Tepia
Tokyo, Japan · 1989
A premier precedent of late 20th-century Japanese high-tech modernism by Fumihiko Maki, demonstrating precision aluminum panel cladding, layered geometric massing, and integrated public circulation.
- What we like about this project
- A triangular glazed opening at the ground level mimics the slope of an internal stair.
Materials
- aluminum-panels
- glass
- steel
- concrete
Visual identifiers
- aluminum-cladding
- glass-curtain-wall
- external-staircase
- fumihiko-maki
- tepia
Style tags
- high-tech
- modernist
- japanese-modernism
- minimal-tech
Visual tags
- high-tech-architecture
- metabolism-influence
- precision-detailing
- layered-facade
- japanese-modernism
- Geometry
- A complex cubic composition of layered, light-gray metal panels, recessed glass volumes, and deep-set terraces under thin overhanging roof planes.
- Facade system
- Rain-screen aluminum panels and structural glass curtain wall.
- Structural guess
- Steel frame with reinforced concrete core
- Spatial scale
- A multi-story civic or corporate pavilion scale, roughly four to five stories tall, with a prominent external public staircase.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp, clean shadows that accentuate the panel joints and deep structural recesses.
- Atmosphere
- Bright, rational, and highly ordered, reflecting late-Showa era technological optimism.
- Environmental context
- Urban street corner setting in Tokyo with a wide sidewalk, young street trees, and pedestrian activity.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents a highly articulated, tech-forward street edge where transparent glass corners reveal internal circulation, contrasting with the solid, precisely gridded metal cladding.
- Composition rhythm
- A strict square grid of metal panels is interrupted by large glazed voids, diagonal stair runs, and deep horizontal roof overhangs.
- Style reading
- High-Tech Modernism
- Program
- Exhibition hall or science pavilion
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- aluminum-panels, glass, steel, concrete
- Visual identifiers
- aluminum-cladding, glass-curtain-wall, external-staircase, fumihiko-maki, tepia
- Style tags
- high-tech, modernist, japanese-modernism, minimal-tech
- Visual tags
- high-tech-architecture, metabolism-influence, precision-detailing, layered-facade, japanese-modernism
- Geometry
- A complex cubic composition of layered, light-gray metal panels, recessed glass volumes, and deep-set terraces under thin overhanging roof planes.
- Facade system
- Rain-screen aluminum panels and structural glass curtain wall.
- Structural guess
- Steel frame with reinforced concrete core
- Spatial scale
- A multi-story civic or corporate pavilion scale, roughly four to five stories tall, with a prominent external public staircase.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp, clean shadows that accentuate the panel joints and deep structural recesses.
- Atmosphere
- Bright, rational, and highly ordered, reflecting late-Showa era technological optimism.
- Environmental context
- Urban street corner setting in Tokyo with a wide sidewalk, young street trees, and pedestrian activity.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents a highly articulated, tech-forward street edge where transparent glass corners reveal internal circulation, contrasting with the solid, precisely gridded metal cladding.
- Composition rhythm
- A strict square grid of metal panels is interrupted by large glazed voids, diagonal stair runs, and deep horizontal roof overhangs.
- Style reading
- High-Tech Modernism
- Program
- Exhibition hall or science pavilion
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture