visited from 17th to 27th of Dec. 2000
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office
Between Tokyo Station and Yurakucho Station, close to the tracks of Japan Railways, you can find the Tokyo International Forum, built on the site of the former government building.
Only two blocks away are the gardens of the Imperial Palace (upper right corner in the picture).
The rendering developed by the architects shows the size of the complex and how the shape of the Glass Hall was inspired by the passing railway tracks.
floor plan
by Rafael Vinoly Architects
The complex consists of the striking Glass Hall Building, the conference area adjoining to the glass hall and the Hall Building with its 4 blocks A, B, C and D. The Glass Hall Building is the most impressing part of the complex, fascinating the approaching visitor. Despite its height of 60 m it looks elegant from the outside.
The Glass Hall serves as a lobby for the entire facility. From here you can use the ramp on the left side, which passes into a ramp, made of steel and glass on the right side of the hall. This ramp has 2 junctions from where two bridges each lead to the conference rooms and one (crossing the Plaza) to the blocks of the Hall Building. From the end of the ramp you have access to the restaurants in the top floor of the conference building.
Using the escalators at the two ends of the Glass Hall you can access the basement, which is the bottom of the hall. From here it is also possible to go to the blocks of the Hall Building, passing the exhibition halls.
ramp and junction of two inner and one outer bridge
The plaza between the atrium and the Hall Building is the main entrance to the complex, filled with additional light coming through the glass facade of the entrance hall.
The plaza is spanned by bridges, made of steel and glass, which are connecting blocks and Glass Hall. They form the upper border of the plaza.
The same bridges can also be found inside the Glass Hall.
The ceiling of the Glass Hall rests on two columns, which taper off at both ends.
The glass roof is supported by a steel construction, similar to the ribs attached to a backbone. Here the "backbone" is made of two beams leading from one column to the other.
The beams are spanned parallel to the shape of the hall and meet each other at both columns.
Four pillars each arise from one point of the bottom of basement 2 to carry a part of the Hall Building.
Therefore they leave enough space for the exhibition objects.
Unfortunately the expectations of the planners of the complex, built during Japans booming years, didn't come true and so the exhibition halls are often unused.
The potential visitors of the exhibitions, conferences and the guests of the restaurants are able to reach their far destination points via the subway link to Yurakucho Station or the railway link to JR Tokyo Station in basement 1. Additionally a parking lot is located in basement 3.
The whole complex is a landmark of Tokyo and with its reasoned structure and varied facilities for business and pleasure a good example of an architectural successfully designed congress and exhibition building. The disadvantage that the economic situation in Japan currently does not require an exhibition complex of this size is compensated by the active use of the conference and theatre facilities.
For more pictures and information find other related links here.
On your way from the bottom of the Glass Hall to the Hall Building, you are passing the two exhibition halls. Since they are located in basement 2, you can easily overlook the whole area.
The complex was built in 1991 in west Shinjuku in the heart of Tokyo. The complex consists of the main building with its twin towers, a public plaza surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped portico and an assembly hall opposite the twin towers.
The twin towers with their 48 storeys and their height of 243 m are the tallest buildings in Tokyo.
Big glass windows, the granite facade and the satellite dishes on top of both towers contrast with the appearance of a monumental gothic cathedral.
Opposite the towers you can find the circular assembly hall with its metal-clad structure (right picture). A round middle window seems to overlook the plaza like a guarding eye.
The plaza itself is located one storey below the street level, to deaden the noise of the passing street. Despite the sculptures, flowers and other attempts to create a harmonic area, the emptiness of the plaza and the sheer size of the surrounding buildings lead to a feeling of being insignificant and small for the visitors. It seems that the wish of impressing the power of the government is incompatible with the need of people for a natural breathing living space.
by Philippe Starck
Built in 1989, the building is located at the Sumidagawa river, close to the Asakusa district.
The left building simulates a glass of beer with its froth and the right one a pedestal, carrying a golden flame on its flat roof. In the vernacular it is also known as the "Golden Shit". The light reflected by the gold cover makes the flame shining by day and by night and creates a contrast to the black building below.
The pedestal building below the flame becomes wider towards the top. It is covered with highly polished black granite and the small portholes in the facade are visible only at close range.
The neighbouring house
...contains a restaurant. With its dark facade and a few portholes it is trying to follow the style of the brewery building.
The building was not part of the original plan and seems to be placed into the area like a foreign body. Nevertheless the building itself shows a lot of interesting design elements. Remarkable elements are for instance the alternating vertical glass bands, which lead from the bottom to the top.
Right picture:
a wavy metal cladding and the ending of the round wall along the outer stairway, which leaves a gap for a window between stairway wall and the wall of the building
by Kiyonori Kikutake
The museum was built in 1992.
The main body rests on 4 gigantic pillars and the shape of the building leads to the impression of an enormous space craft.
The free space below the building serves as entrance hall. From here the escalator guides the visitors like a red thread into the museum or in other words a huge trunk is sucking the visitors into the inside.
Standing below the main body the visitor starts feeling very small and negligible because of the superhuman dimension of the museum.
by Kenzo Tange Associates
The construction of the building, which is part of the new Waterfront Area, started in 1993 and was finished in 1996.
The main structure of this building is a closed part on each side with a "scaffold" in the middle and a big golden ball on the top.
The ball, which serves as an observation deck, is not located in the centre and therefore creates excitement in the symmetric looking building.
Tokyo Teleport Center
The building with its height of 100 m and its resemblance to the Arc of Triumph is another landmark in the Waterfront Area.
The complex was completed in autumn 1995 and houses various telecommunication companies.
As you can see the development of the Waterfront Area was still ongoing when these pictures were taken.
The Olympic Arena by Kenzo Tange was designed in 1960 and completed 1964.
Nakagin Capsule Mansion
Kisho N. Kurokawa started in 1971 the first attempts for a compact accommodation unit for singles. He developed a capsule (2.3 x 3.8 x 2.1 m) which contains all necessary facilities, is stackable and can be replaced.
The building in the Ginza district was erected in 1972, but the concept didn't prevail and no capsule was ever relocated.
There is no better place to see more innovative creations and different types of new buildings than in Tokyo ...
Of course the main focus of building in Tokyo is earthquake protection. For many buildings the structural frame consists of steel and the cladding is only appended.
Reinforced concrete is also often used, whereas bricks are not allowed for supporting walls even for single storey building, because of their low stability during earthquakes.