CASE STUDY

NIGHT PARK & PLAYGROUND YURAKUCHO

Marunouchi Naka-dori, Tokyo2026

In a Tokyo office district through summer after scorching summer, can we make an outdoor night space you never want to leave?

Marunouchi and Yurakucho are arguably the business heart of Japan. The streetscape and tenants draw many people, but this summer some blocks were closed for construction, and few people stayed on into the night. On top of that, recent scorching summers had made spending time outdoors by day hard. How do you make an outdoor place people stay in at night? We worked on this with several departments of Mitsubishi Estate.

For 14 nights on Marunouchi Naka-dori, we made a space like a living room: somewhere to touch the light, sit down, and talk with someone.

No fences: an extension of the street

From 24 July to 6 August 2026, every night from 6 to 10 pm, we scattered glowing play equipment, outdoor sofas, light works, a flower stand and food trucks in front of the Nijubashi and Shin-Tokyo buildings on Naka-dori. Free, no booking.

We did not fence the space in as one event venue, and deliberately left out any single attraction strong enough to draw crowds on its own. Sitting down on the way home, trying a ride for a moment: we aimed for a streetscape that works as an extension of the everyday street.

Places to sit and play, scattered along the street

Not just a seat, but somewhere to stay

With PUBLICWARE we made new outdoor sofas you can sink into more than a bench, built on site with cushions that let rain through. Alongside them were the glowing rocking horse, seesaw and swaying chairs developed through Night Park, plus giant Othello and board games: a playground for adults.

People in suits played on the equipment more readily than we expected. Some watched from a distance until one friend climbed on, then the rest followed. Some stayed on one sofa for over two hours, eating, talking, reading or waiting for someone.

A single flower, a bowl of shaved ice

Along the street were MARUNOUCHI KOIBANA STATION, a mobile flower stand by EVEKI, and a MAISON CACAO shaved-ice truck. Choosing a single flower, or taking a bowl of shaved ice back to a sofa: small purchases also became reasons to stay on the street.

A living light, within the rules

Because we were using road space, landscape regulations and other rules were very strict, and getting an interactive light work onto the street was a struggle at every step. What we made within those limits was a cluster of glowing spheres.

The spheres breathe slowly with light before anyone arrives and keep breathing after they leave. Touch them and they respond, carrying traces of whoever touched them before. We thought of them as a small creature living in the night city, linked to the other lights along the street.

Two passers-by touching the same spheres from either side

Passers-by who stayed half an hour

In the on-site survey, 42% said they had simply been passing by, and 29% came for the event: the state we had aimed for by not fencing it in. On a street you can walk in a minute or two, we estimate people stayed 30 to 40 minutes each (we did not count passers-by, so we cannot say it increased). 65% of respondents also ate or shopped nearby that day.

Sofas, glowing spheres and a food truck: everyone spending the evening their own way in front of the shop lights

Rain on 5 of 14 nights: next, an outdoor space built for rain

On the first night a downpour pushed the opening back an hour, and rain fell on the first three nights and most of the weekend. With no engineer on site, we monitored remotely and cut the power and stepped back during thunderstorms; there was not a single equipment failure across the 14 nights.

The biggest lesson was how much an outdoor space needs to be designed for rain. That idea carried over into NightPark in Ho Chi Minh City as "a park you enjoy in the rain". In Japan, we are now looking at canopies that can handle sudden downpours and light, movable architecture that joins inside and outside.