Kobe Port Tower
| Kobe Port Tower | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Data | ||
| place | Kobe | |
| architect | Koichi Ito, Takeo Naka ( Nikken Sekkei Ltd. ) | |
| Construction year | 1962-1963 | |
| height | 108 m | |
| Coordinates | 34 ° 40 '57.5 " N , 135 ° 11' 12.1" E | |
|
||
| particularities | ||
| Hyperboloid construction | ||
The Kobe Port Tower ( Japanese 神 戸 ポ ー ト タ ワ ー Kobe Pōto Tawā ), also Kobe port tower , is the 108 m high landmark of the Japanese city of Kobe . The hyperboloid tower was completed on November 21, 1963. The viewing platform at a height of 90.28 meters allows a wide view of Kobe and the Bay of Osaka . In addition to its function as an observation tower , it is mainly used for port operations.
history
The proposal for the construction of a lookout tower goes back to an idea of the seventh mayor of Kobe, Haraguchi Chujiro . During his European trip in 1959, he was extremely impressed by the Euromast in Rotterdam . The actual construction of the port tower in Kobe began in August 1962. Initially there were major problems with water ingress in the excavation pit, but the rest of the construction work went smoothly. Four years later, the tower was designed by Nikken Sekkei Ltd. Completed and opened on November 21, 1963. For its remarkable design, the tower has received several awards and architectural prizes, such as the 15th award from the Japanese Institute of Architects .
The shape of the tower is based on the tsuzumi , a traditional Japanese drum-like musical instrument. Originally the tower was supposed to be painted silver, but this is forbidden by the aviation law. The current color scheme, in the form of a red exterior and a white core, represents a clear contrast to the green of the mountains and the strong blue of the sea.
While over a hundred thousand buildings were destroyed or damaged on a large scale in the great Kobe earthquake in 1995 , the Kobe Port Tower survived the earthquake without major damage. Less than a month after the earthquake, on February 14th, the tower was already shining in red and white in the night sky. For many citizens of Kobe, the light was a symbol of hope for the reconstruction of the destroyed city.
Between December 2009 and April 28, 2010, the Kobe Port Tower was renovated. The tower is illuminated every night by 7000 light-emitting diodes .
location
The Kobe Port Tower is located in Meriken Park , at the harbor not far from the city center of Kobe on Naka Pier. Due to its size, shape and color, it is one of the most distinctive structures on the Kobe skyline. Right next to the port tower is the Kobe Maritime Museum with its unusual roof structure, as well as the Great-Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial , a memorial in memory of the great earthquake of 1995.
Construction and construction
.jpg)
The hyperboloid construction of straight connecting elements used for the construction of the Kobe Port Tower goes back to the Russian engineer, scientist and architect Vladimir Schuchow , who used this construction method in Russia from 1896 for the construction of water towers, lighthouses and high-voltage pylons.
The outer construction of the Kobe Port Tower, made of red steel tubes, ensures the horizontal and vertical rigidity of the structure and supports the five floors of the tower cage . It consists of a total of 32 inclined, crossing tubes that are secured against kinking by numerous horizontal rings. The white inner core made of delicate steel latticework, on the other hand, is only used for transport, but has no load-bearing function.
The lower platform of the tower consists of three floors, in which the cash register, restaurant, shop and cafeteria are housed. The middle part of the tower is used for transportation and contains stairs and elevators. The top two floors 4 and 5 of the tower cage are designed as a viewing platform and have large panoramic windows on all sides. There are also souvenir shops on the 4th floor. The "Sky Lounge" tea room is located on the 3rd floor of the tower basket. The floor of this floor is designed as a rotating platform. Together with the inventory, it rotates once every 20 minutes, allowing a 360 ° all-round view. The lowest level of the tower cage is about 75 meters high. At two points on the tour, hardened glass plates are embedded in the floor, allowing a direct view straight down.
Close up view
View of the tower and museum at night
literature
- Erwin Heinle , Fritz Leonhardt : Towers of all times - of all cultures. , (3rd edition), Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart (Germany) 1997, ISBN 3-421-02931-8 , p. 254.
Web links
- Official website (Japanese, English, Korean, and Chinese), accessed August 21, 2016
- Panoramic view from the observation deck of the Kobe Port Tower on YouTube , accessed on July 30, 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ KOBE PORT TOWER. (No longer available online.) Gojapango.com, archived from the original on July 18, 2013 ; accessed on July 28, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Heinle, Leonhardt: Towers of all times - of all cultures. P. 254
- ↑ Hikari Shirakata: Kobe --- my hometown. Archived from the original on August 3, 2013 ; accessed on August 21, 2016 (English).
- ↑ a b c Kobe Port Tower. (No longer available online.) OBAYASHI CORPORATION; December 7, 2009; archived from the original on May 13, 2012 ; Retrieved July 28, 2013 (history). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Kobe Port Tower (108 m). japantowers.jp, accessed July 31, 2013 (Japanese).
- ↑ a b c Kobe Port Tower. happyjappy.com, accessed July 28, 2013 .
- ↑ Why is the Kobe Port Tower red? Kobe Porttower, accessed August 21, 2016 (Japanese).
- ↑ Kobe Port Tower. yakei-mn.com, accessed July 28, 2013 (Japanese, reopening).
- ↑ a b Karel Vollers: Twist & Build: Creating Non Orthogonal Architecture . 010 Publishers, Rotterdam 2001, ISBN 90-6450-410-5 , pp. 24 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Munich's Mae West - everything just stolen? tz-online.de, January 25, 2011, accessed on July 28, 2013 (Infobox Kobe-Port-Tower).
- ↑ Guide to Kobe Port Tower. Kobe Porttower, accessed August 21, 2016 (Japanese).
