Omotesando Hills 表參道山
Omotesando Hills, Tokyo, Japan
If you have read my earlier post about the famous and stylish Japan Architect, the Ando Tadao (安藤忠雄) and his signature work “The Church of Light“, and that you find you also love the artistic work of Ando, then you should like this place where I am going to introduce to you, the Omotesando Hills.
The Development
The Omotesando Hills project is located in the Aoyama (青山) of Tokyo.
The street of the Omotesando in the Aoyama is very pretty, the street is wide and straight, with a mild slope and with lots of green and talk trees along the two sides of the street. The area is famous for shopping and residential (previously) in Aoyama, which is sometimes termed Tokyo’s Champs-Élysées.
The project is designed by Tadao Ando, which contains over 130 shops and 38 apartments. The Complex so built and designed is not a large and huge commercial building, but rather a humble and pretty building complex blending well with the surrounding environment and adopting every design concept and the philisophy of beauty of its creator, Tadao Ando.
One point about the Omotesando Hills project which worths noting is that the project has been marked by controversy, as the new built shopping arcade and the residential block has replaced the Bauhaus-inspired Dōjunkai Aoyama Apartments, which had been built in 1927 after the 1923 Kantō earthquake. The destruction of the original and antique apartments raised questions about Japan’s interest in preserving historic buildings.
Ando writes about the historic Dojunkai Apartments and his project:
The Dojunkai Apartments were created as a part of the Great Kanto Earthquake reform plans and they were not only important cooperative housing units but also reflected the visions of the people living there and visiting the area. How to save this vision was one of the main subjects I had to contend with in this reconstruction plan. Although restoration of the original building was physically and economically impossible, the residential apartments located on the top floors of the complex provide each resident with enough distance from the hustle and bustle of Omotesando and at the same time affords them a beautiful view of the tree-lined street. ……
I was careful to incorporate the following two subjects so that the memory of the Dojunkai Apartments would not be forgotten. First, I was careful to make sure the height of the complex was close to that of the row of Japanese zelkova trees adjacent to the complex by constructing half the complex space underground. The second was to use the slope of Omotesando Street as part of the public space of the development. The facade continues for 250 meters following the slope of Omotesando Street. Each floor is created on the gradual Omotesando slope, creating an innovative public city space. Furthermore, the rooftop is covered with greenery that integrates with the zelkova trees. What I aimed for was a ‘re-birth’ of the Dojunkai Apartments.
Tadao Ando/Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
安藤忠雄建築研究所
The Design Features & Concepts
Fair face concrete, one of the most favourite materials used by Ando, is again the main material used in the Omotesando Hills. Clean, minimal, natural and basic, are the elements that Ando would like to inspire us through his creation.
If you are familiar with Ando’s work, when you visit the Omotesando Hills, you would immediate recognise Ando’s architectual signature: the use of simple forms, the straight lines and structure, the harmonisation with and even highlighting the beauty of the surrounding environment, the invitation of large amount of natural lights and the feeling of quiet and comfort inside the building.
The height of the complex is carefully designed, it equals to that of the adjacent zelkova trees, creating a harmony between the complex and its surroundings. The complex provides the visitors with an open-air feeling which blends in with the surrounding environment.
The rooftop of the Complex is covered with trees and plants, forming a connection with the Japanese zelkova trees in the street. The Complex in fact draws visitors’ attention to the lovely and pretty trees around and it highlights the pretty of the natural colours and forms of the trees.
The inside of the shopping arcarde is built with a spiral slope winding around the center atrium, which evokes the gradual slope of Omotesando itself. The inside spiral slope serves as the entry way to numerous shops that form a continuous row, as if they were street shops. The spiral form of the Slope creates a feeling of openness and provides visitors with the excitement of walking the streets of Omotesando, giving a unique feeling unlike any in the area within the complex. It is as if the complex welcomes you with Omotesando within itself.
Let’s see another small and tricky element of Ando, using light and form: the straight lines formed by the spiral slope inside the Complex converts into a single point with natural light source. The resulted visual effect is like many light stokes coming out from the light source. A feeling of uplifting and spiritual is successfully created.
Another feature of Ando’s design is the “Re-birth Complex” which uses the walls of the Aoyama Apartments, to provide visitors with a look into history and nostalgia. Omotesando Hills was established not only as a new facility, but as a means to continue and pass on to the next generation the warm atmosphere and picturesque views of Omotesando.
The Shopping Arcarde
Apart from the artistic complex building, the luxury shops in the Omotesando Hills are also spectecular. The shops and their show windows are all artistically designed and it’s really a pleasure to walk along the slope inside the shopping arcade slowly and to do some window shopping alone. Here are some gorgeous show windows and shop design inside the Omotesando Hills.
Although there are many new and exiciting shopping malls and arcades in Tokyo, I still keep going back and visiting the Omotesando Hills. If you like something hip and well designed, the Omotesando Hills is surely your cup of tea.
Omotesando Hills:
- Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Chiyoda Line, Hanzomon Line Omotesando Station Exit A2, Two min on foot.
- Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line, Meiji-Jingumae Station Exit 5, Three min on foot.
- JR Yamanote Line Harajuku Station Exit Meiji-Jingu, Seven min on foot.
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Filed under hip & stylish, travelling, architecture, japan | Comment (0)Talk of Tokyo
Working. Dwelling. Playing. Relaxing. This quarter is a composite city, gathering together all of these functions. Offices, a hotel, park, art museums and other amenities are naturally anointed with high function, mutually interacting, inspiring and connecting, bringing something new into being. The synergy generated form such functional diversity emerges as the true face of this town. - project MidTown Tokyo
For past few years, when people visiting Tokyo, the “Roppongi Hills(六本木山, りぽんぎヒルズ)” was once the hippiest and trendiest place to go. However, since March this year, another new project has over taken the leading position and become the talk of the town in Tokyo.
The MidTown Tokyo, a new land mark in Tokyo, is a commercial project. Although the complex is commercial based where the focus is on the offices, shops, hotel and restaurants, this complex also brings in a touch of culture, art, nature and human interactions within the commercial environment.
The complex is formed by several high rise commercial and residential buildings, with a low rise shopping arcade. The transparent curtain walls and the vertical and horizontal sun shading fins, which are the signature of nowadays commercial buildings, carry with them clearly the environmental awareness and energy saving concepts.
What makes this commercial complex stands out from other similar projects is its consciousness of incorporating art, culture, nature and human interactions within the commercial environment, which brings in liviness and humanities.
There are 3 large parks surrounding the commercial complex: the Midtown Garden, the Grass Square and the Hinokicho Park, incorporating the natural environment in the highly artificial and functional commercial buildings. The parks also form a space for leisure human interactions, in addition to the commercial activities.
There are also 2 art museums built within the commercial complex: the Suntory Museum of Art and the 21-21 Design Sight. The interactions of art, culture and commercial activities mark the design concept of this project.
Being the hottest place of interest in Tokyo, with many popular shops and high quality restaurants, and with the 6 stars Ritz Charlton Tokyo, the MidTown Tokyo in no question is a “must go” location when travelling to Tokyo.
During 27 July to 26 Aug 2007, there is an interesting event, ”the Midtown Cafe on the Green” held in the MidTown Tokyo. People could enjoy the lovely outdoor atmosphere at the Midtown Garden, with beer, good food and live music. With all these, won’t you fancy a trip to Tokyo now?
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- MidTown Tokyo:
Roppongi Station on the Toei-Oedo Line; or
Roppongi Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line.
Filed under travelling, architecture, japan, art | Comments (7)
Light & Form
Church of Light (光の教堂), Ando Tadao (安藤忠雄 あんど ただお), 1989.
4-3-50 Kita-Kasugaoka, Ibaraki- Shi, Osaka Perfecture.
Tel) 0726-27-0071
Ando Tadao is one of my favourite architects. His famous artistic creation, the Church of the Light, is a valuable gift to the world.
Born in Osaka, 13 Sept 1941, Ando entered into the profession of Architecture in 1969 after doing self-study and travelling around the world between 1962 and 1969. He has won lots of architectual awards since 1979. The lastest one is the 2002 Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects, by his “Chikatsu-Asuka Historical Museum, Osaka”.
Ando’s signature is his favourite material, the fair-faced concrete (清水混凝土, in Chinese). In his master pieces, one could easily appreciate the contrasts of solid and fluid, dark and light, raw and artifice, hard and soft, form and space, concrete and abstract. His work always blends well with the natural environment, instead of confrontation and alienation, which shows his love and respect to the nature.
The Church of the Light is one of Ando’s most famous creations. Applying his favourite material, the fair-faced concrete, Ando has created a clean, quiet and humble space for people to pray and meditate. Inside the Church, a cross-shaped opening is crafted on the plain concrete wall at the shrine to allow natural light from outside to come in. One may find it miracle or even sublime that when natural light comes into the Church, a “light cross” appears at the shrine, a cross that is made form light and form only. With the non-materialistic “light cross”, one would immediately understands the concept of divine and spiritual and be “enlightened”. I would say that, the Church of the Light, by itself, incorporates Ando’s philosophy and representation of beauty with sublime beauty.
“There is a role and function for beauty in our time. In Japan it may be translated into the concept of Uskuji, which also means a beautiful life, that is, how a person lives––his or her inner life. It’s something beyond appearance, or what only meets the eye. You can’t really say what is beautiful about a place, but the image of the place will remain vividly with you. People tend not to use this word beauty because it’s not intellectual—but there has to be an overlap between beauty and intellect.”
- Ando Tadao, in an interview by Architectual Record, talking about “beauty”.
Awards
- Annual Prize (Row House, Sumiyoshi), Architectural Institute of Japan, 1979
- Cultural Design Prize (Rokko Housing One and Two), Japan, 1983
- Alvar Aalto Medal, The Finnish Association of Architects, 1985
- Gold Medal of Architecture, French Academy of Architecture, 1989
- Carlsberg Architectural Prize, Denmark, 1992
- Japan Art Academy Prize, Japan, 1993
- Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1995
- Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France, 1995
- Praemium Imperiale First “FRATE SOLE” Award in Architecture, Japan Art Association, 1996
- Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France, 1997
- Royal Gold Medal, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), 1997
- AIA Gold Medal, American Institute of Architects (AIA), 2002
- House, stable, and mausoleum for former fashion designer Tom Ford , near Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Expansion for the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts
- Rebuilding the Kobe Kaisei Hospital in Nada Ward, Kobe, Japan
- New Tokyo Tower
In progress
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