japan

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    European Innovation CoCreation  (Taipei)  European Innovation CoCreation

    Presentation date： 2022.01

  • Assembling Collective Housing in Urban Japan

    Christian Dimmer  [Invited]

    European Innovation CoCreation  (Taipei)  European Innovation CoCreation

    Presentation date： 2021.12

    　View Summary

    Presenting the emergence and assemblage of new collective forms of living in urban Japan.

  • Bubble Protocol - The Spatialisation of Corona Politics

    Christian Dimmer, Erez Golani Solomon  [Invited] [International coauthorship]

    International Conference: Olympic Games and Global Cities  (Paris)  Co-organised by the Fondation France-Japon de l'EHESS, Kyoto Seika University, the Campus Condorcet and the Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris. With the support of the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Paris Nord, Toshiba International Foundation (TIFO).

    Presentation date： 2021.11

    Event date：
    2021.11
    -
    2021.12

    　View Summary

    The Olympic and Paralympic programs took place in 43 venues, primarily in Tokyo and vicinity. Some of the venues were built for the Olympic games from scratch while others, existing arenas, buildings and sites, went through slight modification so that they could be used for the competitions. The construction of all venues was completed before the originally designated start of the games in July 2020. These Olympic venues were mostly ‘waiting’ during the postponement period. But that wasn’t, after all, the end of construction. The later decision in early March 2021 to conduct the Olympic games in a “bubble” form encouraged a second wave of construction projects, at the perimeters of these Olympic venues. Our lecture will show how the construction of an Olympic “bubble” and the promises associated with it allowed decision-makers to stand against a growing pressure to cancel the games. The “bubble” system was, for the decision-makers, a way to demonstrate to an increasingly wary public in Japan that the organisers would be able to contain a possible Olympic sick cluster and prevent the spread of the new delta virus variant into the larger Japanese population, and then, its territory. It was, at the same time, an assurance presented to an anxious world public that the Olympics would not turn into a global superspreader event. The “bubble” system allowed the highest-level Japanese government officials to assure safety through strict spatial separation. The “bubble” construction project directly reflects a position of the Japanese government in its attempt to cope with a global pandemic and is, therefore, highly political. It is “invested with tasks of social control” and reflects an architecturalization of politics. It functions as yet another instance of the Covid-19 ‘lockdown legacy’. The temporary constructions demonstrate how ideas of strict quarantine and safety protocol translated into architectural means.

  • The Spatialisation of Corona Politics during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

    Christian Dimmer, Erez Golani Solomon  [Invited] [International coauthorship]

    Project TOT City - Tokyo Olympics 2020: Transformations, City and Citizenship in a Case Study  (Embassy of Switzerland in Japan)  University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), University of Tsukuba (TIAS), National University of Singapore, New York University.

    Presentation date： 2021.11

    Event date：
    2021.11
    　
    　

    　View Summary

    The Olympic and Paralympic programs took place in 43 venues, primarily in Tokyo and vicinity. Some of the venues were built for the Olympic games from scratch while others, existing arenas, buildings and sites, went through slight modification so that they could be used for the competitions. The construction of all venues was completed before the originally designated start of the games in July 2020. These Olympic venues were mostly ‘waiting’ during the postponement period. But that wasn’t, after all, the end of construction. The later decision in early March 2021 to conduct the Olympic games in a “bubble” form encouraged a second wave of construction projects, at the perimeters of these Olympic venues. Our lecture will show how the construction of an Olympic “bubble” and the promises associated with it allowed decision-makers to stand against a growing pressure to cancel the games. The “bubble” system was, for the decision-makers, a way to demonstrate to an increasingly wary public in Japan that the organisers would be able to contain a possible Olympic sick cluster and prevent the spread of the new delta virus variant into the larger Japanese population, and then, its territory. It was, at the same time, an assurance presented to an anxious world public that the Olympics would not turn into a global superspreader event. The “bubble” system allowed the highest-level Japanese government officials to assure safety through strict spatial separation. The “bubble” construction project directly reflects a position of the Japanese government in its attempt to cope with a global pandemic and is, therefore, highly political. It is “invested with tasks of social control” and reflects an architecturalization of politics. It functions as yet another instance of the Covid-19 ‘lockdown legacy’. The temporary constructions demonstrate how ideas of strict quarantine and safety protocol translated into architectural means.

  • Corporate Branding Center: Assembling Sony's Presence in Ginza

    Christian Dimmer, Erez Golani Solomon[International coauthorship]

    16th International Docomomo Conference Tokyo Japan 2020+1  (Tokyo)  DoCoMoMo Japan

    Presentation date： 2021.09

    Event date：
    2021.08
    -
    2021.09

    　View Summary

    This paper offers a critical re-evaluation of what is arguably the clearest representation of a Japanese consumer electronic and media corporation in architectural form: the ‘Ginza Sony Building’. The paper argues that architect Yoshinobu Ashihara’s 1966 modern masterpiece could be seen as a multilayered assemblage through which a number of distinct modernist traditions have evolved. This aspect of the building, we argue, consolidates more clearly in the present, ironically, only after it has been demolished - in its absence. The building’s status as a modernist icon and, consequently, fame developed gradually since it was opened. But it is a series of recent events and the resulting dynamic that encourages us to revisit the building, with the aim of constructing a wider, more satisfying understanding of its value. The renewed relevance of the ‘Sony Building’, we know in hindsight, was determined when Tokyo was announced as a host for the 2020 Olympics. That announcement in September 2013 was a catalyst for a chain of events that reveals four distinct ‘evolutions’ in which the iconic building plays a distinct role. We discuss the change over time of: [1.] the emergence and presence of Sony in Ginza, [2.] the employment of modern architectural traditions and ideas, [3.]the linkage between Sony’s flagship products and the building, and [4.] the representations of Sony as an architectural form and how it evolved from ‘building’ to ‘park’ and to the expected ‘building-park’. The paper, then, offers a re-reading of the modernist building as non-discrete urban assemblage at the intersection of new technologies for consumer electronics, novel architectural ideas, a Post-War nascent consumer society, and, an urban district that transformed because of the 1964 Games and is currently re-transforming through the Tokyo Olympics. The paper recognizes ‘Sony Building’ as a relevant object of study and repositions it in the current context. It accounts for the main evolutionary traditions and shows how the building encourages their composition.

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Research Projects

  • Mapping Local Climate Protection and Regional Development Projects

    Auswärtige Amt der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Foreign Office, The Federal Republik of Germany)  Klima Fond (Dialogue for Climate Action fund), internal grant, competitive between all German embassies world wide, officially submitted through the German Embassy Tokyo

    Project Year :

    2016.01
    -
    2016.12
     

    Shikibu Oishi, Franz Waldenberger, Christian Dimmer, Daniel Kremers

  • Emerging new governance models and community innovations in post-disaster Japan

    self-sponsored  self-sponsored

    Project Year :

    2011.03
    -
    2016.03
     

    Christian Dimmer, Jan Lindenberg, Renata Piazza, Marieluise Jonas, Hiroko Otsuka, Shunsuke Hirose, Gesa Neuert

  • Climate Protection— Chances for Regional and Local Development

    Auswärtige Amt der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Foreign Office, The Federal Republik of Germany)  Klima Fond (Dialogue for Climate Action fund), internal grant, competitive between all German embassies world wide, officially submitted through the German Embassy Tokyo

    Project Year :

    2015.01
    -
    2015.12
     

    Shikibu Oishi, Franz Waldenberger, Christian Dimmer, Daniel Kremers

  • Research of integrated preservation planning for scattered Buddhist heritages and their surrounding region

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)

    Project Year :

    2012.04
    -
    2015.03
     

    Nishimura Yukio, Kubota Aya, Nagase Setsuji, Kurose Takefumi, Christian Dimmer

    　View Summary

    The study clarified following three points mainly by field surveys and literature reviews in Lumbini and its surrounding area including the northern India. 1) The history of Buddhist ruins, 2) the conservation effort and its evaluation through the progress of Kenzo Tange’s master plan in 1970s by United Nations and local regulations such as land-use control and building permission, and 3) the contemporary challenges, which Buddhist ruins have faced. Combining these findings, the study constructed a comprehensive conservation method for the Buddhist ruins and surrounding areas as a conclusion.

  • Mega Events and Global Cities

    self-sponsored  self-sponsored

    Project Year :

    2013.09
    -
    　
     

    Christian Dimmer, Erez Golani Solomon

  • Inventorising Tokyo’s Privately Owned Public Spaces

    The University of Tokyo, Global Centre of Excellence GCOE, Center of Sustainable Urban Regeneration CSUR, Section D  internal grant-in-aid, competitive

    Project Year :

    2011.04
    -
    2013.04
     

    Takefumi Kurose, Christian Dimmer

  • Urban Commons, Community Innovations and Social Resilience for Deep Adaptation

    self-sponsored  self-sponsored

    Project Year :

    2013.01
    -
    　
     

  • A Political Economy of New Public Space in Urban Japan between Public Process and Private Influence

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows

    Project Year :

    2008
    -
    2010
     

    Yoshimi Shunya, Christian Dimmer

  • Renegotiating Public Space – A Historical Critique of Modern Public Space in Metropolitan Japan and its Contemporary Re-valuation

    Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology  Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship

    Project Year :

    2001.10
    -
    2004.09
     

    Christian Dimmer

  • Studying concepts of public space and surveying or new types of urban public space

    DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst)  Studienpraktika in Japan (Student internships in Japan)

    Project Year :

    1998.10
    -
    1999.03
     

    Christian Dimmer

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Syllabus

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Teaching Experience

  • Urban Studies, Transition Design, Place-making Theories and Urban Practices, Public and Private in the City, Urban Studies Methods, Thesis Supervision

    Waseda University, School of International Liberals Studies  

    2021.10
    -
    Now
     

  • Urban Studies, Transition Design, Place-making Theories and Urban Practices, Public and Private in the City

    Waseda University, School of International Liberal Studies  

    2016.04
    -
    2021.03
     

  • Urban Design Theories, Bachelor's, Master's, Ph.D Thesis Supervision

    The University of Tokyo, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, Department of Urban Preservation Systems  

    2012.04
    -
    2016.03
     

  • Urban Design Theories

    Keio University, Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies  

    2015.10
    -
    2016.09
     

  • Urban Commons, Modern Modulations of Public and Private in Urban Japan

    Sophia University, Faculty of Liberal Arts  

    2014.10
    -
    2016.09
     

  • Global Urbanism, Public and Private in the City, Sustainable Cities and Architecture

    Waseda University, School of International Liberal Studies  

    2010.10
    -
    2016.03
     

  • Urban Research Methods, Supervising Master's and PhD researches

    The University of Tokyo, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, Department of Urban Preservation Systems  

    2010.10
    -
    2012.03
     

  • 3.11 Design Studio: Post-disaster architecture and Urbanism

    Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design  

    2011.08
    -
    2011.10
     

  • Teaching Landscape Design Studios, Organising a study tour to Japan for Faculty of Architecture, Urban and Environmental Planning, Civil Engineering

    Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Faculty of Architecture, Urban and Environmental Planning, Civil Engineering, Laboratory of Green Space Planning  

    1999.04
    -
    2001.09
     

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Social Activities

  • Alliance for Humanitarian Architecture

    Senior Advisor 

    2016.01
    -
    Now

  • Open Architecture Collaborative, Tokyo Chapter

    Co-Founder, Co-Director 

    2016.03
    -
    2018.03

  • Tohoku Planning Forum, TPF2

    Co-Founder, Co-Director  （Tokyo, Ishinomaki, Kesennuma, Rikuzentakata） 

    2011.11
    -
    2016.12

  • Architecture for Humanity, Tokyo Chapter

    Co-Founder, Co-Director 

    2011.06
    -
    2016.03

  • Teach 3.11

    Multimedia Editor  Teach 3.11 website 

    2011.03
    -
    2012.03

  • #Quakebook

    Member of translator team for the German Issue of the book 

    2011.03
    -
    2011.06

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Sub-affiliation

  • Faculty of Science and Engineering   Graduate School of Creative Science and Engineering