About Palaceside Building
Along the moat of the Imperial Palace stretch two main wings—rectangular blocks 150 m and 125 m long—flanked at east and west by twin white cylinders rising 50 m. Palaceside Building wears no ornamental finery. The beauty of the architecture arose from answers to practical demands: the mix of tenants, the flow of office workers, and responses to light and rain.
Vertical grooves on the cylindrical facades cast shifting shadows.
Inside what is called the core are elevators, restrooms, stairs, and services.
By isolating the core, the main wings achieved
spacious interiors with few columns.
A glass wall faces the green expanse of the Imperial Palace.
Rain is channeled through hopper scuppers into vertical downspouts;
sunlight is softened by horizontal louvers.
The crisp intersection of vertical and horizontal lines
gives the facade its lively rhythm.
Projecting boldly from the west entrance is
a vast iron canopy covering some 200 square meters.
Rainwater drains through the interior of its supporting columns.
Known as the Umbrella, its distinctive form
has become one of the building's symbols.
The main entrance greets visitors with
a marble grand staircase 6 meters wide.
Zelkova wood in the handrails and ceiling
lends a warm, gentle character.
An entrance where Japanese and Western sensibilities meet.
A central corridor more than 100 meters long
runs east to west through the main wings.
Office floors are 3.2 meters wide;
the dining arcade opens to 8 meters.
The flow of people never ceases.
The stair linking basement and first floor
weighs roughly two tons yet stands without supports.
Inspired by suspension-bridge structure, stainless-steel rods
woven into a lattice create this sculptural form.
It is called the Stairway of Dreams.
Within the 22-meter-diameter cylindrical core,
eight elevators line the curve.
The hall spans 10.8 meters in diameter—
a sweeping circular space
some have likened to a spacecraft.
The rooftop garden commands views of the Imperial Palace—
among the oldest rooftop gardens in Japan.
In one corner stands the Mainichi Shrine,
founded in 1939.
An oasis where those who work here find respite.
Palaceside Building is sometimes called the "last building" to preserve the handiwork of master craftsmen. That legacy still lives on in the building today.
Brick exterior walls roughly 40 meters high rise at both east and west ends—some 600,000 bricks in all. Made to order for Palaceside Building, they were named "PS (Palaceside) Special Brick" by then Minister of International Trade and Industry Takeo Miki.
Pigeon sculptures perch at six locations on the ninth-floor eaves—three at rest, three in flight, each about 45 cm across in aluminum. Created by Kazuhiko Isshiki, recipient of the Kotaro Takamura Sculpture Award, they evoke the carrier pigeons of Mainichi Shimbun and a wish for peace.
On this site once stood the Tokyo branch of Reader's Digest. Garden stones selected by sculptor Isamu Noguchi for its Japanese garden now rest on the rooftop lawn.
Recognized for comprehensive excellence in planning and construction—as a landmark of postwar modernism in Japan.
Honors buildings that, through proper maintenance over time, continue to perform with distinction.
Among the first twenty selections—the only postwar office building included.
Recognizes buildings used well for more than 25 years, retaining beauty and function while contributing to society.