In Sweden there are plenty of public spaces. We have spacious streets and squares but no strong culture of using them. Unlike Sweden, Tokyo has very little of what we would categorise as squares or public spaces, but a lot of socialising in public. The word "square" translates in Japanese to "hiroba" and historically these spaces in Japan are defined not by the physical location but by the activity and interaction of people.

We are interested in how we can utilise public space in different ways. Through a series of interviews made in Japan in the spring of 2023, we want to highlight how these projects creatively reimagine the boundaries of public and private.

The research project is run by Samuel Michaëlsson, Yosuke Tsuga and Anna Kawai, three architects based in Gothenburg and Tokyo. During the past years, we have documented several case studies in Japan and interviewed architects, users as well as urban planners to identify aspects that can inspire and be imported into a Swedish and Scandinavian context.

We hope that this project can serve as an open source archive to inspire whoever is watching it to critically examine and challenge the structures of the cities we live in.

Hiroba is sponsored by White Arkitekter, ARQ, Japanstiftelsen and the Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation.