Well, 2 years after the start of construction, the progress is simply amazing:
Zooming closer, we can have a peek at how the observatory will look like:
The first observatory will also include restaurants, cafes and shops.
Last year, I was amazed by how clean everything looks. Well, it still does, the cranes and all the construction machineries look like they are brand new (and I know you will ask this, I did not enhance the colors :)).
The neighborhood is filled with people admiring the tower and taking photos:
The Tokyo Sky Tree looks white, but actually the color is Sky Tree White, a color based on a traditional Japanese color, a very light shade of indigo die, aijiro.
Looking closer, we can distinguish this tint, and I think it looks great over the blue sky:
The color was selected to represent the traditional Japanese sense of beauty, and also to reflect seasonal changes.
Looking at the lower part of the tower, we can see that the glass panels are already in place:
Admiring the tower, an obvious question came to mind: how about the earthquakes?
The answer I received is amazing: I learned that the Tokyo Sky Tree system will apply a traditional Japanese earthquake resistant system, an architectural technique used in the construction of the five-story pagoda.
This anti-earthquake structure is made so that each floor is independent, with a central pillar at the core.
The tower is built with a steel skeleton with steel frames. There are also other safety systems incorporated in the Tokyo Sky Tree, like a vibration control system. It sounds safe enough, I believe... what do you think?
Although the tower will reach the final height during the next spring, there are still 17 months to go until the construction completion, in December 2011. And a few more months until the grand opening...
Until then, here are some more photos. ;)