About 11 months ago, I was writing about the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree tower. Yesterday, I went again to visit the construction site, to see how the work progressed.
Well, 2 years after the start of construction, the progress is simply amazing:
The tower will soon surpass the height of 400 meters, and it is already difficult to look up directly beneath it…
…and it will still rise with over 230 meters, until it will reach the height of 634 meters!
More precisely, as we can see on the construction billboard, the Tokyo Sky Tree is right now 398 meters tall:
This means that the first observatory, which is located at the height of 350 meters, is already assembled… and looking up, we can see that this is where the work is done right now:
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
Zooming closer, we can have a peek at how the observatory will look like:
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
The first observatory will also include restaurants, cafes and shops.
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
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 :)).
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
The neighborhood is filled with people admiring the tower and taking photos:
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
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.
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
Looking closer, we can distinguish this tint, and I think it looks great over the blue sky:
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
The color was selected to represent the traditional Japanese sense of beauty, and also to reflect seasonal changes.
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
Looking at the lower part of the tower, we can see that the glass panels are already in place:
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
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.
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
This anti-earthquake structure is made so that each floor is independent, with a central pillar at the core.
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
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?
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
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. ;)
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
Tokyo Sky Tree, Sumida, Tokyo, July 2010
