Arakawa Building
This is a project to rebuild the owner?s office and residence as well as office space for rent on a street corner of Nishi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo?s historic business district. Many of the mid-story rental buildings, which occupy the majority of Tokyo?s commercial and business districts, are now facing rebuilding time. While there are large development projects like Toranomon Hills along the main streets near the site, buildings of similar size can be found along the back streets.
Arakawa Bldg. has long contributed to its surrounding cityscape, along with the growth of the owner?s business. In its rebuilding, focus was placed on creating a building that would shape an attractive cityscape for the future by revisiting the potential of the building. Photography by © Harunori Noda
Adding attraction to the city – In many buildings, the connection to the city is limited to the ground floor where most commercial facilities are located. On the other hand, spaces above the 2nd floor are completely cut off from the outside by the stereotypical façade. As a result, a characterless cityscape is created. To address this, all levels of the Arakawa Bldg. are wrapped by emergency stairs, which are not only essential functional elements, but also work as an ?engawa?-like space (veranda), as well as a buffer from the outside.
The idea behind this was to create a new presence that reveals the activities of people within the building and, while adding attraction ...