After two years of design development, Tokyo-based Shimizu Corporation just unveiled blueprints for the world's first underwater city that, by the construction company's estimates, could be completed in just a few decades at a cost of US$ 26 billion. Dubbed the "Ocean Spiral" the sustainably powered, Atlantis-like metropolis is the latest futuristic scheme proposed by Shimizu. Shimizu Corp.'s vision of the modern-day Atlantis is divided into three parts, with the underwater city contained in a 500 meters wide sphere that could house up to 5,000 residents and comprise mixed-use developments where people can live, work, and play. The spherical city floats at the surface of the sea, but can descend down a 15 kilometers long spiral pathway into the deeper depths during times of bad weather. The spiral pathway is connected to a research facility, which would excavate the seabed for precious metals and create energy for the city above using temperature differences in ocean water. "This is just a blueprint by our company, but we are aiming to develop the technology that would enable us to build an underwater living space," Shimizu spokesman Masataka Noguchi told the Wall Street Journal. Desalinated water would be created using hydraulic pressure and fish farms would be built around the structure. The proposal also mentions harnessing the power of microorganisms to convert carbon dioxide to methane energy. Although seemingly farfetched, Shimizu's proposal underscores fears of sea level rise and loss of habitable environments. The design was realized with help from University of Tokyo researchers, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the government's Fisheries Research Agency. The Shimizu construction company estimates that the technology to implement the "Ocean Spiral" could be in place by 2030.

One of Tokyo's most famous buildings the Nakagin Capsule Tower threatened with demolition. Designed by Kisho Kurokawa in 1972, it caught the world's attention with its minuscule living spaces for the country's single office workers. The striking tower, in Tokyo's Shimbashi district, even appeared as a Japanese love hotel in the 2013 blockbuster "The Wolverine" starring Hugh Jackman. But over the years, much of the once-modern building has fallen into disrepair. Around half of the 140 units are used as offices, art studios, and second homes, but just 20 are lived in full-time. Each of the 140 units in the tower contains a bed, a fold-out desk and a tiny bathroom; all squeezed in just 10 square meters. Rent for a capsule is around 60,000 yen (US $539) per month. The rooms feature a large round window and retro features such as clocks and sound systems, giving them the appearance of being suspended in a 1970s vision of the future. The building's dilapidated state does not make for an easy life. The capsules' asbestos insulation is deteriorating, so winters are cold, and summers can get very hot. Corroding pipes, water damage, and an uncertain future mean half the capsules have been left to rot by their owners, who would rather see the tower demolished and reap the profits of a brand new apartment building. The individual capsules were originally designed to be removed and replaced every 25 years, except that failed to happen. This isn't the first time that the building has faced the threat of demolition. Back in 2007, CTBUH reported similar findings, where the building's management actually approved plans to raze the tower. These plans eventually fell through and the building still stands today. While some owners are keen to restore the building, others feel demolition is the best route. Eighty percent of them need to agree on any changes, before a decision is made. Meanwhile, a crowd-funding project hopes to safeguard the future of the 13-story tower - that some see as a monument to Japanese architectural history. The campaign, known as the "Save The Nakagin Capsule Tower Campaign" aims to collect donations from people all over the world who love this capsule tower and use that money to buy the capsules one by one. But Japan, like many countries in Asia, often prefers the new to the old. Christian Dimmer, Professor of Urbanism at Tokyo University, told AFP news agency: "It is hard to raise public awareness about the preservation of historic buildings in Japan, where buildings are usually torn down and replaced after 30 years."

Paper and cardbo's toolbox for drawings and models of buildings, but for Japanese architect Shigeru Ban they are good enough to make the real thing. The 56-year-old, who has built a reputation over the past 30 years for crafting improbable structures around the world - from housing to art galleries and cathedrals - many from humble cardboard tubes, has been named as the winner of the 2014 Pritzker prize, the highest accolade in the industry. "When you finish a roll of tracing paper or fax paper, there are always paper tubes left over," he said. "They were so strong and so nice, so I kept them. Then I went to the factory where they made them, and I saw they could make any length and any diameter." Beginning with temporary exhibition designs, his experiments with cardboard engineering soon expanded in scope, from undulating grid-shell pavilions to the geodesic frame of his temporary office in Paris. Strapped limpet-like to the roof of the Pompidou Centre, this cardboard-framed tunnel was his base for designing the gallery's outpost in Metz, completed in 2010, itself conceived as a rippling rattan hat of bamboo and oiled paper. But it is for his humanitarian work, as much as for his houses and museums, that Ban caught the Pritzker jury's eye. "He is a force of nature," said the jury chairman, Lord Palumbo, "which is entirely appropriate in the light of his voluntary work for the homeless and dispossessed in areas devastated by natural disasters." In 1994, prompted by the displacement of millions by the Rwandan civil war, Ban proposed paper-tube shelters to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, followed a year later by paper log cabins after the Kobe earthquake, with foundations made of sand-filled beer crates and walls of vertical cardboard tubes. After founding the Voluntary Architects' Network in 1995, he has tackled disaster relief in Turkey, India, China and Haiti, most recently erecting a magnificent cardboard cathedral after the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand , rising in an elegant A-frame next to the ruins of George Gilbert Scott's stone building. Outside Ban's humanitarian work, his projects include the Centre Pompidou-Metz, a modern art museum in France featuring a curved roof made of timber which is inspired by a Chinese hat. He also designed Swiss media firm Tamedia's seven-store headquarters, built with an interlocking wooden frame that has no metal joints. Ban is the seventh Japanese architect to receive the prize since it was established in 1979, following Kenzo Tange in 1987, Fumihiko Maki in 1993, Tadao Ando in 1995, the team of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa in 2010, and Toyo Ito last year.

Japan's tallest building will opened in Osaka, as Asia's third-biggest metropolitan economy aims to lure tourists and stem businesses from moving to Tokyo. Kintetsu Corporation, one of the main rail operators in western Japan, spent US$1.3 billion and 4 years constructing the 300-meter "Abeno Harukas" skyscraper. Abeno Harukas took the tallest building mantle from Landmark Tower, a 296-meter high rise housing offices, shops and a hotel in Yokohama city. < br/> The new 60-floor complex, which includes a Marriott International Inc. hotel, and a separate proposal for a US$ 4.9 billion casino resort are the latest attempts to bolster the city's economy. The observation deck "Harukas 300" is located around the 288-meter level and runs from the 58th to the 60th floors. It is the second-highest observation deck in Japan after Tokyo Sky Tree's deck located at about 450 meters above ground. Visitors are able to see as far away as Kyoto and Kobe.

The largest solar power plant in Japan has just been launched. The Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Power Plant is situated just offshore in Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Japan. Kagoshima City, in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima, is one of the few areas in Japan where the sky is clear around 40 days and is perfect for solar energy collection and generation. The Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Plant is 1.27 million square meters of solar panels - 290thousand of them, to be exact - which will be able to generate 70 megawatts of power, able to supply electricity for about 22 thousand local households, making it the biggest solar generation plant in Japan. The solar plant was developed by Kyocera Corporation in partnership with 6 other companies, and the power generated by the new plant will be sold to the national grid through a local power utility. The development of this substantial solar project was helped along by Japan's updated feed-in-tarriff program. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster the program was upgraded to encourage an increasing amount of solar energy. The updated program requires power utilities to buy all of the power generated by solar power plants that produce over 10 kilowatts of electricity. The floating solar power plant includes an adjacent "tour facility", which is open to the public. It has a elevated, circular room for viewing the 290 thousand solar panels, as well as panoramic views of the bay with Sakurajima volcano in the background. The tour facility also displays educational information about environmental issues and solar power. According to Kyocera, as well as making money, it is hoped that the whole project will help to "foster a deeper understanding of renewable energy and further facilitate a low-carbon society".