Development project in Tokyo, Japan
Roppongi Hills Mori Garden
Keyakizaka Street illuminaton
Toho Cinemas in Roppongi Hills
TV Asahi headquarters in Roppongi Hills
Roppongi Hills (六本木ヒルズ , Roppongi Hiruzu ) is a development project in Tokyo and one of Japan's largest integrated property developments , located in the Roppongi district of Minato , Tokyo .
Constructed by building tycoon Minoru Mori , the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartments, shops, restaurants, cafes, movie theatres, a museum, a hotel, a major TV studio, an outdoor amphitheatre, and a few parks. The centrepiece of the complex is the 54-story Roppongi Hills Mori Tower . Mori's stated vision was to build an integrated development where high-rise inner-urban communities allow people to live, work, play, and shop in proximity to eliminate commuting time. The company argued that this would increase leisure time, quality of life, and benefit Japan's national competitiveness. 17 years after the design's initial conception, the complex opened to the public on April 25, 2003. The architecture and use of space is documented in the book Six Strata: Roppongi Hills Redefined .[ 3]
Development
Roppongi Hills cost over $4 billion and was built on a 27-acre (109,000 m2 ) site. The site amalgamated more than 400 smaller lots Mori acquired over 14 years.[ 4] [ 5]
Mori Tower
Mori Tower is a 54-story high-rise building designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox that houses an art museum, restaurants, cafes, clinics, stores, as well as the offices of Allen & Overy , Barclays Capital , Ferrari Japan, Goldman Sachs , J-WAVE , Konami , Time Inc. , Chevron , BASF , Lenovo , Mercari , Baidu , GREE , BP , SAS Institute and Google . The Pokémon Company also has its headquarters in the Mori Tower.[ 6]
The first six levels of Mori Tower contain retail stores and restaurants. The top six floors house the Mori Art Museum [ 7] and the Tokyo City View with panoramic views of the city. A new exit from Roppongi Station empties into a glass atrium filled with large television screens and escalators, as well as several shops and restaurants. The rest of the building is office space.
Mori Tower from Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower
Other buildings
Around the Mori Tower are several smaller buildings predominantly occupied by shops and restaurants, a cinema complex and the Mori Garden. Behind the Mori Tower lies the Keyakizaka Street, famous for its night illumination of 1.2 million shining LEDs that begin in mid-November and run until Christmas Day.[ 8] [ 9] Keyakizaka also features cafes and luxury stores such as Louis Vuitton .[ 10] Nearby are the four Roppongi Hills residence towers, with a total of 793 residential apartments.[ 11]
Large open spaces have been built into the design of Roppongi Hills. About half of the area consists of gardens, pavilions, and other open spaces. The Mori Garden, an elaborate and authentic Japanese garden complete with a pond and trees is particularly popular. The garden is part of a lost mansion that housed members of the feudal Mōri clan .[ 12] [ 13]
On Roppongi Hills the exhibition of the United Buddy Bears was shown in 2005 for the first time in Japan. The exhibition was opened by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler , together with the Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi . According to the Mori-Group, project partners in Tokyo, they were able to count three million visitors over the six weeks of the exhibition.[ 14]
The American School in Japan 's Early Learning Center is housed in a residence building next to the Hills, the Roppongi Sakura-zaka Residence.[ 15] A playground adjacent to the complex, near the school, is known in English as Robot Park and has robot-themed play equipment.
The headquarters of TV Asahi is also situated in Roppongi Hills, next to the Mori Garden. The building was designed by architect Fumihiko Maki .[ 16]
Criticism
Roppongi Hills Arena is a facility with large outdoor speakers, in proximity to older housing. Since the construction of the Roppongi Hills development, complaints of noise pollution from older residents have been ignored by Mori Building management, according to residents. The building most directly suffering from noise is on top of an embankment opposite the Arena. Residents say several residents have been forced out by the noise.[ 17] [ 18]
Henry Hilton of the Japan Today news aggregator website criticised the development when he argued:
Yet the truth is that the crowds are unlikely to return once they have been exhausted by the charade of inconvenient walkways that appear almost intentionally to confuse all but those with perfect map navigational skills. The whole maze is far from being user friendly—don't count on full protection from autumn showers or sudden gusts of wind generated by the buildings themselves.[ 19]
Financial issues
Mori Building has financed the project with $800 million equity and $1.3 billion in debt from a syndicate of banks led by the Development Bank of Japan. As a result, the company's overall debts are $5.6 billion, secured by billions more in assets.
Goldman Sachs & Co., the project's anchor tenant, attracted deep discounts in rental prices because of the large amount of space it occupies. Japan's sluggish economy, staff cuts by foreign companies, and the flow of new office space have put downward pressure on rents.
Because of eminent domain law in Japan, several past residents of the site that would be Roppongi Hills have been given residential units in the complex in return for their agreement to vacate their prior homes, so that their prior homes would be demolished and the land used for the development of Roppongi Hills.
See also
Omotesando Hills , a similar (but smaller) development also built by Mori
Jerde -associated architectural projects in Japan:
References
^ a b c "Roppongi Hills" . The Skyscraper Center . Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat . Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023 .
^ "Jerde PlaceMaking" . Jerde.com. 2011-10-10. Archived from the original on 2016-06-16. Retrieved 2013-08-11 .
^
Homma, Takashi (2006). Six Strata: Roppongi Hills Redefined . London: Heibonsha. ISBN 4582277594 .
^ Bremner, Brian. "Rethinking Tokyo ." BusinessWeek . November 4, 2002. Retrieved on May 11, 2009.
^ Brasor, Philip, and Tsubuku, Masako. "Roppongi Hills: controversial blueprint for Tokyo's new breed of high-rise Archived 2016-12-18 at the Wayback Machine ." The Guardian . May 18, 2015.
^ "会社概要 Archived 2010-09-14 at the Wayback Machine ." The Pokémon Company . Retrieved on October 5, 2009.
^ "Roppongi Hills" . destination360.com . Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023 .
^ "Illumination at Keyakizaka-dori Street Roppongi Hills" . WAttention . 4 June 2020. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023 .
^ "Keyakizaka Illumination" . Time Out . Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023 .
^ "Louis Vuitton" . Roppongi Hills. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023 .
^ "Roppongi Hiruzu Rezidensu A-tō no tokuchō" [Features of Building A, Roppongi Hills Residence] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017 .
^ "Mori Garden Roppongi Cherry Blossoms" . Japan Web Magazine . 8 March 2017. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023 .
^ "Serviced apartments in Japan—Taking quality of life to new heights: Garden" . Mori Living . Archived from the original on December 9, 2004. Retrieved 21 October 2017 .
^ "top page, Consulate-General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Osaka-Kobe" ドイツ大使館 ドイツ総領事館 - トップページ (in Japanese). Osaka-kobe.diplo.de. 2013-07-09. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2013-08-11 .
^ "Roppongi Sakura-zaka Residence | Residence Information | Residences for Lease | MORI LIVING | Mori Building Co., Ltd" . Mori Living. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2013-08-11 .
^ "建築家とデザイン" . Roppongi Hills . Archived from the original on 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2023-03-26 .
^ "The Japan Times Online" . www.japantimes.co.jp . Archived from the original on 11 December 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2022 .
^ [1] Archived October 14, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
^ "File Not Found" . Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2016-02-08 .
External links
Districts
Major stations
Akasaka-mitsuke (Metro)
Aoyama-itchōme (Metro, Toei)
Azabu-Jūban (Metro, Toei)
Hamamatsuchō /Daimon (JR, Toei, Monorail)
Omote-sandō (Metro)
Roppongi (Metro, Toei)
Shimbashi (JR, Metro, Toei, Yurikamome)
Shinagawa (JR, Shinkansen, Keikyu)
Takanawa Gateway /Sengakuji (JR, Toei, Keikyu)
Tamachi /Mita (JR, Toei)
Tameike-Sannō (Metro)
Landmarks Education
Tertiary Public K-12 Private K-12
* - formerly part of Shiba Area
Completed
Over 300 m 200–300 m
Toranomon Hills Station Tower (266 m, 2023)
Toranomon Hills Mori Tower (255 m, 2014)
Midtown Tower (248 m, 2007)
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No. 1 (243 m, 1991)
Sunshine 60 (240 m, 1978)
NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building (240 m, 2000)
Tokyo Midtown Yaesu Yaesu Central Tower (240 m, 2022)
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower (238 m, 2003)
Shinjuku Park Tower (235 m, 1994)
Tokyo Opera City Tower (234 m, 1996)
Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower (231 m, 2016)
Shibuya Scramble Square (229 m, 2019)
Tokyu Kabukicho Tower (225 m, 2023)
Shinjuku Mitsui Building (225 m, 1974)
Shinjuku Center Building (223 m, 1979)
Saint Luke's Tower (221 m, 1994)
Shiodome City Center (216 m, 2003)
Dentsu Building (213 m, 2002)
Shinjuku Sumitomo Building (210 m, 1974)
Toshima Incineration Plant (210 m, 1999)
Ark Hills Sengokuyama Mori Tower (207 m, 2012)
GranTokyo North Tower (205 m, 2007)
GranTokyo South Tower (205 m, 2007)
Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower (204 m, 2008)
Shinjuku Nomura Building (203 m, 1978)
Izumi Garden Tower (201 m, 2002)
180–200 m
Yomiuri Shimbun Building (200 m, 2013)
JP Tower (200 m, 2012)
Otemachi Tower (200 m, 2014)
Otemachi One Tower (200 m, 2020)
Shin-Marunouchi Building (198 m, 2007)
Sumitomo Fudosan Shinjuku Grand Tower (196 m, 2011)
Harumi Island Triton Square Tower X (195 m, 2001)
Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower (195 m, 2005)
Sannō Park Tower (195 m, 2000)
Sky Tower West Tokyo (195 m, 1989)
Sompo Japan Building (193 m, 1976)
Nittele Tower (193 m, 2003)
Sea Tower (192 m, 2008)
Mid Tower (192 m, 2008)
Kachidoki View Tower (192 m, 2010)
Tomihisa Cross (191 m, 2015)
Acty Shiodome (190 m, 2004)
Brillia Tower Ikebukuro (189 m, 2015)
Shinjuku I-Land Tower (189 m, 1994)
Owl Tower (189 m, 2011)
Atago Green Hills Mori Tower (188 m, 2001)
Capital Gate Place (187 m, 2015)
Cerulean Tower (184 m, 2001)
Sumitomo Real Estate Shinjuku Oak Tower (184 m, 2002)
Shibuya Hikarie (182.5 m, 2012)
Nihonbashi 2-Chōme Redevelopment Block E (180 m, 2017)
Century Park Tower (180 m, 1999)
NEC Supertower (180 m, 1990)
JA Building (180 m, 2009)
Park City Toyosu Building A (180 m, 2008)
Keio Plaza Hotel North Tower (180 m, 1971)
Tokyo Garden Terrace (180 m, 2016)
Shibuya Stream (180 m, 2018)
160–180 m
Akasaka Biz Tower (179.3 m, 2008)
Sumitomo Fudosan Mita Twin Buildings (179.3 m, 2006)
Marunouchi Building (179 m, 2002)
W-Comfort Towers (178.5 m, 2004)
Marunouchi Trust Tower Main Building (178 m, 2008)
Toshiba Building (165.9 m, 1984)
Shiodome Media Tower (172.6 m, 2003)
Kasumigaseki Common Gate West Tower (175.8 m, 2007)
World Trade Center (Tokyo) (162.6 m, 1970)
Tokyo Shiodome Building (173.2 m, 2005)
Park Axis Aoyama 1-chome Tower (172.4 m, 2007)
Royal Park Shiodome Tower (172 m, 2003)
City Towers Toyosu The Twin (171.2 m, 2009)
Marunouchi Park Building (170.1 m, 2009)
JT Building (169.7 m, 1995)
Bay City Harumi Sky Link Tower (169 m m, 2009)
Central Park Tower La Tour Shinjuku (167.8 m, 2010)
Capital Mark Tower (167.3 m, 2007)
Sapia Tower (167.2 m, 2007)
Yebisu Garden Place Tower (167 m, 1994)
Kita-Shinjuku Area Redevelopment Plan Office Tower (166.5 m, 2011)
Naka-Meguro Atlas Tower (165 m, 2009)
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building (147.4 m, 2004)
Tokyo Twin Parks (165 m, 2002)
Triton View Tower (165 m, 1998)
Toyosu Center Building (165 m, 1992)
Tokyo Building (164.1 m, 2005)
Akasaka Tower Residence (162 m, 2008)
Shinjuku Maynds Tower (161.1 m, 1995)
Shibaura Island Cape Tower (161 m, 2006)
Nippon Seimei Marunouchi Building (160 m, 2004)
150–160 m
Concieria Nishi-Shinjuku Tower's West (159.8 m, 2008)
Tornare Nihombashi-Hamacho (159.7 m, 2005)
Roppongi Hills Residences (159 m, 2003)
Brillia Tower Tokyo (158.9 m, 2006)
Prudential Tower (158.4 m, 2002)
Park Court Akasaka The Tower (157.3 m, 2009)
Atago Green Hills Forest Tower (157 m, 2001)
Kasumigaseki Common Gate East Tower (156 m, 2007)
Kasumigaseki Building (156 m, 1968)
Plaza Tower Kachidoki (155.2 m, 2004)
The Toyosu Tower (155 m, 2008)
Tokyo Dome Hotel (155 m, 2000)
Tokyo Gas Co. Headquarters (155.7 m, 1984)
KDDI Otemachi Building (155.4 m, 1990)
Takanawa The Residence (153.9 m, 2005)
Toranomon Towers Residence (153.5 m, 2006)
Ark Mori Building (153.3 m, 1986)
Toyosu 3-Chome Area 8-4 Plan (153 m, 2010)
Station Garden Tower (153 m, 2008)
Tokyo Sankei New Building (152.4 m, 2000)
JPower Headquarters (153 m, 1987)
Park Tower Gran Sky (152.9 m, 2010)
Garden Air Tower (152.6 m, 2003)
Shinagawa East One Tower (151.6 m, 2003)
Shiba-Koen First Building (151.2 m, 2000)
Futako-Tamagawa Rise Tower & Residence Tower East (151.1 m, 2010)
Odakyu Southern Tower (150.8 m m, 1998)
Air Rise Tower (150.5 m, 2007)
JR East Japan Building (150.2 m, 1997)
Nihon Keizai Shimbun Tokyo Headquarters Building (150 m, 2009)
Kudanshita 3rd Government Building - Chiyoda Ward Office (150 m, 2007)
Taiyo Seimei Shinagawa Building (150 m, 2003)
Granpark Tower (150 m, 1996)
140–150 m
Shinagawa Grand Central Tower (149.8 m, 2003)
Pacific Century Place (149.8 m, 2001)
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Building (148.5 m, 2003)
Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corporation Head Office (148.4 m, 2003)
Canon S Tower (147.7 m, 2003)
Shiroyama JT Trust Tower (147.7 m, 1991)
Akihabara Dai Building (147.5 m, 2005)
Toyosu Center Building Annex (147.4 m, 2006
BEACON Tower Residence (147 m, 2009)
Meiji Yasuda Seimei Building (146.8 m, 2004)
Fujisoft Akihabara Building (146.7 m, 2007)
Bunkyo Civic Center (145.7 m, 1994)
Canal First Tower (145.5 m, 2008)
NTT DoCoMo Shinagawa Building (145.1 m, 2003)
River City 21 East Towers (144.9 m, 2000)
Sumitomo Fudosan Aobadai Tower (144.5 m, 2009)
Shinagawa Intercity Towers (144.5 m, 1998)
Hotel New Otani Tokyo Tower (144.5 m, 1974)
Toyosu Ciel Tower (144.4 m, 2006)
Apple Tower (143 m, 2007)
Shinagawa V-Tower (143 m, 2003)
Shinagawa Prince Hotel New Tower (143 m, 1994)
Mizuho Bank Headquarters (142.5 m, 1980)
Regale Nihombashi-Ningyocho (142.2 m, 2007)
Shirokane Tower (141.9 m, 2005)
Hikifune Station Front Area 1 Redevelopment (141.6 m, 2009)
Akasaka Park Building (141 m, 1993)
City Tower Shinagawa (140.9 m, 2008)
ThinkPark Tower (140.5 m, 2007)
Shinjuku Kokusai Building - Hilton Tokyo (141 m, 1984)
NHK Broadcasting Center (140.1 m, 1973)
130–140 m
Station Plaza Tower (139.9 m, 2009)
Sumitomo Fudosan Nishi-Shinjuku Building (139.9 m, 2009)
World City Towers (139.9 m, 2007)
Olinas Tower (139.3 m, 2006)
Kokusai Shin-Akasaka East Building (139.3 m, 1980)
Toyosu ON Building (139 m, 1992)
River City 21 Skylight Tower (139 m, 1990)
Shibuya Cross Tower (134.1 m, 1975)
World City Towers Aqua Tower (138.7 m, 2006)
The Tower Grandia (138.7 m, 2004)
Tokyo Times Tower (138.5 m, 2004)
Roppongi T-CUBE (138.5 m, 2003)
Venasis Kanamachi Tower Residence (138.2 m, 2009)
Royal Parks Tower Minami-Senju (138 m, 2008)
Kawadacho Comfo Garden (138 m, 2003)
Otemachi Nomura Building (138 m, 1997)
Proud Tower Chiyoda Fujimi (137 m, 2009)
Cosmopolis Shinagawa (137 m, 2005)
Bay Crest Tower (136.6 m, 2005)
Renaissance Tower Ueno-Ikenohata (136.5 m, 2005)
Nippon Express Headquarters (136.5 m, 2003)
Crest Prime Tower Shiba (136.4 m, 2007)
Century Tower (136 m, 1991)
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters (135.6 m, 1973)
Chiyoda First Building West (135 m, 2004)
NTT DoCoMo Sumida Building (135 m, 2003)
Akasaka Intercity (134.8 m, 2005)
Hotel New Otani Garden Court (134.7 m, 1991)
Vanguard Tower (134.6 m, 2007)
Riverside Sumida Center (134.4 m, 1994)
The Garden Towers (134.3 m, 1998)
Yoyogi Seminar Tower Obelisk (134 m, 2008)
Nakano-Sakaue Sun Bright Twin (134 m, 1996)
Moon Island Tower (133.8 m, 2002)
Shinjuku NS Building (133.7 m, 1982)
Shiodome Building (133.5 m, 2007)
Tokyo ANA Tower (133 m, 1986)
Kogakuin University Shinjuku Building (132.9 m, 1989)
Sumitomo Realty Shiba-Koen Tower (132.6 m, 2001)
NTT Data Shinagawa Building (132.3 m, 2003)
River City 21 River Point Tower (132 m, 1989)
Shin-Gofukubashi Building (132 m, 1979)
City Tower Shinjuku Shintoshin (130.6 m, 2005)
The Center Tokyo (130 m, 2007)
River Harp Tower Building 2 (130 m, 2000)
Tomin Tower Shinonome (130 m, 1996)
Sunshine City Prince Hotel (130 m, 1980)
Under construction
Nihonbashi 1-Chōme Central District Redevelopment (284 m, 2026)
Azabudai Hills Residence B (263 m, 2025)
Shinjuku Station West Gate Redevelopment (260 m, 2029)
Tokyo Ekimae Yaesu 1-Chōme East District Redevelopment (250 m, 2025)
Azabudai Hills Residence A (237 m, 2023)
World Trade Center North (235 m, 2027)
Shibaura 1-Chōme South Tower (229 m, 2024)
Mita 3-4 Chōme Redevelopment (215 m, 2023)
Tokyo World Gate Akasaka (210 m, 2024)
Grand City Tower Tsukishima (199 m, 2026)
Park Tower Kachidoki South (195 m, 2023)
World Tower Residence (190 m, 2026)
Minami-Ikebukuro 2-Chōme District Redevelopment (190 m, 2025)
Demolished
Buildings listed in order of height and with year of completion