Tokyo International Forum
From Archiplanet
 | Tokyo International Forum |
| Designer | Rafael Vinoly |
| Location | Tokyo, Japan |
| Date | 1989 competition, completed 1996. |
| Building Type | exhibition hall, conference center |
| Climate | warm temperate |
| Context | urban center |
| Architectural Style | High-Tech Modern |
| Street Address | |
| Notes | A gracefully expressive great curving ship shape in glass and steel, set off across its plaza with blocky recalls the scale of other European supporting halls. Next door to Tokyo Station. |
| At Great Buildings | http://www.GreatBuildings.com/buildings/Tokyo_International_Forum.html |
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[edit] Discussion
| Building Details |
"Vinoly has likened the Glass Hall to nineteenth-century public spaces; indeed like arcades: both the Crystal Palace are recalled in this immense, awesome space with its monumental staircases and shimmering bridges and ramps, that are almost Piranesian in scale.
"The Plaza itself recalls the scale of other European models like the Eiffel Tower."
— Ivor Richards, "Space Odyssey", The Architectural Review, 1197, November 1996.
The Tokyo International Forum is a giant civic complex that had to accommodate cultural performances and business events yet direct significant pedestrian traffic through the nexus of four subway lines and two major train stations. The Rafael Viñoly Architects PC design solution provides significant public amenities as it integrates the large and complex program into the urban fabric. The Forum consists of the Glass Hall conference center, four elevated theaters, and an outdoor public plaza at ground level; an underground concourse unites below grade all the program elements, including an underground exhibition hall, and connects to the subway network.
The Glass Hall, set along the railroad tracks at the eastern boundary of the site, is one of the boldest structures in Japan, consisting of two intersecting ellipses that enclose a vast central lobby above the concourse level. This immense glass and steel enclosure is supported by a dramatic, 750-foot-long truss system overhead, supported on only two columns. The 197-foot-high laminated glass curtain wall is transparent to visually unify the elements of the complex, yet is designed to withstand extreme structural stress in an earthquake-prone area.
Pedestrian bridges connect the Glass Hall to the performance halls, four roughly cubic volumes, arranged sequentially by size along the west edge of the site and elevated to allow the public plaza to pass beneath; from north to south, the volumes contain a 5,000-seat theater, 3,000-seat flexible function space, 1,500-seat music hall, and 600-seat black box theater.
An outdoor public plaza occupies the space between the Glass Hall and the overhanging theaters. The plaza provides a corridor through the site, but is planted and enclosed by a granite wall (which also blocks noise and vibration from the transportation infrastructure) to provide a space that is both sheltered from the city and given monumental character by its size and by the surrounding buildings.
"The Tokyo Forum is severe and grand and at the same time welcoming—it has turned out to be a social as well as a cultural and transportation hub," says Rafael Viñoly. "That’s often the sign of a successful building: it fills a previously unrecognized need. And you make this happen by bringing together programs and people who might not otherwise have anything to do with one another."
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[edit] References
Ivor Richards, "Space Odyssey", The Architectural Review, 1197, November 1996. excellent commentary and extensive photos and drawings.
[edit] External Links
