Omotesando Hills
Encyclopedia
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
urban developments by Mori Building
Minoru Mori
is considered to be Japan's most powerful and influential building tycoon. He joined his father, Taikichiro's, real estate business after graduating from Tokyo University and is now president and CEO of Mori Building, of which he and his older brother Kei's families own 100%...
. It occupies a two hundred and fifty meter stretch of Omotesandō, a famous shopping and (previously) residential road in Aoyama
Aoyama, Tokyo
is a neighborhood of Tokyo, located in the northeastern Minato Ward. During the Edo Period, Aoyama was home to various temples, shrines, and samurai residences. The name Aoyama derived from a samurai named Aoyama Tadanari who served the Tokugawa Shogunate and held his mansion in this area...
sometimes termed Tokyo's Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
. It was designed by Tadao Ando
Tadao Ando
is a Japanese architect whose approach to architecture was once categorized by Francesco Dal Co as critical regionalism. Ando has led a storied life, working as a truck driver and boxer prior to settling on the profession of architecture, despite never having taken formal training in the field...
, and contains over 130 shops and 38 apartments.
The construction of Omotesando Hills, built at a cost of $330 million, has been marked by controversy. The building replaced the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
-inspired Dōjunkai
Dojunkai
Dōjunkai was a corporation set up a year after the 1923 Kantō earthquake to provide reinforced concrete collective housing in the Tokyo area. Its formal name was Zaidan-hōjin Dōjunkai , i.e. the Dōjunkai corporation...
Aoyama Apartments, which had been built in 1927 after the 1923 Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kanto earthquake
The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...
. The destruction of the apartments again raised questions about Japan's interest in preserving historic buildings. A small section of the old apartments is reconstructed in the South-East part of the new complex.
Minoru Mori noted that there had been resistance from local landowners to the use of Ando as architect, saying that they were concerned that his buildings were too fashionable for the area.
Regarding the construction, Ando said, "It's not Tadao Ando as an architect who has decided to rebuild and make shops, it was the owners themselves who wanted it to be new housing and to get some value with shops below. My task was how to do it in the best way.”
Floor Directory
Colour key| – Fashion | – Beauty | – Gallery & Space | – Multipurpose Space |
| – Lifestyle | – Restaurant & Cafe | – Service | – Wagon Shop |
Doujun Wing
Doujun Wing entrance is located on 1st floor| 3F (3rd floor) | 2F (2nd floor) | 1F (1st floor) |
|---|---|---|
| D301 S and O | D201 gallery dojunkai | D101 Joie D102 theory |
| D302 Galerie 412 | D202 LUNETTES du JURA | |
| D303 Shinsei Bank |