Roppongi Hills

After visiting the museums in Ueno park, I headed over to Roppongi Hills, an area with popular shops, museums, office buildings and great views across the city. You emerge from the metro under a big disk to a plaza around a 52 story building. The project is the work of architectural firms KPF, Jerde Partnership and others.

The detailing of the surrounding buildings is very beautiful. Friends who visited last year had shown me picture, so I felt I had been here already.

A series of fountains surrounding the retail stores at the base.

The entrance to the observatory at the top of the building.

I paid admission to the observation deck. Up there you see this model of the building.

From the observation deck you can look in 360 degrees around the city.




The rooftops of buildings look interesting

A famous bridge at Tokyo bay is seen beyond

At this rooftop there was a party going on.

See?

Noticing this interesting building, I found out it was the National Arts Center by Kisho Kurokawa & Nihon Sekkei.

After descending from the observatory I went to photograph its exterior.

Across from it is another interesting building with roof forms that go up towards the sky.

Nearby there is a new building being built and this was the rendering.

I reached Tokyo Midtown, by SOM. This is what it looks like from the observatory.

The buildings in the complex are beautiful in the detailing of the facade, canopies and entrances

An outdoor canopy covered area. It's a good venue for outdoor concerts.

Other buildings in the area