Stuff like this makes me wonder why developers and architects decide to design and build introverted malls on highly active shopping streets. The same thing happened along Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Water Tower Place started the ball rolling and then a string of vertical malls sprung up along the stretch north of the river. Fortunately foot traffic along the street is still strong, but the adverse effect in Japan might be the opposite.
I think ando is falling off a bit, especially when he does these megaprojects. When I was in china I saw a gigantic housing project ando had designed and the whole project was poor--the floor plans and facade were the worst. I personally think he is better at S and M projects.
wow this is one of the 'coldest' malls ive seen in a long time, but its maybe because the shops are not open yet. But I still wonder, couldn't Ando do better than this, even with all the constraints that retail design involves
while i find this building quite awful there are a few things that redeem it in comparison to typical western fair.
first this street will never lack foot traffic as it is one of the busiest places in the city, with prada, TOD and all that stuff just across the street or down the road.
it also has housing starting from the 3rd or 4th floor (most of the stuff in the shots in the link are underground), and doesn't go more than 5 stories high, so no huge shadows or anything.
there are shops on the outside (street-side) as well, i assume accessable from the street, though who knows, maybe the owner wants no traffic from that side...haven't been since it opened so will have to check it out...
from what i hear ando himself is not so happy with the project and struggled to deal with the requirement for max floor-space...shitty, but the developer is the same guy wot did roppongi hills so there couldn't have been any illusions.
but for me the biggest downer is that this shopping mall replaces a classic complex of public housing done early last century, and it was based on an open and porous plan, so the street had depth when you walked past that area. ando has replaced it with a glass and concrete wall that makes the street into a bit of a gauntlet with no relief. like walking past the side of a superstore...totally totally bad architecture m. ando. sad.
Feb 12, 06 11:47 pm ·
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4 Comments
Stuff like this makes me wonder why developers and architects decide to design and build introverted malls on highly active shopping streets. The same thing happened along Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Water Tower Place started the ball rolling and then a string of vertical malls sprung up along the stretch north of the river. Fortunately foot traffic along the street is still strong, but the adverse effect in Japan might be the opposite.
I think ando is falling off a bit, especially when he does these megaprojects. When I was in china I saw a gigantic housing project ando had designed and the whole project was poor--the floor plans and facade were the worst. I personally think he is better at S and M projects.
wow this is one of the 'coldest' malls ive seen in a long time, but its maybe because the shops are not open yet. But I still wonder, couldn't Ando do better than this, even with all the constraints that retail design involves
while i find this building quite awful there are a few things that redeem it in comparison to typical western fair.
first this street will never lack foot traffic as it is one of the busiest places in the city, with prada, TOD and all that stuff just across the street or down the road.
it also has housing starting from the 3rd or 4th floor (most of the stuff in the shots in the link are underground), and doesn't go more than 5 stories high, so no huge shadows or anything.
there are shops on the outside (street-side) as well, i assume accessable from the street, though who knows, maybe the owner wants no traffic from that side...haven't been since it opened so will have to check it out...
from what i hear ando himself is not so happy with the project and struggled to deal with the requirement for max floor-space...shitty, but the developer is the same guy wot did roppongi hills so there couldn't have been any illusions.
but for me the biggest downer is that this shopping mall replaces a classic complex of public housing done early last century, and it was based on an open and porous plan, so the street had depth when you walked past that area. ando has replaced it with a glass and concrete wall that makes the street into a bit of a gauntlet with no relief. like walking past the side of a superstore...totally totally bad architecture m. ando. sad.
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