Reply To: JAPAN WoW!!!

Italian coffee is more expensive, as is a better quality finish, the Ando or Ito finish you speak of is infinitely more expensive than the slapdash finish you get in Ireland. It is a matter of economics rather that architectural process. National Gallery extension is a good example of the level of finish achievable, even on a large scale public building, in this country at present. The difference with the Asian city is that in Japan, 1msq is £10,000(sterling approx). The parameters and the objectives are completely different and incomparible.

However, as you suggest, their methodology is something we should definitely try to emulate