Atago Green Hills

Atago Green Hills was completed in 2001 and inherited the development philosophy of ARK Hills. It is a mixed-use development which creates open spaces by making buildings high rise and achieves “work and living spaces in close proximity” inside the city. This project was designed as a step toward building Roppongi Hills. 
Mount Atago, the site for the Atago Green Hills development, is blessed with cherry trees and a lot of other greenery, and has been loved since the Edo Period as a famous lookout spot. At the top of the mountain there is the NHK Museum of Broadcasting, the home of broadcasting in Japan, and the Atago Shrine. There are also three temples: the venerable Seishoji Temple with a history of more than 500 years, the Seigan-in Temple, and the Densou-in Temple. As a culturally and historically valuable place within the city, it has the potential to contribute to the formation of an appealing area in the heart of Tokyo. 

This project had its genesis about 19 years ago when Seishoji Temple approached Mori Building with its concerns that the rebuilding taking place in the vicinity of temple would conceal the venerable temple and Mount Atago. As a result the land of approximately 70 rights holders was integrated and a joint project was undertaken involving Mori Building and Seishoji Temple, Densou-in Temple, Seigan-in Temple, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Kobunsha, and three other parties. In 1998 the city plan was decided, the Atago Area Redevelopment Plan. The basic concepts of the development were “to preserve the existing topography and greenery of Mount Atago, utilize it as a valuable scenic resource of the center of Tokyo, ensure the population of permanent residents makes a recovery, make the development safe with respect to disasters, and build a comfortable town in which to live.” So the challenge was to combine the development with the historical landscape of Mount Atago and the temples. 
The development site is divided into four areas. Area A has been rearranged to focus mainly on commercial functions and includes the Atago Mori Tower, the Plaza, the Seigan-in Temple, and Kobunsha. Area B was rearranged to focus mainly on residential functions and includes the Atago Forest Tower, the Densou-in Temple, and the Mount Atago Elevator. Area C is the rebuilt Seishoji Temple and Area D is the existing NHK Museum of Broadcasting. For the design of the layout of the buildings we placed the Atago Mori Tower and the Atago Forest Tower far apart, ensured that approximately half of the site would be open space, and restored the greenery of Mount Atago. These two towers designed by Caesar Pelli eliminate the sense of crowding in the landscape and have become landmarks that symbolize Mount Atago.