Sky-Building, Osaka | Metabolist Floating City Evanesce in Blue-Sky, in Reality?

Описание: “The use of the metabolism concept, expanded to include aspects of livability, is applied to cities to demonstrate the practical meaning of sustainability. Its application in industrial ecology, urban ecology, urban demonstration projects, business plans and city comparisons are used to illustrate its potential.” (Peter Newman, 1999).

The Umeda Sky Building (梅田スカイビル) is a spectacular high rise building in the Kita district of Osaka, near Osaka and Umeda stations. It is also known as the "New Umeda City".

The 173 meter tall building consists of two towers that are connected with each other by the "Floating Garden Observatory" on the 39th floor. The observatory offers great views of the city through its windows and from its open-air deck. In the basement, there is a restaurant floor that replicates a town of the early Showa Period, while offices occupy most other floors.

The building was originally conceived in 1988 as the "City of Air" project, a planned mixed-use skyscraper which was envisioned to create four interconnected towers in northern Osaka, located within the Umeda central business district and is at close proximity to the Yodo River. The third tower of the complex was initially planned to be constructed within the current site of the Vegetable Garden, while the fourth tower was planned located along the eastern side of the third tower. Eventually, the Japan economic bubble of the 1980s caused widespread damage to the Japanese economy and brought the total number of towers down to two towers.

During the architectural planning of the complex, Hiroshi Hara created the overall concept of the towers are based on two key concepts: the first concept was to create a modern landmark in the city featuring modern architecture, and drew inspiration from the Grande Arche in Paris, France, which features a hypercube-like design. The second concept within the complex is to emphasize a vision of a "floating city", which can be reflected from the city's urban landscape and is contrasted with the opaque ceramic atrium at the ground floor. The concept also included open-air like amenities and viewing decks of the Umeda district and the entire Osaka Skyline in three dimensions.

The towers' construction process started with the construction of the twin towers using reinforced concrete, while the construction of the sky deck began afterwards. As the structural works of the towers were completed, the sky deck was raised to the ground using the lift-up construction method, which used a set of hydraulic elevators to raise the section upwards, and is the first time to be introduced within a construction project. The installation of the glass-layered escalators and elevators also followed the same system. The tower was fully completed and began opening its doors to the public on March 25, 1993.[5]

References:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umeda_S...
2. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4002.html
3. https://www.skybldg.co.jp/en/