Driving Through Buildings
In Japan’s “second city” of Osaka, space for offices is severely limited. So limited that the 16 story ‘Gate Tower Building’ had to lose the 5th, 6th and 7th floors to a raised highway!
The story goes that back in 1989 the office block was to be rebuilt, but the space was also needed for an off-ramp of the highway.
So after a few years of back and forth negotiation a compromise was reached: the building was rebuilt and the Hanshin Expressway Company took out a lease on 3 office floors to redecorate them in an unconventional way – they put in a road.
There’s some good ground level pictures (and more info if you can read Japanese) on the Japanese Wikipedia page.
Thanks to Paul Watabe.
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Is it just my imagination or is the quality of the photography significantly better in this particular area?
I hope Osaka is one of the cities to be included in the Japanese street view, would love to see the camera go through this!
Sadly when the Street View car arrived, it didn’t drive through the building! This is as close as it got:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Did you notice the point of view for the three buildings aligned ?
Three different directions.
How do they get from the 4th to the 8th floor if there’s a road in the way?
Why not sample the joy of Google translated wikipedia pages?
I especially enjoyed the section entitled “through the reasons why the”
The office block at 1 America Square in London has a train line running through it.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=skjpc9gzt9dm&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=12454229&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
So, after drive-through restaurants, dairy shops and wedding chapels this must be the first drive-through office in the world!
@Mark: don’t worry, there seems to be a helipad on the roof…
Chicago’s Pink Line “L” train soes through Rush Medical Center.
Placemark: View Larger Map / Google Earth
The Walt Disney World monorail line runs through the middle of the Contemporary Resort. It’s actually set up this way with a station in the lobby, so hotel guests can easily get to the theme parks. But some trains run through at high speed without stopping, providing a surprising view for passengers (who can only see out the sides of the car and don’t expect to run through a building).
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Here’s a ground-level picture:
http://www.disneyfunsite.com/images/photos/resorts/contemporary_monorail2.jpg
@ Tim, that was the first thing I thought.
Here is a crowd gathered at some event.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
UR?
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Universal Studios – Osaka
http://gojapan.about.com/cs/osakaentertain/a/universalstudio.htm
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Placemark: Also here. / Google Earth
The Japanese have an incredible talent for stacked and intertwined traffic lanes. I’m always impressed and awed when I googleearth (yes, this is a verb
) around Tokyo:
Roads over railways over monorails with tunnels beneath bridges under skywalks…
@nova72: It would appear the bit marked UR is the ‘Urban Renaissance Agency Osaka Station North Development Area ‘ …
If you’re really interested, you can look here.
Well that is very common in Hong Kong, as you can imagine the city is so crowded with buildings and roadworks. Here is one:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
(22.309087, 114.170392)
The building, Yau Ma Tei Carpark Building, comprises carpark between G/F – 8/F and government office on 9//F and 10/F. The bridge, Gascoigne Road Flyover (or West Kowloon Corridor as in googlemap), being one of the busiest bridge in Hong Kong, goes thru the bldg in around 3/F – 5/F. This brige has been erected since probably over15 years ago.
Another example:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
(22.376002, 114.111782)
you could see there is a flyover going underneath a podium garden. This is a part of highway going thru a Residential cum Shopping mall complex called Discovery Park. The tricky point of this development is that the Residential complex is completed well before the flyover is started constructing. So there was a big hollow in the facade of the complex, and around 2 years later the flyover built thru it.
Four lanes of traffic travel through the casino in Melbourne
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Hong Kong also has one “drive through” car park
but the car driving through cannot enter the car park through the highway
The name of the car park is “Yau Ma Tei Car Park”
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth