And indeed, its cryptic character makes it unlike any other building, even in Tokyo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Takamatsu sees architecture not just as a functional container for living and working, but as an entity which possesses an autonomous power. For a thousand years his native city of Kyoto was the capital of Japan, and many of its surviving historic buildings have a strong aura of past power struggles, glories and declines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shin Takamatsu, JA Library . Four floors of the 'building' are underground and only three emblematic towers indicate its presence.
Natural light falls from elaborate skylights through a quarter-circle void to the lower basements.
As one steps down to the bottom of the well, a disconcerting sense of vertigo sets in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This very experimental project may turn out to have a short life due to its unprofitability. Its ruin would leave a trace of a small transgressive dream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .