Architecture Asia - ARCASIA Awards for Architecture 2018

Architect
Akira Taguchi
Location
Tokyo, Japan
Year
Public Amenity Buildings
2014
B 1
Commercial
Mention
The Otemachi Tower /
Otemachi Forest
Otemachi Tower is an urban redevelopment project in central Tokyo.
Prior to the development, two buildings divided both the aboveground
area and the cramped basement area, and did not provide a pleasant
urban environment. The new development comprises an ultra-high
rise building with office and hotel functions as a centre for international
exchange and finance. The development also features the Otemachi
Forest – a radical departure from conventional manmade plazas – in
the most densely populated part of Tokyo. Beneath the Otemachi
Tower building, a public plaza that functions as a terminal for five subway
lines is provided, and forms the core of the pedestrian network
connecting the above-ground and underground spaces.
The surrounding area of Otemachi is a vast maze of closed, cramped
underground passageways, but the four-story atrium plaza is continuously
connected with the forest at ground level. Natural light filters
down through the glass curtain walls to create a large space that is
bright and open and also functions as a local disaster centre. The
Otemachi Forest also mitigates the “heat island” phenomena and provides
a green space that connects the greenery of the Imperial Palace
with the Otemachi, Marunouchi and Yurakucho districts to the east.
Wild birds have been sighted there, and it is expected to become the
nucleus for the formation of a green network.
ARCHITECTURE ASIA ISSUE 3 2018
33