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The was an upscale hotel in
The original hotel, opened in 1955, was located in the Kitashirakawa Palace, built in 1930 as the residence of
File:Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka 2007-01.jpg, The hotel in 2007
File:Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka 2007-04.jpg, The hotel in 2007
Chiyoda, Tokyo
is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.Profile< ...
, Japan. The site of the former hotel is now the location of a mixed-use development
Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...
named Tokyo Garden Terrace.
A design of Japanese architect Kenzo Tange
is a common masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*賢三, "wise, three"
*健三, "healthy, three"
*謙三, "humble, three"
*健想, "healthy, concept"
*建造, "bu ...
, 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 original hotel, opened in 1955, was located in the Kitashirakawa Palace, built in 1930 as the residence of Yi Un
Prince Imperial Yeong, Yi Un, Crown Prince Uimin (also Euimin), also known as Yi Un, Yi Eun, Lee Eun and Un Yi (20 October 1897 – 1 May 1970), was the 28th Head of the Korean Imperial House, an Imperial Japanese Army general and the last crown ...
, the last crown prince of Korea. The newer tower building designed by architect Kenzo Tange
is a common masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*賢三, "wise, three"
*健三, "healthy, three"
*謙三, "humble, three"
*健想, "healthy, concept"
*建造, "bu ...
and completed in 1982 was 40 storeys tall and laminated in aluminium. Because of its proximity to Nagatachō Station
is a subway station in the Nagatacho district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro.
Lines
Nagatachō Station is served by the following three lines.
* (N-07)
* (Y-16)
* (Z-04)
It is also connected ...
and the National Diet
The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors (, ...
buildings, it was often used by Japanese politicians for meetings and press conferences.
For most of its life, the hotel operated as the Akasaka Prince Hotel, but 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 recent years it faced competition from upscale hotels run by foreign companies.
Although it closed as a hotel in March 2011, after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
, the Akasaka Prince Hotel housed evacuees from Fukushima prefecture.
The hotel closed in March 2011 for demolition.
The top floors of the building were used as a working space for deconstruction, and these are gradually jacked down and lowered as each intermediate floor is removed. As of February 2013 the building had shrunk by 30 metres. Regenerative braking
Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object by converting its kinetic energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed. In this mechanism, the electric traction mo ...
is used on the cranes being used to lower disassembled elements down to ground level, which recovers energy and generates electricity for powering aspects of the demolition operation.
The hotel was replaced by the Tokyo Garden Terrace development, but the historic Kitashirakawa Palace, original home of the hotel, was restored and reopened in 2016 as a function center for banquets and weddings, known as Akasaka Prince Classic House.
See also
*Prince Hotels
The is the name of a hotel chain company headquartered in Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Seibu Holdings, Inc. Together with Seibu Railway, Prince Hotels is the core company of Seibu Group.
Overview
During the Allied occupati ...
*List of tallest voluntarily demolished buildings
Voluntary building demolition is the decision by either the landowner or a higher government body to demolish a structure for any number of reasons, ranging from severe structural damage to the redevelopment of the land the building sits upon. Inv ...
References
External links
* {{commons category, Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka Hotel buildings completed in 1955 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