In 1988, the charcoal company’s last few mouldering buildings had been demolished and the property rights holders’ plans for a new, modern office tower had finally been approved by the Osaka city planning commission.īuilding permits previously rejected due to the need to construct the highway ramp got the go-ahead, and construction on the ramp itself began. (images via: Rocketnews24, Voodo Vault and ) Five years later, the issue was finally resolved though neither side really conceded anything. Since there was no room to shift the exit ramp, the two sides sat down and began to negotiate… and negotiate… and negotiate some more.
The ink on the blueprints wasn’t yet dry when a problem surfaced: the small yet crucial slice of downtown land destined to support the Umeda exit ramp was owned (since the 1870s) by a moribund lumber & charcoal firm, and the owners weren’t interested in selling the valuable property rights. Though some sections of the Hanshin Expressway were severely damaged in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, the Gate Tower Building was unaffected. One such project involved the addition of several entry and exit ramps to the Hanshin Expressway, which itself opened in 1962 and has been branching out to serve the Osaka area’s growing population ever since. (images via: Bladerunner Wikia and Best Pictures Of) Explosive growth in exports led by cars and consumer electronics left the government flush with funds to spend, and the preferred venue for spending was urban construction projects. (images via: Saigon Ocean and University of Washington)
The process which led to this curious urban hybrid dates back almost a decade earlier, to 1983.
The Osaka, Japan landmark sometimes called “The Beehive” looks like some future extrapolation of supersaturated city life but in actuality the building/highway combo was opened nearly 20 years ago in February of 1992. It’s an office building, it’s a highway ramp, it’s… well, the Gate Tower Building is a little bit of both.
What happens when an irresistible force (the Hanshin Expressway) meets an immovable object (stubborn landowners)? You get the Gate Tower Building in Osaka, Japan, a hybrid highway-cum-skyscraper that revamps the exit ramp and redefines telecommuting with a dash of “Lost in Translation.”
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