Omotesando In Transition

MoCo Tokyo posts images of Tod's on Omotesando, a flagship store for the Italian shoes and leather goods brand. Designed by Toyo Ito, the store is yet another piece in what is the most fashionable street in Tokyo, for architecture as well as clothes.





Tod's soon-to-be-open flagship store



This is definitely following a trend that perhaps began with Tadao Ando's Collezione (1989) and has moved west past Aoyama Dori towards Harajuku Station. Witness, from west to east in a stretch of less than a mile:

1. Collezione by Tadao Ando

2. Prada by Herzog & De Meuron

3. One Omotesando by Kengo Kuma

4. Louis Vuitton by Jun Aoki

5. Dior by Kazuyo Sejima

And, in addition to these wonderful pieces of architecture, is the Jingumae 4-chome Project, developed by Mori (Tokyo's version of Trump) with Ando as the architect. The huge, mixed-use project is currently under construction and includes replacements for the demolished Dojunkai Aoyama Apartments, shops and restaurants. The project continues Mori's tactic of buying up smaller, adjoining properties over time to create one large development (see Roppongi Hills). In the hands of Ando, at least the results may be worthwhile, though that remains to be seen as it's difficult to tell from the available renderings.





The new face of Omotesando