Mori Planning "MacArthur Road"

[Mulboyne]

[Charles]

Yeah, they called Le Corbusier crazy, when he wanted to bulldoze half of Paris, to straighten out all the crooked streets, replacing them with grand avenues through the city.
They were right, he was crazy.

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

Mori Building has unveiled plans for a new development between Toranomon and Roppongi which have just been approved by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The main structure in the project is a 46-storey commercial complex with a residential block nearby. It should get under way next year and be finished by 2012. Details in Japanese are in the Nikkei article here.

The Mainichi also carries an interview here with Mori Building's CEO, Minoru Mori, where he explains what he thinks about the development of Tokyo. In summary, He says that Tokyo is no longer one of the world's top three cities even though most Japanese still believe it is. He recognizes that many people are calling for more support for Japan's local economies but argues that Tokyo needs to prosper for for there to be more resources available for everyone. On his dream of creating a world-class financial centre, Mori says Tokyo still falls short. He says that Tokyo presents an unwelcoming face with queues at airport immigration and politicians shutting the doors to foreign investment. He believes the city still lacks an attractive infrastructure for foreign businessmen and that was the reason he built Roppongi Hills. He recognizes that Roppongi Hills picked up a bad press but attributes it to Japan's distrust of anyone who tries to make money. He notes that there are no old money families in the complex. However, he argues that Japan can't get ahead without the energy and creativity of entrepeneurs and so will continue to provide settings to help them succeed.

[DrP]

Mori is just another corrupt semi-yak with dubious ties to the Imperial family. The fact that does anything here is no more or less 'beautiful' than the Japanese endless construction of concrete roads to no where and bridges over rivers paved for the same reason. He's created an endless cycle of construction for construction's sake and as high as buildings go - his esteem and relative moral worth decline.