"MIKIMOTO GINZA 2 Chuo Ward‚ Tokyo (2005) The Mikimoto Ginza 2 store is a retail shop operated by renowned pearl jewelry manufacturer and retailer K. Mikimoto & Company. The building has irregularly shaped windows placed seemingly at random. The outer walls‚ made of steel plate-reinforced concrete some 20 centimeters thick‚ serve as the support structure for the 50-meter high‚ ninestorey building. Thanks to this integrated design‚ no support columns interrupt the interior space. Mikimoto Ginza 2 was designed by Toyo Ito‚ who has won both international acclaim and-among other awards-a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from the 8th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Bienniale. In 2001‚ Ito crafted an innovative design for the Sendai Mediatheque‚ a large building vertically supported by 13 tubular columns. Since then he has worked on an entire series of experimental designs‚ including the Mikimoto store and the Tod's Omotesando building (2004)‚ which also features a support structure incorporated into its outer walls."
The Mikimoto Ginza 2 store is a retail shop operated by renowned pearl jewelry manufacturer and retailer K. Mikimoto & Company. The building has irregularly shaped windows placed seemingly at random. The outer walls‚ made of steel plate-reinforced concrete some 20 centimeters thick‚ serve as the support structure for the 50-meter high‚ ninestorey building. Thanks to this integrated design‚ no support columns interrupt the interior space.
Mikimoto Ginza 2 was designed by Toyo Ito‚ who has won both international acclaim and-among other awards-a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from the 8th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Bienniale. In 2001‚ Ito crafted an innovative design for the Sendai Mediatheque‚ a large building vertically supported by 13 tubular columns. Since then he has worked on an entire series of experimental designs‚ including the Mikimoto store and the Tod's Omotesando building (2004)‚ which also features a support structure incorporated into its outer walls."
from: http://www.jijigaho.or.jp/app/0609/eng/sp07.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplesimon/sets/72157594514999805/
Simon