The career of Japanese architect Kenz? Tange features a curious anomaly: he received the same commission twice. In 1952, during the early stages of his career, Tange designed an administrative building in Y?rakuch?, Tokyo, for the city's metropolitan government. Over thirty years later, when the government relocated to Shinjuku, Tokyo, he again won the commission to design its administrative building. Completed in 1991, this would be one of his last, and most ambitious, projects. The second incarnation now dominates the city?s skyline, its highly distinctive design guaranteeing it landmark status. Nicknamed Toch? (an abbreviation of its Japanese name T?ky?-to Ch?sha), its architectural references to both tradition and modernity act as a visual metaphor for the eclectic city over which its inhabitants govern.
No.1 Building

The career of Japanese architect Kenz? Tange features a curious anomaly: he received the same commission twice. In 1952, during the early stages of his career, Tange designed an administrative building in Y?rakuch?, Tokyo, for the city's metropolitan government. Over thirty years later, when the government relocated to Shinjuku, Tokyo, he again won the commission to design its administrative building. Completed in 1991, this would be one of his last, and most ambitious, projects. The second incarnation now dominates the city?s skyline, its highly distinctive design guaranteeing it landmark status. Nicknamed Toch? (an abbreviation of its Japan...