Tod’s Omotesando
Tokyo, Japan
The facade of criss-crossed concrete braces
reinterprets the silhouettes of the elm trees lining the street
The Tod’s building,
located on Omotesando, the famous tree-lined
avenue in Tokyo’s Aoyama district,
is wrapped in a skin of
criss-crossed concrete braces and glass that mimics the
trees lining
the street.
Light enters the building through the clear glass that fills the gaps
between the concrete braces on the north side frontal facade. Opaque
glass towards the south, facing rows of low private houses, brings
additional daylight into the building.
The concrete braces
also serve as space dividers inside the building where the natural materials,
stone, wood and leather, reflect the quality of Tod's leather goods.
The top floor serves
as a boardroom with a terraced roof garden.
When the spaces between the braces are lit from within at night it creates the effect of silhouetted tree branches.
The architect Toyo Ito was announced as the 2006 winner of one of architecture’s most prestigious prizes, the Royal Gold Medal.
First Floor Plan
7F PLAN
Section
Drawing courtesy Toyo Ito
& Associates
Seventh Floor Plan
Total area: 2,448.84
square meters
Completed: 2004
Photographed by: Edmund
Sumner
Architect: Toyo Ito & Associates
General contractor: Takenaka Corporation
Structural Engineer: OAK Inc.
Mechanical Engineer: ES Associates Co., Ltd.
Lighting Engineer: Lightdesign Inc.
Manufacturers (furniture): Modar s.r.l.
Fixtures and fittings (shop): Garde U.S. P CO., Ltd.