PROTO-ARCHITECTURE

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.

“San’en-zan Zōjō-ji (三縁山増上寺, San’en-zan Zōjō-ji?) is a Buddhist temple in the Shiba neighborhood of Minato in Tokyo, Japan. It is the Great Main Temple of the Chinzai sect of Shingon. The main image is of Amida Buddha. The founder of Zōjō-ji was Yūyo Shōsō (酉誉聖聡).

Shūei (宗叡, 809-884), a disciple of Kūkai, founded a temple named Kōmyōji (光明寺) at Kaizuka (貝塚, present-day Kōjimachi in Chiyoda, Tokyo); it is said to be the forerunner of Zōjō-ji. Centuries later, in 1393 during the Muromachi period, at the time of Yūyo Shōsō, the temple converted from the Shingon to the Jodo sect. Shōsō is thus the founder of the present-day temple.

Together with Kan’ei-ji, during the Edo period Zōjō-ji was the Tokugawa’s family temple. Tokugawa Ieyasu had the temple moved, first to Hibiya, then in 1590, at the time of expansion of Edo Castle, to its present location.”1

This pelasant temple is located just next to the Prince Hotel where we were staying.  As you can see, it was raining terribly.   The temple is heavily used, many locals were coming in and out of the temple on their way to work that morning.

So we went out looking at a few projects and this will explain why they are all really ugly photographs taken in the rain.  Don’t worry though…we made it through.

In the afternoon we met with Tokyu construction at the site of their RISE project  a mixed use development, with a retail and office component on one side and market housing on the other, all separated by an outdoor plaza space with a glazed roof canopy (view a PDF of the project here).  The experience was amazing, because there were several differences between American construction projects and the means and methods here.  for example, we were surprised to find that the columns were enlarged tube steel sections, not the I shapes usually used in the States.  The construction manager explained that the columns are rolled flat, then bent at the corners so there are only two weld seams down the columns, each in the center on opposing sides.

Most of their materials were being produced and assembled in precars components in China.  Tokyu has representative on the ground there to observe and either accept or reject all materials being produced.  Some examples of this are the pre-cast concrete panels at the base wich are shipped with a stone veneer already integrated into the panels, and curtain wall components with glazing and frams already in place and ready to assemble.  The construction manager noted that he sees this as a continuing trend, more sophisticated panelization constructed under factory conditions and shipped to the site ready to put up.

The construction manager also told us that the most difficult challenged they’ve faced so far is how the excavation for the below grade levels interfaced with an adjacent subway easement.  Using sophisitacted equipment to detect tilting in the retaining walls, the excavation dug down over 50 meters all the while remaining within the allowable 2cm variation.

“Omotesandō (表参道?) is an avenue, subway station and neighborhood in the Minato and Shibuya wards in Tokyo stretching from Harajuku station, the foot of the famous Takeshita Street, to Aoyama-dori where Omotesandō station can be found. Zelkova trees line both sides of the avenue. Around 100,000 cars drive down the main street daily.  It is known as an upscale shopping area featuring several international brand outlets, ranging from Louis Vuitton and Gucci to the more affordable Gap, The Body Shop, Zara, and others…It is sometimes referred to as “Tokyo’s Champs-Élysées”.”1

This is one of the beautiful areas of Tokyo, primarily because of the beautiful texture the towering trees afford.  Against this, stores like Dior, Ralph Lauren, Prada and Gucci proliferate.  Omote Sando Hills is a mixed-use development by Todao Ando which is monstly street side and indoor mall retail with a fair numberof residential units above.  Other notable designer buildings on the street, the Christian Dior building by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (which is MAGNIFICENT at night), the Japanese Nursing association building by Kisho Kurokawa, and of course the Prada store by Herzog & de Meuron.

“Marunouchi (丸の内) is a commercial district of Tokyo located in Chiyoda between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace. The name, meaning “inside the circle”, derives from its location within the palace’s outer moat. It is a center of Japan’s financial industry, as the country’s three largest banks are headquartered there.”1

We first started by touring the Marunouchi district with a director from Mitsubishi’s development group, Mr. Oshima and a Japanese architect that Mr. Miyama works with frequently, Mr. Matsuo.  Companies in Japan are like the great Daimyo clans of old, they own various different sub companies and tend to have very strong teritorial strongholds in different portions of the city. Marunouchi is the home of the great Mitsubishi company and they own nearly all the land in the district which lies between Tokyo Station (the main train station) and the Imperial Palace directly in the heart of Tokyo.

The two jewel buildings are the Marunouchi Building and it’s successor, the Shin-Marunouchi building.  The pair flank the main road linking the Imperial Place and Tokyo Station.  The architects for both was the Mitsubishi owned firm MJS [Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei] an A&E firm of over 570 architects & engineers.  Many of the buildings in the are, including both Marunouchi buildings, have been designed with stout bases that narrow at the point where the tower rises.  Mr. Oshima explained to us that there had once been a law that no building could be built over 31 meters, a height below that of the emperors palace, such that no one could look down on the emperor.  All turn of the century buildings conformed to this (ans the buildings fronting the street along the edge of the imperial palace grounds still do) but when the law was revoked, the architects chose to retain the morphology of that pre-exising form because integrating the new tower above.  The intention was to preserve the same street feel that the district had always had.

On our tour, we saw the Marunouchi One building (view website about the history of this building here) and it’s museum inside.  This was the original Mitsubishi building and was later demolished. The Mitsubishi Corporation painstakingly rebuilt the building exactly to it’s original form.  The craftsmanship and brickwork is amazing.  The museum isn’t open to the general public yet, and won’t be for several more months, but we were lucky enough to get a sneak peak which included the history of the district and details on the reconstruction.

We then went to MJS offices for a presentation on the modern development of the Marunouchi District. An incredible model, set in a room adjacent to their presentation room, details the entire district in miniature.  It was an architect’s dream. Suspended from the track above (and controlled with a PS3-like controller) and model camera can be moved through the model displaying real-time video on the wall.  So cool.

Afterward, Brian and I each gave a presentation to their architects about the different kinds of work we do.  We talked about the projects, the differences between American and Japanese construction, design and requirements.  It was a really good exchange of information.

After our visit to Ginza, Mr. Miyama took us to a Chinese BBQ place in a building he owns.  He regaled us with a story of having gone to a similar place in the area and their service was terrible, so, because he wanted a good Chinese BBQ place close to his house, he bought a building an courted a local chain to go in.  It has been very successful.

The fun part about the Chinese BBQ dinner is the fact that it’s a family affair and Mr Miyama, in addition to his daughter, Brian and I, had his parents join us.  This was definitely a meal to be enjoyed family style.  My favorite was the shrimp… incredible.  The sauce was a sort of spicy mayonnaise mixture that was really rich in flavor.  Best thing on the menu.  A close second was this omelette thing – wacky, weird and very, very good.  Picture and omelette on rice with vegetables and chicken all covered in a ketchup based sauce.  Yeah, I know how it sounds but it was really good.

While the meal at the restaurant was incredible, it was made really special when we went back to the Miyama’s and they served us a traditional Japanese dessert.  It was a sort of red bean in a sweet soup.  I ate every bite.  It wasn’t too sweet and it had a really good flavor that topped of the meal perfectly.

Ginza is the shopping mecca of Tokyo.  This is where the locals go to spend their money and name brands are omnipresent.  Like much of the city it is absolutely amazing the morphology that the urban fabric takes.  Everything it vertical, usually from small sites that began as a single residence or shop, and now tower half a dozen stories.  All the big retail players are here, and even some you rarely find outside their home coutries (i.e. Printemps).  As with most of Tokyo, Ginza is a cacauphony of design aesthetic, quality, and materials.  There are very beautiful and contemporary facades and very sophisticated traditional facades whith an intermingling of the old and run down.  Because it was the weekend, the police had closed off Chuo-Dori and turned the whole street into a pedestrian plaza.  Mr. Miyama quipped that the table at which we ate lunch was contiguous with a piece of land on the main street worth $1,000,000.  I am consitently amazed at how retail works above grade, because that it just something that hasn’t caught on in the states.  We went to a department store that carried everything from kitchenware to home imporovement supplies to halloween decorations and it was entirely located on the top 3 floors of one of the office buildings.

The second day we drove up to the Mount Fuji five lakes area to stay at a very nice resort with the hopes of getting a look at the famous peak.  Unfortunately the weather wasn’t with us.  It’s rained most of the time we’ve been here, and it was worse in the mountains, but although we couldn’t see Fuji, the rolling hills of the area afforded amazing Sesshū painting-like vistas of the countryside.  It was an incredible contrast to the extreme density of Tokyo and the surrounding areas.

The most amazing part of the trip was getting to experience the traditional Japanese Onsen, or communal bath heated by natural hot springs.  Both days we were in the Yamanaka area we went to the baths, the first a public bath, very crowded and lively, and the second a private bath associated with the Villa.  It is the sort of thing I know I would never have had a chance to enjoy if I was not traveling with a Japanese host, and was definitely of the the highlights of the trip thus far.

If you know me, you know I like my food not just cooked but well done.  That’s right, no pink, cooked all the way through well done.  That said, I love sushi (yes…bit of a paradox) but while I can not only stomach raw fish but really enjoy it, I don’t think I can ever dig raw egg.

“Sukiyaki (Japanese: 鋤焼 or more commonly すき焼き; スキヤキ) is a Japanese dish in the nabemono (Japanese steamboat) style. It consists of meat (usually thinly sliced beef), or a vegetarian version made only with firm tofu, slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Before being eaten, the ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs.”1

This was, in fact, an excellent meal. All of the grilled components, especially the mix of the meat and the onions, was just superb.  The egg yolks in Japan are an amazing deep almost orange that you never see in the States.   I ate most of the meat after dipping it in the scrambled eggs, but it was really much tastier mixed with the rice.