LEGO 21017 Operating Instructions

Contents
Imperial Hotel..............................................................................................................	5
Its place in the history of architecture........................................................	6
Design and construction process................................................................	8
About the architect...............................................................................................	12
The building today ................................................................................................	14
Facts about the Imperial Hotel.....................................................................	16
A Word from the Artist .....................................................................................	166
The ‘Scale Model’ line – LEGO® Architecture in the 1960s ...	168
References...............................................................................................................	174

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- 1960 ® 169
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Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

Avec l’aimable autorisation de la Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

Imperial Hotel
When Frank Lloyd Wright’s legendary Imperial Hotel
opened in 1923, it marked the emergence of Japan	1923
as a modern nation. The building quickly became
the most famous landmark in Tokyo and it would go
on to have a history as colorful and dramatic as the
country itself. Eventually demolished in 1968, the iconic
entrance and lobby wing was dismantled and rebuilt at	1968
the Meiji Mura Museum in Nagoya.	®

Its place in the history of architecture

The original Imperial Hotel was a three-story, wooden Victorian-style structure built across the avenue from the Emperor’s palace. It opened in 1890 and was the only European-style hotel in the country at that time. By 1915 the hotel was no longer able to accommodate the growing numbers of visitors and it was decided to replace the out-dated building with a new modern hotel.

Looking for a western architect who could bridge the cultural divide between East and West, the hotel’s owners commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design and build the new Imperial Hotel. In many ways Wright was the perfect choice for the task. He had long been fascinated with Japanese culture, especially after his first visit to the country in 1905, and had become an avid collector of Japanese prints.

Wright was glad to spend a great deal of time in Tokyo working on the project that consumed his attention, off and on, from 1916 to 1922. His goal from the outset was to design a building that would appeal to many and genuinely respect the Japanese culture.

The 250 room hotel was designed roughly in the shape of its own logo, with the guest room wings forming the letter “H”, while the public rooms were in a smaller but taller central wing shaped like the letter “I” that cut through the middle of the “H”. The visual effect of the planned design would be both stunning and dramatic.

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The design & construction process

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Wright worked on the Imperial Hotel with 18 to 20 Japanese draftsmen, the only other foreigner apart from himself being Paul Mueller, an experienced builder from Chicago.

One of the major concerns during the initial design and construction process was how to safeguard the building from the many earthquakes that occurred in the area. Wright had noted that Japanese architects, trained by centuries of natural disasters, always “built lightly on the ground.”

With between 18m and 21m (60-70 ft.) of alluvial mud beneath the 2.4m (8 ft.) of surface soil, it would be impossible to obtain the rigidity needed for traditional foundations. Instead his idea was to float the building upon the mud using shallow, broad footings. This

would allow it—in Wright’s terms—“to balance like a tray on a waiter’s fingertips.”

Other design features to combat the threat caused by earthquakes included cantilevered floors and balconies to provide extra support, seismic separation joints every 20m (65.6 ft.) along the building, tapered walls that were thicker on the lower floors, plus the consistent use of smooth curves which were more resistant to fracture.

The main building materials used were reinforced poured concrete and brick, while the choice of soft volcanic Oya stone enabled the extensive carving of elaborate ornamental carving and decoration. Wright was particularly impressed by the craftsmanship of the Japanese stonemasons. So much so he modified many of his original decorative concepts to make the most of their talents.

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Furnishings were exquisite. Furniture was designed for specific seating areas and the restaurants. Oya stone carvings in the shape of peacocks and other intricate patterns adorned the walls; ceilings were hand painted or embellished in gold leaf on both interior and exterior wall surfaces. Over a hundred specially designed abstract, geometric, patterned rugs and carpets were created by Wright so they could be easily woven in

China. The new Imperial Hotel opened on September 1st 1923. The same day a massive earthquake would rock Tokyo and the surrounding area. Wright was in Los Angeles at the time and it would be ten long days of conflicting reports before it was confirmed that hotel still stood. Indeed, thanks to Wright’s unique design features, it would be one of the few buildings to survive the quake.

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Foundation Wright Lloyd Frank the of Courtesy :

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About the architect

Arguably America’s greatest architect and among the world’s most gifted, Frank Lloyd Wright was also a man of boundless energy. In a career that spanned over 74 years, he designed more than 900 works – including houses, offices, churches, schools, libraries, bridges, museums and many other building types. Of that total, over 500 resulted in completed works. Today, over 400 of these buildings still remain.

Wright’s creative mind was not only confined to architecture. He also designed furniture, fabrics, art glass, lamps, dinnerware, silver, linens and graphic arts. In addition, he was a prolific writer, an educator and a philosopher. He authored twenty books and countless articles, lectured throughout the United States and in Europe.

Wright was born in 1867, in the rural farming town of Richland Center, Wisconsin, just two years after the American Civil War ended and passed away at the age of 91 in 1959. While there is evidence of Wright attending both high school and the University of WisconsinMadison, there is no record of him graduating from either. In 1887 Wright moved to Chicago and by the early 1890s he was already head draftsman at the architectural firm of Adler & Sullivan.

As an architect and artist Wright was both intrigued and inspired by the Far East, and especially Japan. He

would eventually design and complete six buildings in the country, the most famous being the Imperial Hotel Wright was recognized as a brilliant architect by his peers and continues to be revered today. No other architecture took greater advantage of setting and environment. No other architect glorified the sense of “shelter” as did Frank Lloyd Wright. As he famously stated: “a building is not just a place to be. It is a way to be.

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The building today
By 1968, the Wright designed Imperial Hotel had	1968
survived several earthquakes, a growing Japanese
population, and increased pollution which had
deteriorated some of the intricate Oya stone carvings
and other decorative details of this masterpiece.
Thousands of hotel guests had stayed, visited, or
attended grand events held at the hotel.

Current management made a most difficult and
controversial decision to demolish this iconic Japanese	®
landmark to make way for a newer and larger multi-
story structure. However, the main entrance and lobby
wing were carefully dismantled and rebuilt at the Meiji
Mura Museum and can be seen in Nogoya, Japan.

Facts about the Imperial Hotel

Location: ..........................	Originally Tokyo, Japan
Architect: .........................	Frank Lloyd Wright
Date: ..................................	1916-1923
Construction type: ....	Hotel: 250 rooms, 5 ballrooms, 10
................................................	banquet rooms
Materials: .........................	Reinforced Concrete and Brick
Original Cost: ...............	Approximately 6 million yen
Surface area: ................	34.765m2 (114 058.399 sq. ft.)

:....................................
:...............................
: ........................	1916-1923
:..............................	: 250 5
:	10
:
:.....................................	600
:.....................	34,765 (114,058.399 )

1x		2x
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Wright expected the shallow
foundations of the hotel would
allow the foundations to
“balance like a tray on waiters
fi ngertips”.

+ 146 hidden pages