In the metropolis of Eastern Asia a new category of space is unfolding: dividual space. Consisting of commercial settings that are publicly used as private domestic environments, prices are comparatively low enough to turn these spaces into an integral part of public life. This paper takes the city of Tokyo as a study field to document the emergence of dividual space and to identify its main spatial characteristics.
The domestic qualities that Tokyo offers to accommodate urban nomadism are found not only at the interior and building scales (addressed in Part I and II, respectively) but also at the district scale. This paper examines this scale through the study of specific Tokyo districts, referred to here as Transit Urban Centers, by comparing and highlighting its differences with an urban configuration emerging in Tokyo through redevelopment projects. By means of this comparison, relevant conclusions for architectural and urban planning can be extracted in order to construct an alternative to gentrifying urbanism. This alternative relies upon the amplification of the concept of domesticity as a spatial quality at the interior, architectural and urban scales.
The domestic qualities that Tokyo offers to accommodate urban nomadism are found not only at the interior scale of the dividual space studied in Part I, but also in urban exterior spaces. This paper examines the functional features of these exterior spaces, created by the aggregation of 'zakkyo buildings'. Both cases, interior and exterior are classified as 'content space' due to their commonalities. 'Content space' is presented as a valid design paradigm that, however, must be considered within its specific socio-cultural context, examined in this paper using the theory of liminality.
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