Omote Sando Hills

This building is Omote Sando Hills, one of newest and hottest spots in Tokyo and designed by Tadao Ando, a famous architect worldwide.

The building is along a big boulevard, full of trees on both sides. The street is a gentle slope to one of biggest shrine in Japan, Meiji shrine. The street is lined with many fashion shops and cafes, just like something of a mixture of Champs Elysees in Paris and Via Montenapoleone in Milano. (Though this street is nowhere near as elegant as these streets...)

On every weekend many people are enjoying walking in the streets and this is one of the most popular places for getting a date with one's boy or girl friend.

An old and low-rise building used to be here. This new building is also as low as the old one as to be in harmony with the surrounding building and trees. The height of this building is about the same as that of the trees along the street so the building goes well with the scenery.

This building has long and thin plan. In the center of it is a long void and it is surrounded with a spiral and continuous slope. Along the slope are many small shops, selling a variety of goods. The flow planing is, roughly speaking, like the one of Guggenheim Museum in NYC. The spiral slope of this building is exactly the same as the one of the street outside in angle. The well-balanced elements of the width, height and lightness of the corridor make us feel comfortable.

Inside the building is another little street with the same angle and the similarity successfully connects the inside with the outside.