Day 6 – Tokyo Midtown and Roppongi Hills
Tokyo Midtown
“Tokyo Midtown (東京ミッドタウン, Tōkyō Middotaun?) is a 569,000 square meter (6.1 million sq ft) mixed-use development in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Completed in March 2007, the $3 billion (¥370 billion) project includes office, residential, commercial, hotel, and leisure space, as well as the tallest building in Tokyo and the new quarters of the Suntory Museum of Art. The project site takes up 78,000 square meters (19.4 acres) previously occupied by the Japan Defense Agency in Roppongi area of Minato, along Gaien Higashi and close to Roppongi Crossing, and less than a kilometer (half a mile) from the similarly scaled Roppongi Hills complex.”1
Roppongi Hills (六本木ヒルズ, Roppongi Hiruzu?) is one of Japan’s largest integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo. Constructed by building tycoon Minoru Mori, the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartments, shops, restaurants, cafés, movie theaters, a museum, a hotel, a major TV studio, an outdoor amphitheater, and a few parks. The centerpiece is the 54-story Mori Tower. Mori’s stated vision was to build an integrated development where high-rise inner-urban communities allow people to live, work, play, and shop in proximity to eliminate commuting time.”2
Roppongi Hills
I really liked both of these developments, even though both appreared rather over the top. Tokyo Middtown is very organized and polished with clean lines. Roppongi Hills is dynamic and very rich in materials and textures. While Tokyo Middtown is a mall that feels like an extension of the condominiums above, Roppongi Hills creates a sort of shopping wonderland of interlocking spaces.
They are both in competition for the wealthy Tokyo resident who is looking for that experience of a city within a city. I think the Tokyo Midtown project is more successfull at creating a warm experience that would feel like a haven from the city if you lived there. Conversely, the shopping experience in the Roppongi Hills development is more fun, but may work better as a place to visit instead of as your home. Both are triumphal expressions of how much money can be thrown at a development though.
