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DIOR Omotesando Tokyo
9-11, Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku
2004
Located
on the fashinable shopping boulevard Omotesando in Tokyo, the Christian
DIOR building became a famous building designed by the japanese
architects of SANAA.
The double-layer translucent facade displays the interior only dimly - from the exterior it is only partially visible what happens within the building. This facade makes
the building look like being wrapped in layers of fine wrapping paper. The exterior of the double-layer facade is made of clear glass while the inner layer
consists of curved, acrylic panels with a white printed pattern. This printed ornament resembls stylized curtains. The system of the double-layer facade
allows to mount decorations on the milky inner facade when ever needed. As it is often with buildings of this kind, the architects were commissioned to design
only the shell of the building, while the interior design of the store was supplied by the proprietor. The architects, however, wanted to reveal the assorted goods
of the store, while at the same time it was the goal to create a building with a unified architectural and material strategy. At night the building looks especially nice,
when it glows within the different intensitys of the shopping activities.
The building fully explores the maximim allowable zoning height of 30 meters, and consumse the maximum allowable floor area ratio of 5 to 1.
This configuration of the main parameters results in a disproportionate height and gives the building a generous amount of volume with regard to the program.
The architects decided to distribute the height in relation to the function, so that the building shows a wide range of different floor-to-floor heigts. The exterior
of the building shows an irregular rhythm of horizontal bands, but they don't reflect the constructive system of the building at all. These horizontal bands
seem to be the ceiling, but the hide the true number of floors since there are some additional "fake" ceilings. The retail space itself is located
in the basement level and on three more floors, while on the fourth floor is located an event space. Even above are offices and a rooftop garden.
The double-layer translucent facade displays the interior only dimly - from the exterior it is only partially visible what happens within the building. This facade makes
the building look like being wrapped in layers of fine wrapping paper. The exterior of the double-layer facade is made of clear glass while the inner layer
consists of curved, acrylic panels with a white printed pattern. This printed ornament resembls stylized curtains. The system of the double-layer facade
allows to mount decorations on the milky inner facade when ever needed. As it is often with buildings of this kind, the architects were commissioned to design
only the shell of the building, while the interior design of the store was supplied by the proprietor. The architects, however, wanted to reveal the assorted goods
of the store, while at the same time it was the goal to create a building with a unified architectural and material strategy. At night the building looks especially nice,
when it glows within the different intensitys of the shopping activities.
The building fully explores the maximim allowable zoning height of 30 meters, and consumse the maximum allowable floor area ratio of 5 to 1.
This configuration of the main parameters results in a disproportionate height and gives the building a generous amount of volume with regard to the program.
The architects decided to distribute the height in relation to the function, so that the building shows a wide range of different floor-to-floor heigts. The exterior
of the building shows an irregular rhythm of horizontal bands, but they don't reflect the constructive system of the building at all. These horizontal bands
seem to be the ceiling, but the hide the true number of floors since there are some additional "fake" ceilings. The retail space itself is located
in the basement level and on three more floors, while on the fourth floor is located an event space. Even above are offices and a rooftop garden.