- Luxury Apartments in Tokyo
- MORI LIVING Diary
- Touring the Secrets of Roppongi Hills
Touring the Secrets of Roppongi Hills
January 12, 2016
The Secrets of Roppongi Hills Tour kicked off high up in Mori Tower, where 1:1000 scale city models are located.
The emergency storage contains emergency food supplies of approximately 100,000 servings and other useful items in preparation for disaster.
During the workshop using models, participants learned the quake resistance mechanism and the variation in shaking depending on the height of the building and the nature of the earthquake.
Everyone in Tokyo knows Roppongi Hills, and I would venture to say that most people have at least a basic idea of all that it has to offer (200 shops and restaurants, office space, luxury apartments, a movie theater, an art museum, and more). But have you ever stopped to consider what might happen behind the scenes to make a complex like this run smoothly? I recently had the privilege of participating in a tour that shed some light on this.
The Hills MACHI-IKU Project takes people behind the scenes to learn about various aspects of Mori Building's urban design expertise. The tour I joined was the first to be conducted entirely in English, and focused on Mori Building's three core values in city building: safety, environment, and culture.
The tour kicked off high up in Mori Tower, where intricate city models at a scale of 1:1,000 show the similarities and differences between Tokyo, New York and Shanghai. I had seen the Tokyo model before, but it had been a few years and I was impressed to see that it had grown along with the city. Tokyo Sky Tree and the expanded Haneda Airport were a couple of the new additions.
Next on the tour was the Roppongi Hills security control center. For me, this was probably the most interesting stop, as it really gave us an idea of all the work that goes into ensuring this mini-city runs smoothly. In addition to monitoring an early earthquake warning system and necessary things like elevators, staff at the center also keep a close eye on the 1,000 security cameras installed. It's quite a responsibility, and made me feel even more safe visiting Roppongi Hills.
The final stop was a "secret" rooftop garden that is not normally open to the public. It was a beautiful autumn day, and the leaves on the trees were starting to change color. We could even see Mt. Fuji!
Kelly