Construction has broken ground on Heatherwick Studio's latest project in Asia – a striking, organic, mixed use development featuring within its composition a distinctive green pergola style roof. The scheme, located in Tokyo's Toranomon-Azabudai district, includes the public realm and lower-level podium architecture for a site, which also comprises a 6,000 sq m central landscaped square, office, residential, retail, a school and a temple.
Working with the Mori Building Company to create ‘an exceptional public district for the city', Heatherwick Studio is effectively working on the redevelopment of the wider area’s accessible public realm, which is expected to be visited by some 25 million people per year, once completed.
The practice responded to the site’s irregular shape by designing fluid, undulating volumes, which are topped off by a planted roof – this gives a much needed green element to the scheme, while echoing ‘the natural forms of the project’s valley setting', explain the architects.
‘It’s been very exciting working on the Toranomon-Azabudai project and much of our effort has been focused on designing the public spaces that everyone will experience when they spend time in this new area,’ says Thomas Heatherwick. ‘As many new developments around the world can be harsh and sterile we wondered if we could provide a more human-centred alternative by integrating surprisingly intense quantities of planting and greenery.’
The Toranomon-Azabudai project is Heatherwick Studio’s very first to begin construction in Japan. Completion is due in March 2023.
INFORMATION
-
Patek Philippe brings 15 new timepieces to Watches and Wonders 2025The Swiss manufacturer showcases its intricate complications and elegant designs at the annual trade show with a suite of new models
-
Watches & Wonders 2025: preview Richemont’s latest innovations, on show at the Geneva watch fairDiscover eight enticing timepieces from the luxury group, showcased this week at the Geneva fair
-
Masters of midcentury modern design and their creations spotlighted in new book‘Mid-Century Modern Designers’ is a new book from Phaidon celebrating those who shaped the period and their notable creations, from furniture to objects
-
Tour the brutalist Ginza Sony Park, Tokyo's newest urban hubGinza Sony Park opens in all its brutalist glory, the tech giant’s new building that is designed to embrace the public, offering exhibitions and freely accessible space
-
A first look at Expo 2025 Osaka's experimental architectureExpo 2025 Osaka prepares to throw open its doors in April; we preview the world festival, its developments and highlights
-
Ten contemporary homes that are pushing the boundaries of architectureA new book detailing 59 visually intriguing and technologically impressive contemporary houses shines a light on how architecture is evolving
-
And the RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 goes to... SANAA!The RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 winner is announced – Japanese studio SANAA scoops the prestigious architecture industry accolade
-
Architect Sou Fujimoto explains how the ‘idea of the forest’ is central to everythingSou Fujimoto has been masterminding the upcoming Expo 2025 Osaka for the past five years, as the site’s design producer. To mark the 2025 Wallpaper* Design Awards, the Japanese architect talks to us about 2024, the year ahead, and materiality, nature, diversity and technological advances
-
Tour Xi'an's remarkable new 'human-centred' shopping district with designer Thomas HeatherwickXi'an district by Heatherwick Studio, a 115,000 sq m retail development in the Chinese city, opens this winter. Thomas Heatherwick talks us through its making and ambition
-
Tadao Ando: the self-taught contemporary architecture master who 'converts feelings into physical form’Tadao Ando is a self-taught architect who rose to become one of contemporary architecture's biggest stars. Here, we explore the Japanese master's origins, journey and finest works
-
The Kumagaya House in Saitama is a modest family home subdivided by a soaring interiorThis Kumagaya House is a domestic puzzle box taking the art of the Japanese house to another level as it intersects a minimal interior with exterior spaces, balconies and walkways
