Tokyo Midtown

Open space fl ows easily into the Tokyo Midtown site from surrounding streets and sidewalks, creating a strong sense of being “on the ground,” in touch with the earth and nature. Interior and exterior spaces are characterized by a feeling of interconnectedness. Major view corridors, windows, bridges, and plazas open out onto open spaces, orienting the viewer relative to the park and to nature.

Multiple and layered design ideas have blended at Tokyo Midtown to create a unique sequence of open spaces. The design’s starting point involved building upon and emphasizing existing site characteristics, such as topography and a lush, mature tree canopy. These elements were reconfi gured and layered with new elements that reinterpret the site’s cultural and natural histories, carefully focused to create rich experiential qualities and a distinct sense of place.

Design Ideas

“ Our design approach created streams of connective landscapes, from the most urbane to the most gardenesque, melding cultural design infl uences from Rockefeller Center to the gardens of Kyoto. The emphasis is on experience over visual composition.” JOE BROWN, EDAW CEO

“ Wa: as I understand it, this word translates as the essence of ‘Japanese-ness.’ The goal was to capture that in a modern way in the landscape and the architecture. The design touches on, but doesn’t stem from, a deep understanding of Japanese culture.I think that’s exactly what Mitsui Fudosan wanted to achieve by hiring an American design fi rm.” STEVE HANSON, EDAW PRINCIPAL, DESIGN LEAD

A historic stream that once traversed the site is reinterpreted as a contemporary, romanticized water feature, drawing people into the park and leading down though meandering pathways to the 21_21 Design Museum, the Great Lawn, and the traditional Japanese Garden.

Pedestrian bridges jut out to meet the park spaces, reinforcing the notion of interpenetration and connectedness. The juxtaposition and weaving of architectural landscape and abstracted natural forms—the curving architecture of the skylights in the plaza and straight lines overlaid onto the meandering stream in the park—creates tension between elements.

At a Glance“ Our intent was to establish a town where a novel collection of Japanese values, sensibilities, and capabilities is continuously created, built up, and delivered to the world. We also wanted to celebrate nature and hospitality; entertaining and showing respect for the guest is very important in Japan.” TOSHIHIDE ICHIKAWA, MITSUI FUDOSAN CO., LTD. GENERAL MANAGER

Tokyo Midtown is a mixed-use development located in the heart of the Roppongi District.

Project design began August 2002, with construction documentation completed in February 2004.

Archaeological exploration was conducted from March 2002 to August 2003. Over fi fty thousand pieces of Edo-period (1596-1698) pottery were found, along with two gold coins.

Construction began on May 18, 2004.

Over 50% of the project’s total area is dedicated to open space.

Over 140 mature, existing trees were transplanted.

The project’s total cost: $3.1 billion US.

The central building, Tokyo Midtown Tower, is the second tallest building in Japan at 248 meters (814 feet).

The total development is 10.1 hectares (25 acres), including a refurbished, 400-year-old site Hinokicho Park.

Total fl oor area of 563,800 square meters (6 million square feet):

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- Commercial: 71,000 sq m / 764,000 sq ftOffi ce: 311,200 sq m / 3,350,000 sq ftHousing: 117,500 sq m / 1,265,000 sq ftHotel: Ritz-Carlton, top 9 fl oors of main tower, 248 roomsRetail: 130 stores and restaurants (22,000 sq m / 237,000 sq ft)Museums / Other: 20,300 sq m / 219,000 sq ft Parking: two fl oors below grade

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“ The close collaboration between SOM and EDAW from the very beginning of the Tokyo Midtown work is evident in the seamless, holistic integration of the site’s elements. The project’s organization blends Japanese landscape design through-out the complex to create a unique urban environment.”MUSTAFA ABADAN, FAIADESIGN PARTNER, SKIDMORE OWINGS & MERRILL

Tokyo Midtown’s great lawn is a particularly unusual feature in Japan; the standard for Japanese design is usually on a more intimate scale. It is an architectural expression in the landscape, overlaid onto the softer, stream-like forms of the park. The designers wanted to provide open, inviting green spaces that can be programmed for events as well as ones more conducive to solitude and horticultural interest.

40 mature cherry trees were preserved and transplanted on site, linking the entryway to Hinokicho Park and creating a “cherry promenade.” Cherry-blossom season is a storied time of celebration in Japan. When the trees are in bloom, people take off time from work to gather at their favorite tree with a blanket, picnic, and drinks. During this season, Tokyo Midtown can expect thousands of visitors attracted by the opportunity to celebrate the cycle of seasons and the beauty of the trees.

Open & Inviting

“ Midtown is a new touchstone for regeneration of the Roppongi district. It will infl uence new development throughout Tokyo, Japan and beyond.” TODD KOHLI, EDAW SENIOR ASSOCIATE

“ In a contemporary, dense urban environment, it is critical to have space that feels welcoming and attractive in order to stimulate the cultural and social interaction that gives the place life.” AKI OMI, EDAW SENIOR ASSOCIATE

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EDAW Inc - San Francisco150 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, USATel: (415) 955-2800 Fax: (415) 788-4875

LEFT TO RIGHT: Steve Hanson Principal - Design Lead,Todd Kohli Senior Associate - Landscape Architect,Joe Brown CEO, Aki Omi Senior Associate

CLIENT: Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

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Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (New York, USA)Communication Arts, Inc. (Colorado, USA)Fisher Marantz Stone (New York, USA)Buro Happold (New York, USA)Nikken Sekkei, Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan)Kengo Kuma & Associates (Tokyo, Japan)Sakakura Associates Architects and Engineers (Tokyo, Japan)Jun Aoki and Associates (Tokyo, Japan)Tadao Ando Architect and Associates (Osaka, Japan)Construction Team: Takenaka Corporation and Taisei Corporation (Tokyo, Japan)

www.edaw.comwww.edaw.com

Printed on recycled paperPrinted on recycled paper

94 U R B A N LA N D A P R I L 2 0 0 7

Traditionally, green space in Tokyo is in the form ofprivate gardens and sacred spaces: landscapes designed tobe looked at rather than used. Tokyo is not thought of as a cityof public parks like those found in New York or Paris, but withthe opening last month of developer Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.’sTokyo Midtown project, that perception soon may change.

Situated on two main roads within the Roppongi District,this new mixed-use development includes Class A officespace, high-end retail, restaurants, residential units, a RitzCarlton hotel, a museum, and a convention center. A distinc-tively unusual feature is that 50 percent of the project’s 25acres (ten ha) is made up of parks, promenades, street-scapes, and plazas.

Developer Mitsui Fudosan acquired an exceptionally raresite. Then, six organizations, with Mitsui as the lead repre-sentative, partnered to purchase the Tokyo Midtown land.One of the site’s most valuable attributes is its continuity,

which allowed the developers to skip the customary processof purchasing several disparate abutting parcels and cob-bling them together. The site was originally the estate of anEdo-period feudal lord where past archaeological investiga-tions turned up hundreds of pieces of pottery and other arti-facts, including several 15th-century gold coins. The Japanesearmy subsequently used the property in various ways; afterWorld War II, the U.S. Army had barracks on the site, and inits last incarnation, the Japanese Defense Agency occupiedit. The government decided to sell the land in 2001, and theconsortium led by Mitsui Fudosan won it at auction in Sep-tember of that year.

Mitsui Fudosan was looking for a decidedly nontraditionalattitude toward the open-space program and chose a designteam from outside Japan that included design architectsSkidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and landscape architectsEDAW, Inc. Local touchstones for the open-space program

Tokyo’s new

green, mixed-use

midtown project is

designed to create

an urban oasis.

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The Tokyo Midtown project includes a great lawn, an unusual feature in Japan where green

space traditionally has been confined to private gardens and sacred spaces. Fifty percent of

the project’s 25 acres (ten ha) is made up of parks, promenades, streetscapes, and plazas.

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A P R I L 2 0 0 7 U R B A N LA N D 95

were more difficult to find. The largest public open spacewithin Tokyo is the Imperial Palace, the walls of which are sur-rounded by parklands. Although the palace grounds are avaluable cultural and historic asset, they are cut off from thecity’s context by a wide, encircling road. Essentially, the palaceis an island, with no associated development adjacent to theproperty. “The palace’s grounds are a political landscape,”explains Steve Hanson, EDAW’s principal-in-charge of the proj-ect. “By design, they are exclusive. The park-as-communal-space is virtually unknown in Tokyo.”

Traditional Japanese landscape typologies encourage pri-vacy and contemplation, but—with the exception of play-grounds and sports fields—do not usually invite active use.The Tokyo Midtown landscape program is designed to pro-vide a degree of variety not often found in Tokyo’s outdoorexperience. “Our design approach created streams of connec-tive landscapes, from the most urbane to the most garde-nesque,” says EDAW president and CEO Joe Brown.

The development’s five high-rise buildings range across adiverse topography. After the existing military buildings wererazed, more than 140 mature trees on the site were movedto new locations, imparting an atmosphere of maturity andhistory. The site also includes Hinokicho Park, a historicgreen space that Mitsui had had restored and refurbished.“The landscape has three primary ‘big movements,’” saysHanson. “The park is drawn out into the newer green areas.A series of water features begins at the plaza and flows downtoward a great lawn, which is itself an extension of thewedge space created by the galleria architecture.”

Office

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The main tower, a 54-story structure, rises from the green plaza of

the Tokyo Midtown project.

The site’s five buildings include

residential and office space, a

retail galleria, a museum, and,

on the top level of the main

tower, a Ritz-Carlton hotel. The

proportions of the site’s high

rises were inspired by the

composition of rock clusters in

Japanese dry gardens, with the

54-story tower as the dominant

central element, surrounded by

lower, asymmetrical structures.

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96 U R B A N LA N D A P R I L 2 0 0 7

The large lawn is a particularly unusual feature in Japan.“The standard for Japanese design customarily is on a moreintimate scale,” says Hanson. “At Tokyo Midtown, we wantedto create experiences that are open and inviting, green spacesthat can be programmed for events, and others that are moreconducive to solitude and horticultural interest. The latter expe-rience,” he adds, “is probably more typically Japanese.”

Original designs were more characteristically modern andWestern, but during a later phase of the project, a new groupat Mitsui requested more Japanese touches. Subsequentdesigns involved more traditionally Japanese depictions oflandscape as a series of narratives, framing nature. Landscapezones play on the site’s topography and natural landscape fea-tures, and include a mountain top with its bubbling water; amisty Alpine meadow; a mountain stream with weirs andwhitewater; a perimeter forest edge, with dark evergreens andferns; and a valley drive, with its abundance of cherry trees.

Hardscape paving patterns are derived from the familiar pro-portions of tatami mats, the traditional woven rice strawfloor covering. Black bands in the paving echo the mats’cloth hems and reflect elements of the building facades.

Perhaps most notably, the project includes 40 transplanted,mature cherry trees, linking the entryway to Hinokicho Park andcreating a subtle cherry promenade. When the trees’ famouspink and white buds are in bloom, people may even take timeoff from work to gather at their favorite tree with a blanket,picnic, and drinks. During this season, Tokyo Midtown can rea-sonably expect thousands of visitors attracted by the opportu-nity to celebrate the cycle of seasons and the beauty of thetrees—as well as visitors drawn to the shopping galleria andrestaurants, bringing revenue to the development.

While the cherry-blossom celebration at the new site is expected to draw crowds to Tokyo Midtown, developersalso are working to bring an ongoing stream of peoplethrough the street, plaza, park, and shops. To facilitate this kind of long-term visitation, Mitsui Fudosan helpedroute two subway lines to the project, refurbishing anexisting subway stop for one line and redirecting under-ground passageways to provide an exit at Tokyo Midtown.The other line received three new entrance/exit points, twowithin the project and one across the street.

This connectivity—both physical and psychological—wasconsidered vital for a number of reasons. Access to and fromall of the site’s attractions needs to come instinctively topedestrians. A network of pedestrian pathways creates link-ages throughout the entire development, while the street-

Large plazas and gathering

areas are designed to

promote community and

communicate a sense of the

site’s overall scale, while

smaller gardens appear

throughout the park setting.

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A stream in the park passes by 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, a new

research and design center created by Japanese architect

Tadao Ando. The building has two levels, one visible above

the ground, the other, larger, and underground.

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A P R I L 2 0 0 7 U R B A N LA N D 97

scape’s large shade trees soften transitions from park to hard-scape. Bridges and plazas provide a visual connection to theurban character of the Roppongi District beyond. Green gate-ways at road and parkland entrances and edges ease transi-tion to the neighborhood ahead. Despite its upscale housingcomponent, Tokyo Midtown is notably open in character.Although it is an exclusive development, Tokyo Midtownremains connected to the neighborhood.

“It’s unusual—not just in Tokyo, but in urban centersworldwide—to pair high-end housing and retail with publicopen space,” says Hanson. “To be frank,” he adds, “Roppongiisn’t the most wholesome place, though on the whole, Tokyois a relatively safe city. Roppongi has an abundant nightlife:clubs, bars, and entertainment. Mitsui Fudosan really wantedus to consider the safety and comfort of the project’s residents,workers, and visitors, as well as the safety and comfort of resi-dents in the surrounding area. The character of Roppongi itselfis changing, and this project is part of that change.”

As soon as Mitsui Fudosan purchased the land, thedevelopment company opened an office to coordinate andhost community involvement. Some 300 residents attendedthe kickoff meeting, and, according to Hanson, continued tomake their voices heard at subsequent meetings. Localswere also invited to the site for progress reports and tours.The feedback was that the park might have security issues,”says Hanson. In response, the design team developed aplan similar to that employed by New York City’s RockefellerCenter: the use of abundant nighttime lighting, security cam-eras, and on-site staff. This team of “concierges,” as staff

members are known, will be on call to assist visitors andresidents with directions and information, and will also actas de facto security guards.

With this investment in security; transportation infrastruc-ture; and the site’s open space, office, and retail components—a total of 6 million square feet (557,418 sq m), constructed ata cost of approximately $3.1 billion (€2,350,526,863)—MitsuiFudosan is anticipating more than 75,000 people to passthrough the site every day and more than 25 million per year.Some of these visitors will picnic, attend programmed eventson Tokyo Midtown’s great lawn, or stroll along the water fea-tures. Others may visit the Suntory Museum of Art or the 21_21DESIGN SIGHT facility, where designers, corporations, crafts-people, and engineers will be able to meet to research design.Associated development within the property is expected tospur further investment surrounding the new park that will con-tribute to the site’s balance of work, life, and entertainment.

Although privately owned and developed, Tokyo Midtownestablishes a series of safe and comfortable public openspaces—an urban oasis that is expected to contribute sig-nificantly to the quality of life for Tokyo’s residents. UL

TODD KOHLI is a senior landscape architect and associate with EDAW,

Inc., a planning and design firm.

This article is dedicated to the memory of William “Sandy”D’Elia, an architect and EDAW’s director of development, who died on July 3, 2006, at the age of 58. D’Elia was anadvocate for urbanism throughout the world, a lover ofJapanese culture, and the author’s mentor and friend.

F o u n d i n Tr a n s l a t i o n

A network of pedestrian

pathways creates linkages

throughout the entire

project, including its

canopied, tree-filled plaza.

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