Century Tower Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo, Japan · 1991
Photo · Photo by Ben Johnson
An interior precedent demonstrating how a deep vertical atrium and structural steel bracing can be used to bring natural daylight into the core of a high-rise office building.
- What we like about this project
- The extreme narrowness of the atrium relative to its towering vertical height, creating a dramatic chimney of light.
Materials
- steel
- glass
- aluminum-cladding
- concrete
Visual identifiers
- vertical-atrium
- structural-bracing
- skylight-well
- steel-frame
Style tags
- high-tech
- structural-expressionism
- modernist
Visual tags
- high-tech
- daylight-well
- structural-expressionism
- corporate-office
- atrium
- Geometry
- A soaring, narrow vertical atrium defined by a repeating structural steel frame with diagonal bracing members and horizontal floor plates spanning the void.
- Facade system
- Interior glazed curtain wall and skylight system.
- Structural guess
- Exposed steel eccentrically braced frame (EBF) with concrete slabs.
- Spatial scale
- Monumental multi-story vertical atrium, spanning several office levels.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight filtering down from a skylight above, casting sharp geometric shadows on the metallic cladding.
- Atmosphere
- Sleek, industrial, and luminous, defined by the precision of exposed structural engineering.
- Environmental context
- High-density urban corporate interior in Tokyo.
- Spatial experience
- Looking straight up or down through a deep, multi-story lightwell that channels daylight deep into the building core, framed by heavy structural elements.
- Composition rhythm
- A rhythmic repetition of horizontal floor bridges and diagonal steel braces stacked vertically.
- Style reading
- High-Tech Architecture
- Program
- Corporate office headquarters
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- steel, glass, aluminum-cladding, concrete
- Visual identifiers
- vertical-atrium, structural-bracing, skylight-well, steel-frame
- Style tags
- high-tech, structural-expressionism, modernist
- Visual tags
- high-tech, daylight-well, structural-expressionism, corporate-office, atrium
- Geometry
- A soaring, narrow vertical atrium defined by a repeating structural steel frame with diagonal bracing members and horizontal floor plates spanning the void.
- Facade system
- Interior glazed curtain wall and skylight system.
- Structural guess
- Exposed steel eccentrically braced frame (EBF) with concrete slabs.
- Spatial scale
- Monumental multi-story vertical atrium, spanning several office levels.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight filtering down from a skylight above, casting sharp geometric shadows on the metallic cladding.
- Atmosphere
- Sleek, industrial, and luminous, defined by the precision of exposed structural engineering.
- Environmental context
- High-density urban corporate interior in Tokyo.
- Spatial experience
- Looking straight up or down through a deep, multi-story lightwell that channels daylight deep into the building core, framed by heavy structural elements.
- Composition rhythm
- A rhythmic repetition of horizontal floor bridges and diagonal steel braces stacked vertically.
- Style reading
- High-Tech Architecture
- Program
- Corporate office headquarters
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture