Hibiya Triangle Building (Project) Tokyo, 1922
Niro Hoshijima, the son-in-law of Tazaemon Yamamura, visited Wright before his departure from Japan in 1922 to request a final design. It was for a unique residential-commercial complex to be built on a triangular lot at Hibiya Park crossing, just minutes from the Imperial Hotel.
Wright quickly dashed off a conceptual design that featured a septagonal, 10-story concrete tower
with a bell spire. The sketch was turned over to Arata, who made subtle alterations that appeared in
newspaper announcements about the project.
The unique complex was to include a range of facilities for 100 families, from a roof garden and restaurant
to health clinics and even a matchmaking center. Construction was to begin in autumn 1923, but the Great
Kanto Earthquake intervened.
The complex was never built. (KS)
