Alejandro Pineda
@pinedaalejandro.bsky.social
PhD Architect and urban planner. My research focuses on shrinking cities and place attachment in Japan.
https://linktr.ee/Pinedaalejandrojuan
https://linktr.ee/Pinedaalejandrojuan
I am reading "Preserving with Purpose: Reimagining Buildings for Community Benefit, by Amy Hetletvedt." A great reflection on the value of reactivating abandoned buildings through narratives, and the power of everyday places to foster neighborhood regeneration.
📚 #weeklyreading #placemaking
📚 #weeklyreading #placemaking
November 21, 2025 at 10:37 AM
I am reading "Preserving with Purpose: Reimagining Buildings for Community Benefit, by Amy Hetletvedt." A great reflection on the value of reactivating abandoned buildings through narratives, and the power of everyday places to foster neighborhood regeneration.
📚 #weeklyreading #placemaking
📚 #weeklyreading #placemaking
I've just gotten my hands on "Yatai Dancing in Japanese Towns." It is a captivating exploration of Japan's street food cart culture through a multidisciplinary lens. A thoughtful reflection with stunning visuals on how yatai contribute to shaping urban spaces.
📚 #weeklyreading #Yatai #Placemaking
📚 #weeklyreading #Yatai #Placemaking
November 13, 2025 at 8:17 AM
I've just gotten my hands on "Yatai Dancing in Japanese Towns." It is a captivating exploration of Japan's street food cart culture through a multidisciplinary lens. A thoughtful reflection with stunning visuals on how yatai contribute to shaping urban spaces.
📚 #weeklyreading #Yatai #Placemaking
📚 #weeklyreading #Yatai #Placemaking
『新版 日本のまちで屋台が踊る』を買いました。日本の屋台文化を多角的に探求した一冊です。屋台の店主へのインタビューと、文化人類学、社会学、都市史からの考察を収録。屋台が都市空間にどう寄与するか、美しいビジュアルで考察しています。
📚 #weeklyreading #Yatai #Placemaking
📚 #weeklyreading #Yatai #Placemaking
November 13, 2025 at 8:15 AM
『新版 日本のまちで屋台が踊る』を買いました。日本の屋台文化を多角的に探求した一冊です。屋台の店主へのインタビューと、文化人類学、社会学、都市史からの考察を収録。屋台が都市空間にどう寄与するか、美しいビジュアルで考察しています。
📚 #weeklyreading #Yatai #Placemaking
📚 #weeklyreading #Yatai #Placemaking
I recently bought "Well-Being in Japan" by Atsushi Miura. His books on suburbanization, "fast-foodification," and "spongification" were invaluable for my thesis. This latest work examines post-growth society, climate change, and AI—and how they're reshaping urban living.
#weeklyreading #japan
#weeklyreading #japan
November 7, 2025 at 10:28 AM
I recently bought "Well-Being in Japan" by Atsushi Miura. His books on suburbanization, "fast-foodification," and "spongification" were invaluable for my thesis. This latest work examines post-growth society, climate change, and AI—and how they're reshaping urban living.
#weeklyreading #japan
#weeklyreading #japan
三浦展氏の『ウェルビーイングな日本』を購入しました。郊外化、「ファスト風土化」、「スポンジ化」に関する同氏の著書は、私の論文執筆の過程で、多くの気づきを与えてくれました。本書は、ポスト成長社会、気候変動、AI、そしてそれらが都市生活をどのように変革しているかを考察しています。
#learningfromthesuburbs #weeklyreading #japan
#learningfromthesuburbs #weeklyreading #japan
November 7, 2025 at 10:28 AM
三浦展氏の『ウェルビーイングな日本』を購入しました。郊外化、「ファスト風土化」、「スポンジ化」に関する同氏の著書は、私の論文執筆の過程で、多くの気づきを与えてくれました。本書は、ポスト成長社会、気候変動、AI、そしてそれらが都市生活をどのように変革しているかを考察しています。
#learningfromthesuburbs #weeklyreading #japan
#learningfromthesuburbs #weeklyreading #japan
The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, by Kenzō Tange, opened in April 1983. Tange designed the main window to cast a beautiful reflection of Himeji Castle. The views at mealtime were stunning! 🏯
#Himeji #Placemaking
#Himeji #Placemaking
October 15, 2025 at 1:28 PM
The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, by Kenzō Tange, opened in April 1983. Tange designed the main window to cast a beautiful reflection of Himeji Castle. The views at mealtime were stunning! 🏯
#Himeji #Placemaking
#Himeji #Placemaking
Despite being early on a weekday morning, many neighbors, some with their kids, were there for breakfast. I am glad to have found this place! As a bonus, some pictures of me enjoying breakfast there.
#Sweetspots
#Sweetspots
October 10, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Despite being early on a weekday morning, many neighbors, some with their kids, were there for breakfast. I am glad to have found this place! As a bonus, some pictures of me enjoying breakfast there.
#Sweetspots
#Sweetspots
The renovation is simple—maintaining the building structure and focusing on cleaning the facade, inner walls, and backyard—but very effective in creating a comfortable and inviting community space.
#Placemaking
#Placemaking
October 10, 2025 at 11:41 AM
The renovation is simple—maintaining the building structure and focusing on cleaning the facade, inner walls, and backyard—but very effective in creating a comfortable and inviting community space.
#Placemaking
#Placemaking
An old house converted into a community place. We heard about "Cafe Sol" in Himeji and went for breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised by the cozy atmosphere of the old two-story house that the owner renovated into a bakery and cafe. A very brief threat 🧵
#Architecture #Himeji
#Architecture #Himeji
October 10, 2025 at 11:41 AM
An old house converted into a community place. We heard about "Cafe Sol" in Himeji and went for breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised by the cozy atmosphere of the old two-story house that the owner renovated into a bakery and cafe. A very brief threat 🧵
#Architecture #Himeji
#Architecture #Himeji
I managed to visit one of these renovation projects: an abandoned house that has been renovated into a lovely café (I will write about it in a future post!).
October 8, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I managed to visit one of these renovation projects: an abandoned house that has been renovated into a lovely café (I will write about it in a future post!).
This improved connection with the shotengais and many surrounding narrow alleys is one of the project's strongest points. I managed to see some everyday urban scenes that I had overlooked in my previous trips.
October 8, 2025 at 12:24 PM
This improved connection with the shotengais and many surrounding narrow alleys is one of the project's strongest points. I managed to see some everyday urban scenes that I had overlooked in my previous trips.
This project is part of the "Himeji Walkable Promotion Plan" adopted in March 2021. The plan integrates the renovation of Otomemae Street with the eastern and western shotengais (shopping streets), where it also performs some building-renovation initiatives.
October 8, 2025 at 12:24 PM
This project is part of the "Himeji Walkable Promotion Plan" adopted in March 2021. The plan integrates the renovation of Otomemae Street with the eastern and western shotengais (shopping streets), where it also performs some building-renovation initiatives.
One of the project's main ideas is to showcase greenery and seasonal flowers that invite visitors to pause and draw their eyes downward from the castle to the street-level landscape. Most of these flower beds are maintained by local neighborhoods and nearby businesses.
October 8, 2025 at 12:24 PM
One of the project's main ideas is to showcase greenery and seasonal flowers that invite visitors to pause and draw their eyes downward from the castle to the street-level landscape. Most of these flower beds are maintained by local neighborhoods and nearby businesses.
The government designed the sidewalks on Otomemae Street to be among Japan's first Hokomichi (pedestrian-friendly roads). It widened the sidewalks to 16.1 meters to accommodate wooden decks, flexible furniture, and food trucks for events, open-air cafés, and exhibitions.
October 8, 2025 at 12:24 PM
The government designed the sidewalks on Otomemae Street to be among Japan's first Hokomichi (pedestrian-friendly roads). It widened the sidewalks to 16.1 meters to accommodate wooden decks, flexible furniture, and food trucks for events, open-air cafés, and exhibitions.
When I first visited the area before 2011, the area around the station had a lot of traffic jams. In 2015, the city reformed this area and prioritized foot traffic through ground-level and elevated walkways. This post is from my visit in 2024, after the redevelopment project:
October 8, 2025 at 12:24 PM
When I first visited the area before 2011, the area around the station had a lot of traffic jams. In 2015, the city reformed this area and prioritized foot traffic through ground-level and elevated walkways. This post is from my visit in 2024, after the redevelopment project:
I will be sharing some photos of my last visit to Himeji City! These are of Otomemae Street, which connects the station plaza up to the castle. The city launched a streetscape project in 2020 following the grand reopening of both the castle's main keep and the station plaza.
#Placemaking
#Placemaking
October 8, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I will be sharing some photos of my last visit to Himeji City! These are of Otomemae Street, which connects the station plaza up to the castle. The city launched a streetscape project in 2020 following the grand reopening of both the castle's main keep and the station plaza.
#Placemaking
#Placemaking
Most maps produced between the late Edo and early Meiji periods focus on the modernization of specific cities such as Nagasaki (and the island of Dejima), Sakai, and especially Edo (now Tokyo). They chart the shift to a connected, industrializing nation street by street.
October 3, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Most maps produced between the late Edo and early Meiji periods focus on the modernization of specific cities such as Nagasaki (and the island of Dejima), Sakai, and especially Edo (now Tokyo). They chart the shift to a connected, industrializing nation street by street.
Later works during the Edo period integrated foreign cartographic ideas into Japanese traditions, such as woodblock print maps created by ukiyo-e artists and traditional-style drawings of the Japanese archipelago. Here are some examples.
October 3, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Later works during the Edo period integrated foreign cartographic ideas into Japanese traditions, such as woodblock print maps created by ukiyo-e artists and traditional-style drawings of the Japanese archipelago. Here are some examples.
Early maps often followed Buddhist cosmographies, such as the Bankoku sōzu, and later adopted of a Western styles of visualization. These are early representations of Japan, painted on a two-fold screen and the back of a metallic mirror.
October 3, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Early maps often followed Buddhist cosmographies, such as the Bankoku sōzu, and later adopted of a Western styles of visualization. These are early representations of Japan, painted on a two-fold screen and the back of a metallic mirror.
I discovered a gem while browsing through second-hand books! "日本の古地図, Old maps in Japan," is an influential compilation of Japanese maps from ancient times to the early Meiji period edited and translated in the late 1960s.
#weeklyreading #cartophile #Japan
#weeklyreading #cartophile #Japan
October 3, 2025 at 12:39 PM
I discovered a gem while browsing through second-hand books! "日本の古地図, Old maps in Japan," is an influential compilation of Japanese maps from ancient times to the early Meiji period edited and translated in the late 1960s.
#weeklyreading #cartophile #Japan
#weeklyreading #cartophile #Japan
A model of Himeji Castle and a photo of the real one. Unlike other castles, Himeji Castle survived WWII intact, a rare example of original Japanese castle architecture. In 1993, UNESCO recognized it as one of Japan's first World Heritage sites. 🏯
#Placemaking #Himeji #Japan
#Placemaking #Himeji #Japan
September 30, 2025 at 12:33 PM
A model of Himeji Castle and a photo of the real one. Unlike other castles, Himeji Castle survived WWII intact, a rare example of original Japanese castle architecture. In 1993, UNESCO recognized it as one of Japan's first World Heritage sites. 🏯
#Placemaking #Himeji #Japan
#Placemaking #Himeji #Japan
Una maqueta del Castillo de Himeji y una foto del castillo real. A diferencia de otros castillos, sobrevivió intacto a la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Uno de los primeros lugares de Japón reconocidos como Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la UNESCO en 1993 🏯 #Heritage #Himeji #Japan
September 30, 2025 at 12:32 PM
このたび、濱口祐介教授著『描かれた 蝦夷地・北海道 イメージの500年：地図で読む日本北辺史』を購入いたしました。
本書は、日本最北端地域への見方が時代とともにどのように変遷してきたのかを、地図を手がかりに紐解く非常に興味深い一冊です。
#Weeklyreading
本書は、日本最北端地域への見方が時代とともにどのように変遷してきたのかを、地図を手がかりに紐解く非常に興味深い一冊です。
#Weeklyreading
September 4, 2025 at 10:08 AM
このたび、濱口祐介教授著『描かれた 蝦夷地・北海道 イメージの500年：地図で読む日本北辺史』を購入いたしました。
本書は、日本最北端地域への見方が時代とともにどのように変遷してきたのかを、地図を手がかりに紐解く非常に興味深い一冊です。
#Weeklyreading
本書は、日本最北端地域への見方が時代とともにどのように変遷してきたのかを、地図を手がかりに紐解く非常に興味深い一冊です。
#Weeklyreading