In wrapping up my posts for Japan, Tokyo was by far the finale. First, I eat what may be the best sushi of my life, and then in the course of two days, I see so much architecture by so many designers that I look up to, it's so crazy. I must admit, I was architectured out. I guess it's always the case with too much of a good thing.
It's too bad a lot of these buildings' charm lies on the inside, which we didn't not get to experience in most of them. We went to a lot of the big fashion streets; it seemed like we were doing the ultimate window shopping, but hunting for buildings, not necessarily clothes (not that we could afford anything there anyway, seeing as Omotesando Street is like Fifth Avenue compacted together).
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| Nakagin Capsule Tower (Kisho Kurokawa) |
This was the first capsule tower that was designed, built, and still in use today as an apartment. The capsules were made to be moveable and restackable, but they never were reconfigured from their initial placement.
Next, we headed to the shopping streets, Ginza.
Small pictures, clockwise from left: 1) Hermes (Renzo Piano), 2) Mikimoto (Toyo Ito), 3) Burberry (?), 4) Tiffany & Co. (Kengo Kuma)
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| National Museum of Western Art. My first Le Corbusier building!! |
The last of the Ando projects: (Left) International Library of Children's Literature; addition to old library from 1929; (right) Omotesando Hills Shopping Mall.
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| What was a furniture store is now a classy underwear store (Tadao Ando) |
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| Trust me, there's some architecture under there. Don't let Hello Kitty fool you. (Kazuyo Sejima) |
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| My favorite: Tod's (SANAA) |
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| Last, but not least, the Prada Aoyama Store (Herzog & Demeuron). |
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We were greeted by a suited doorman, walked around on their white plush carpets (in squishy wet shoes from the rain), took some illegal photos, and rolled out. They hated us.
...and yes, of course I used the bathroom. They even have diamond-shaped trashcans...
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