This was positioned 100 meters up in the sky! (Due to height regulations, the highest part of the sphere is 123.45m.) This sphere has come to be called the "symbol within a symbol" of this building. Within the large space between the two towers, a "spherical observation room" 32 meters in diameter, covered with titanium was constructed.
These were designed with the purpose of creating a diagonal flow of people.
The ▲ is the "see-through escalator" (Tube Escalator) that extends in a straight line from the ground level on the first floor to the rooftop garden (Fujisan Terrace) on the seventh floor, and the "Grand Staircase" built in the space under the eaves of the office tower. However, Tange has embodied this very principle for the Fuji Television building. We often see this in illustrations and paintings, but in architecture, there are many opportunities to avoid anything other than ■. This created a sense of unity, transparency, and fluidity for the complex, making it a multi-functional building. In addition, the twin towers were connected with a total of six corridors, and a spherical observation deck located at the top. The result was what we call an uneven, concave building. He lined up five large-sized studios (2) horizontally, with (1) an office tower and (3) a media tower at each end, and (2) studios on the lower floors.
Tange solved this complication with ease. In the case of (3), heavy materials must be stacked and layered. With (2), it has no columns and nothing can be built on top of it due to an open space. The building was required to have different functions in terms of structure: (1) offices, (2) large-sized studios, (3) medium-sized studios and broadcasting facilities, and (4) an open space for visitors.įor an ordinary building, it would be enough to maintain the tower building and surrounding exterior for (1) and (4), but the problem was with (2) and (4). Opened in April 1997, a quarter of a century later, the Fuji Television Headquarters Building is still a symbol of Odaiba, along with the Rainbow Bridge. This is the reason why he is called the "The World-Renowned TANGE." He also designed capital city construction plans, urban plans, and campus plans around the world, including oil-producing countries in the Middle East, newly developing countries in Africa, and Singapore.Įven more than an architect, he was very much active as an urban planner. As a symbol of the entire Tokyo waterfront subcenter, he designed the Fuji Television Headquarters Building (1996), a state-of-the-art media center in the Odaiba area. In the midst of making this development a reality, Tange participated in a competition along with the Fujisankei Communications Group, for the development of the waterfront area, which he won. Tange believed that "the waterfront subcenter is the place where the concentration of Tokyo can be diffused, and the city could respond to internationalization and information technology." He therefore strongly pursued for the development of the Tokyo Bay area. This was used as a venue for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games twice, in 19. It is said that the double suspension structure, with additional cables running from the main cables, represents the pinnacle of modernist structural expressionism (showing structural technology as expression), which began with Le Corbusier's project for the Palace of the Soviets. In particular, the "double suspension structure" of the First Gymnasium was unprecedented in the world. At that time, he worked on the issue of "space and symbolism" and designed the Yoyogi National Gymnasium (1964) with a suspended structure, which was rare back then. In the 1960s, he proposed "A Plan for Tokyo 1960," which emphasized the need for structural reforms to see the growing city of Tokyo through a system of communication. In addition to fostering many outstanding architects, including Takashi Asada, Sachio Otani, Taneo Oki, Koji Kamiya, Fumihiko Maki, Arata Isozaki, Kisho Kurokawa, and Yoshio Taniguchi, he was involved in the education of future generations at the Polytechnic University of Milan, Harvard University, Tsinghua University, and other institutions around the world. As a highly acclaimed architect who has created many symbolic works such as Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, and Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, he was the first Japanese to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, often considered to be the “Nobel Prize for architecture.”Īfter completing his graduate studies at Tokyo Imperial University, he taught at his alma mater from 1946 to 1974 and presided over the Tange Laboratory. The headquarters building of Fuji Television Network, Inc.