Aoyama Technical College Building by Makoto Sei Watanabe
"The Power of Architecture Restored" is the philosophy imbued in Japanese architect Makoto Sei Watanabe's 1990 Aoyama Technical College Building
"The Aoyama Technical College building is also intended to restore the fundamental strength that buildings ought to have. Ancient structures, from the Pyramids to the great cathedrals, possessed the awesome power of large spaces. Most of modern architecture, it seems to me, has lost this basic power. Architecture ought to be something capable of moving people's hearts and giving them a physical thrill in a way possible in no other art. That power deserves to be restored. Another purpose of this building is to assure that anyone who might see it experiences, both mentally and physically, a definitive feeling of excitement.
The completion of this building proved a potent stimulus to the disorderly, chaotic area in which it stands. The effect of this structure proposing a new principle for creating architecture in the city will spread, helping people to stop and think about the way they want their cities to be. They can thus change their communities, as well as Tokyo as a whole, into better worlds.” – Makoto Sei Watanabe
source: makoto-architect.com
Spiral Building by Fumihiko Maki
Spiral is a multi-use building by architect Fumihiko Maki, part of the Metabolism Architecture Movement, built in Aoyama, Tokyo in 1985.
Edo-Tokyo Museum
Designed by Kiyonori Kikutake, the Edo-Tokyo Museum building is 62.2, and the concrete exterior is designed based on a traditional rice storehouse (Takayuki-Shiki style) and is the same height as the Edo Castle.
Maison Hermès by Renzo Piano
The Ginza Tokyo flagship store and corporate headquarters of Hermès was built by Renzo Piano in collaboration with Takenaka Corporation between 1998 and 2001.
