Week 2: Architectonic: Tachuu Naitou
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
We all know of Tokyo Tower as one of the main attractions of Japan's captial city. The reason I have chosen this building for my architectonic project, not only lies within my longing to visit it one day, but also because of it's beautiful structure and presence dominating Tokyo, especially at night.
Being surrounded in a city of neon lights, the Tokyo Tower still manages to stand out at night with its lighting. While it may look like a plain and boring communications and observation deck during the day time, the night lights make it blend in, yet stand out at the same time with the night life of Tokyo, Japan. It is no longer a boring Eiffel Tower look-a-like anymore, but an attractive tower which draws in everyone's attention.
Of course Tokyo Tower does not build itself, the architect behind it - Tachuu Naito (1886 - 1970), known for designing the tallest buildings in Japan was inspired by the Eiffel Tower of France and hence designed this building. Naitou may or may not have taken into concern of the target audience as it was originally designed as a communications tower, however, there are small features which had been included (most likely later on) which made it appealing to tourists of all ages. One of the most well known is the tower's glass floors (pictured above).
One feature of Tokyo Tower that has been redesigned is the lighting structure. In 1987, lighting designer Motoko Ishii redesigned the tower's lights prior to it's 30th Anniversary. The lights that we see today are the result of Motoko's works (pictured above). The lighting of Tokyo Tower changes colour depending on season (white - orange) and also for special events such as the blue lighting it displayed for World Diabetes Day in 2007 (above).
Image credits to wikipedia and dannychoo.com
