PROTO-ARCHITECTURE

Mr. Miyama owns a development company that builds residential developments throughout the Tokyo area.  After traveling in the United States, and touring projects like the Southside on Lamar in Dallas, Mr. Miyama became intrigued with renovation of old buildings.  Japanese developers weren’t renovating buildings at the time, prefering to demolish and start from scratch, and he saw an opportunity.  By redeveloping older buildings, he was able to reduce his construction costs and offer his new product at a very competitive price.  He also took stock of the state of Japanese residential design, which largely lacks any distict detailing or stylization, had no communal space or sense of entry.  He would design his apartments to create a sense of interest in their form, and incorporate resort-style entries, common rooms and even private courtyards.  While much of this reduces the amount of net rentable space, his occupancy rates are much higher than that of his competitors, utlimately netting more profit in the long run.