Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka

The  was an upscale hotel in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The site of the former hotel is now the location of a mixed-use development named Tokyo Garden Terrace.

A design of Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, the hotel was well known for its "distinctive saw-toothed facade" of aluminium and glass. Following closure it became notable for being deconstructed in a top-down approach, the building appearing to shrink in height over time.

History

The oldest structure on the property was built as the Kitashirakawa Palace in 1930 as the residence of Yi Un, the last crown prince of Korea. After World War II, the palace was converted to the Akasaka Prince Hotel, which opened in 1955, with 30 rooms. Extensions were gradually built, culminating in a 40-story tower, added in 1982. Designed by architect Kenzo Tange, the tower was laminated in aluminium. Because of its proximity to Nagatachō Station and the National Diet buildings, it was often used by Japanese politicians for meetings and press conferences. In 2007, the hotel was renamed Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka, following the reorganization of the Prince hotel group.

When its closure was scheduled, Akasaka Prince Hotel tower was relatively new, being expected to last further decades with proper maintenance and renovation, it was one of the buildings that "fell victim to the vagaries of commercial real estate here, where high property values, changing design standards and other factors have conspired to create a bull market for demolition". It had low ceilings, like many office contemporaries built in the 1970s during the country's economic boom (height standards were increased in the 1990s to accommodate information technology infrastructure). In its final years, it faced competition from upscale hotels run by foreign companies.

The hotel closed in March 2011 for scheduled demolition. Soon after, it briefly housed evacuees from Fukushima prefecture, following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

The top floors of the building were used as a working space for deconstruction, and were gradually jacked down and lowered as each intermediate floor was removed. As of February 2013 the building had shrunk by 30 metres. Regenerative braking was used on the cranes being used to lower disassembled elements down to ground level, which recovered energy and generateed electricity for powering aspects of the demolition operation.

The 1982 tower was replaced by the Tokyo Garden Terrace development, but the historic Kitashirakawa Palace was restored and reopened in 2016 as a function center for banquets and weddings, known as Akasaka Prince Classic House.

See also

Prince Hotels
List of tallest voluntarily demolished buildings

References

External links

Hotel buildings completed in 1930
Hotel buildings completed in 1982
Skyscraper hotels in Tokyo
Hotels established in 1955
Modernist architecture in Japan
Hotels disestablished in 2011
Buildings and structures demolished in 2013
2011 disestablishments in Japan
1955 establishments in Japan
Former skyscrapers
Prince Hotels
Demolished hotels
Demolished buildings and structures in Japan
Postmodern architecture in Japan
Buildings and structures in Minato, Tokyo