ONE of the more unusual exhibitions opening in town this week is “Parallel Nippon: Contemporary Japanese Architecture 1996 to 2006,” presented by the  Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation at the High Court of Australia.

An international travelling exhibition co-organised by the Architectural Institute of Japan, the exhibition explores the evolution of Japanese architecture in the ‘post Bubble’ era. Opening at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, the show is now on tour internationally.

The decade or so following the collapse of Japan’s speculation-driven “bubble” economy has been a period of major change in Japanese society. It has also been a time of widening contrasts between rural and urban communities, particularly since the myth of eternally rising land prices was finally dispelled, resulting in further concentration of population in cities as urban land prices fall.

These developments raise questions. What is a city? What does it mean to “live” in a particular place?

These are some of the issues that Japanese architects have confronted and sought to answer.

The show is divided into four thematic areas, Urban Life, Culture and Living, the exhibition features the works of Kengo Kuma, Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Kenzo Tange, SANAA, and many more.

Public Lecture by Thomas Daniell, architect and a curator of this exhibition

At the University of Canberra, Room 12B50 (canberra.edu.au/maps/campus-map) Friday Sept 13, 1:30pm. All Welcome

“Parallel Nippon: Contemporary Japanese Architecture 1996 to 2006,” at the High Court of Australia, September 12 –Oct 4. The exhibition will be in two parts: “Urban & Life Cycles”, Sept 12 –22, and “Culture & Living Cycles” Sept 26- October 4. (closed Sept 23 –25). Monday –Friday 9:45am –4:30pm and Sunday 12:00pm –4:00pm.