De beers
I do not think I have to add somethin to this picture. Everytime you walk trhough the streets of Ginza, you cannot avoid to notice it and appreciate it.
De Beers is an olland brand fro diamonds and jewelry, thus They wanted something comparable with their product in this high competitive angle of the world. In front of tem there is the french brand Cartier. Just in front there is Bulgari, …and so on…
De Beers Tokyo
Others very nice pictures can be found in this blog. And also in the architecture archdaily website, here.
Here is the offical web site of the architect, that we have already met twice in Harajuku, here for the apple store, and here for the H&M store.
I am sorry but I am reluctant to write about this building since I do not manage enough expression to describe that unique and “extraordinaire” project
a solid-looking building on the intersection between Kotto dori and Aoyama Dori with nice proportion.
In a previous post there was a picture aside 。
from this link I gathered the buildings` data.
Architect`s name is エーエーアンドサン 一 and they are probably not japanese.
also Valentino is there…and so on…
Going to Nezu Shrine for the first year celebration – I met this old building, so this new year picture is dedicated to old style architecture or vernacular
100 years ago the whole Tokyo was like that house.
Here below the Nezu temple (jinjia, 神社）
Nothing to add than pictures. It looks like has changed since the initial facade one can see in the Kuma site.
Here below the actual look.
It is interesting what they write in their site since I was wondering to myself if those mullions were wood-made or not. They write
“Although Japan’s Building Standard Law prohibits the use of wood on the exterior walls of buildings in large urban areas we were able to obtain special permission by installing a drencher on the outside wall.”
In this link, very nice professional pictures of the interior space.
In this link an interview of Kuma about how he likes some F.Wright concepts.
BEside the wood feeling that he claimed to want to restore in that tree respect (the zelkowa trees along both sides of the street) the other word that goes to my mind was “Marble”. Luxury marble. Thus immediately I have thought of his work for L.Vuitton in Osaka which is a remarkable apical achievement in contemporary architecture and…yes it just the year after. So those interior walls just few inches from the facade showing marble natural grain were maybe a sort of basic idea of what came the year after.
cosmonauti a tokyo 