Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower
Encyclopedia
is a 204-metre 50-story educational facility located in the Nishi-Shinjuku
district in Shinjuku
, Tokyo
, Japan
. The building is home to three educational institutions: Tokyo Mode Gakuen (fashion vocational school), HAL Tokyo (special technology and design college), and Shuto Ikō (medical college). Completed in October 2008, the tower is the second-tallest educational building in the world and is the 17th-tallest building in Tokyo. It was awarded the 2008 Skyscraper of the Year
by Emporis.com
.
asking architects to submit design proposals for the building. The only condition was that the building could not be rectangular. Mode Gakuen received more than 150 proposals by approximately 50 architects. The winning proposal was a cocoon-like structure designed by Tange
Associates. According to Tange, the building's cocoon shape symbolizes a building that nurtures the students inside. White aluminum and dark blue glass exterior form the structure's curved shell, which is criss-crossed by a web of white diagonal lines earning it the name "Cocoon Tower". A Tange Associates spokesperson stated that their aim was to use the building to revitalize the surrounding area and to create a gateway between Shinjuku Station
and the Shinjuku central business district
. The building's design earned the firm the Emporis.com 2008 Skyscraper of the year award.
and medical schools, respectively, that are operated by Mode Gakuen University. Each floor of the tower contains three rectangular classrooms that surround an inner core. The inner core consists of an elevator, a staircase and a support shaft. Every three floors, a three-story student lounge is located between the classrooms and faces three directions: east, southwest and northwest.
Nishi-shinjuku
is a skyscraper business district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. This region was called before.Nishi-Shinjuku was Tokyo's first major foray into building skyscrapers with the first appearing in the 1970s with Keio Plaza Inter-Continental. Kenzo Tange's Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building being the...
district in Shinjuku
Shinjuku, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The building is home to three educational institutions: Tokyo Mode Gakuen (fashion vocational school), HAL Tokyo (special technology and design college), and Shuto Ikō (medical college). Completed in October 2008, the tower is the second-tallest educational building in the world and is the 17th-tallest building in Tokyo. It was awarded the 2008 Skyscraper of the Year
Emporis Skyscraper Award
The Emporis Skyscraper Award is an award for architectural excellence regarding the design of buildings and their functionality.The award is presented annually by Emporis to the building representing the "Best new skyscraper for design and functionality". To qualify, nominated buildings must have...
by Emporis.com
Emporis
Emporis GmbH is a real estate data mining company with headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. The company collects and publishes data and photographs of buildings worldwide....
.
Design
Before selecting a design for its new Tokyo location, Mode Gakuen held a competitionArchitectural design competition
An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new building asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel of design professionals...
asking architects to submit design proposals for the building. The only condition was that the building could not be rectangular. Mode Gakuen received more than 150 proposals by approximately 50 architects. The winning proposal was a cocoon-like structure designed by Tange
Kenzo Tange
was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five continents. Tange was also an influential protagonist of...
Associates. According to Tange, the building's cocoon shape symbolizes a building that nurtures the students inside. White aluminum and dark blue glass exterior form the structure's curved shell, which is criss-crossed by a web of white diagonal lines earning it the name "Cocoon Tower". A Tange Associates spokesperson stated that their aim was to use the building to revitalize the surrounding area and to create a gateway between Shinjuku Station
Shinjuku Station
is a train station located in Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan.Serving as the main connecting hub for rail traffic between central Tokyo and its western suburbs on inter-city rail, commuter rail and metro lines, the station was used by an average of 3.64 million people per day in 2007,...
and the Shinjuku central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
. The building's design earned the firm the Emporis.com 2008 Skyscraper of the year award.
Facilities
Built on the former site of the now demolished Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Company headquarters, construction of the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower began in May 2006 and was completed in October 2008. The 204-metre-tall (669 ft), 50-story tower is the second-tallest educational building in the world (surpassed only by the main building of the Moscow State University) and is the 17th-tallest building in Tokyo. The vertical campus can accommodate 10,000 students for the three vocational schools that occupy the building. Tokyo Mode Gakuen, for which the building in named after, is a fashion school. The other schools, HAL Tokyo and Shuto Ikō, are information technologyInformation technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and medical schools, respectively, that are operated by Mode Gakuen University. Each floor of the tower contains three rectangular classrooms that surround an inner core. The inner core consists of an elevator, a staircase and a support shaft. Every three floors, a three-story student lounge is located between the classrooms and faces three directions: east, southwest and northwest.