Architecture sights in Japan
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A
Roppongi Hills
Opened in 2003 to an incredible amount of fanfare, Roppongi Hills was the dream of real-estate developer Mori Minoru, who long envisaged a transformation of Roppongi. Since then, an incredible amount of lofty praise has been vaulted at the complex, which is arguably the most architecturally arresting sight in Tokyo – architects including Jon Jerde, Maki and Associates, and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates worked on the various buildings. The result is a feast for the eyes, enhanced by public art such as Louise Bourgeois’ giant, spiny alfresco spider called Maman and the benches-cum-sculptures along Keyakizaka-dōri. With expertly drawn lines of steel and glass, expansive t…
reviewed
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B
Murin-an Villa
Often overlooked by the hordes that descend on the Higashiyama area, this elegant villa was the home of prominent statesman Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922) and the site of a pivotal 1902 political conference as Japan was heading into the Russo-Japanese War. Built in 1896, the grounds contain well-preserved wooden buildings, including a fine Japanese tearoom. The Western-style annexe is characteristic of Meiji-period architecture and the serene garden features small streams that draw water from the Biwa-ko Sosui canal. For ¥300 you can savour a bowl of frothy matcha (powdered green tea) while viewing the shakkei backdrop of the Higashiyama Mountains. It’s particularly beau…
reviewed
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Tod’s Omote-Sandō Building
In the 1980s a second generation of Japanese architects began to gain recognition within the international architecture scene, including Ito Toyo, Hasegawa Itsuko and Andō Tadao. This younger group has continued to explore both modernism and postmodernism, while incorporating the renewed interest in Japan’s architectural heritage. One of Ito’s most striking recent designs, built in 2004, TOD’s Omote-sandō Building looks as if it was wrapped in surgical tape. Andō’s architecture utilises materials such as concrete to create strong geometric patterns that have so regularly appeared in Japan’s traditional architecture.
reviewed
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Christian Dior Building
Cross the street from Omote-Sandō Hills, look right, and you’ll see a five-storey glass building that looks as if it has a giant, undulating white dress suspended inside. The 2010 Pritzker Prize-winning Tokyo firm Sanaa (of Nishizawa Ryue and Sejima Kazuyo) was a bold choice for Paris design house Christian Dior. Inside, surfaces of white lacquer, glass and stainless steel are an austere backdrop for the couture and cosmetics.
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Tsūten-kaku
For something completely different, take a walk through this retro entertainment district just west of Tennō-ji-kōen. At the heart of it all you'll find crusty old Tsūten-kaku tower, a 103m-high structure that dates back to 1912 (the present tower was rebuilt in 1969). When the tower first went up it symbolised everything new and exciting about this once-happening neighbourhood (shin-sekai is Japanese for 'New World').
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Zuihō-den
Masamune Date's mausoleum, Zuihō-den, is at the summit of a tree-covered hill by the Hirose-gawa. It was originally built in 1637, destroyed by Allied bombing during WWII and reconstructed in 1979. The present building is an exact replica of the original, faithful to the ornate and sumptuous Momoyama style: a complex, interlocking architecture, characterised by multicoloured woodcarvings.
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Fuji TV
Designed by the late, great Kenzō Tange, the Fuji TV headquarters building is recognisable by the 90-degree angles of its scaffoldinglike structure, topped with a 1200-tonne ball. You can actually go into the ball, which is a terrific observation deck. Pick up an English guide at the dog bone (err, desk?) out front, for information on a self-guided tour.
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Toto Tokyo Center Showroom
The Shinjuku L Tower is home to the Toto Tokyo Center Showroom, a high-tech kitchen, plumbing and bathroom showcase that gives you a great idea of what a contemporary Japanese home looks like, if you can’t visit one yourself. There’s lots of automation; the toilet lids that automatically lift when you approach are nifty.
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E
Design Festa
One of the strangest buildings in Aoyama, the headquarters of Design Festa looks like an industrial, spider-webbed diorama, though the space is actually home to a slew of galleries. It’s also responsible for the enormous art and design festival, Design Festa, that takes place biannually at the Tokyo Big Sight.
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Louis Vuitton
For several years running, the Japanese have had something of a love affair with Louis Vuitton, which is why this flagship store is usually packed wall-to-wall with shoppers. Meant to evoke a stack of clothes trunks, Aoki Jun’s design features offset panels of tinted glass behind sheets of metal mesh of varying patterns.
reviewed
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Tokyo Big Sight
Odaiba is full of oddball architecture and Tokyo Big Sight (officially known as Tokyo International Exhibition Hall) is no exception - appropriate, since it's the semi-annual venue for Tokyo's coolest design festival, Design Festa. Look for the upside-down pyramids of the conference tower rising above the exhibition complex.
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H
Prada Aoyama
Of course you could shop here, but you can also ogle the gorgeous, convex glass bubbles of the exterior. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, this is one of Aoyama's sexier organic-looking structures.
reviewed
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Tōchō-ji
Tōchō-ji has impressively carved Kannon statues and, upstairs, the largest wooden Buddha in Japan.
reviewed
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Tod’s Omote-Sandō Building
In the 1980s a second generation of Japanese architects began to gain recognition within the international architecture scene, including Ito Toyo, Hasegawa Itsuko and Andō Tadao. This younger group has continued to explore both modernism and postmodernism, while incorporating the renewed interest in Japan’s architectural heritage. One of Ito’s most striking recent designs, built in 2004, TOD’s Omote-sandō Building looks as if it was wrapped in surgical tape. Andō’s architecture utilises materials such as concrete to create strong geometric patterns that have so regularly appeared in Japan’s traditional architecture.
reviewed
