The Tokyo Sky Tree is a radio tower under construction in Oshiage, Sumida-ku, Tokyo. The plan is for it to reach 634 meters high, which will make it the tallest independent radio tower in the world once completed. On July 14th, 2008, construction was commenced, with the plan to complete the tower by summer of 2012. On March 29th, 2010, the Tokyo Sky Tree beat the previous tallest building in Japan, Tokyo Tower of 333 meters, making it the country’s new tallest building.

Construction Details

In recent years, the increase in the number of high-rise buildings in Tokyo has caused harmful electromagnetic interference with broadcasts coming from Tokyo Tower. In order to decrease these interferences, the “new tower” construction project was launched.

Aside from Sumida, Saitama city and Gunma were also brought up as possible sites for construction of the Sky Tree. The plan to build on top of Tokyo Tower, making it taller, was also discussed, but in March of 2006, it was decided that the new tower would be built in the Sumida district.

Design

The design of the tower is based on classic Japanese architecture, using the “gojuto” (five-storied pagoda) as a reference, while consciously thinking of traditional architectural styles such as “sori” and “mukuri.”The base of the tower is a perfect triangle, but as it gets higher, it starts to round out, and at 320 meters it becomes a perfect circle. The color of the building is an original, the base being a traditional Japanese indigo white.

Lighting Design

The elegant sense of beauty and the sophistication of the spirit of Edo both are expressed mutually. The sophistication comes from the lighting of the central tower, a light blue which uses the water from the Sumida River as a motif. The elegance comes from the Edo purple (close to violet) lighting, which glitters like beaten gold, and has the perfect color balance. It is planned that the tower’s light up will use only LED lighting.

Name

The name Tokyo Sky Tree was chosen by the public. Out of all the names that were collected, six were chosen to go through a public online poll, where people could vote for the name which they thought was the best. Besides “Tokyo Sky Tree,” the other candidates entered in the poll were “Tokyo Edo Tower,” “Rising Tower,” “Mirai Tower” (future tower), “Yumemiyagura” (dream tower), and “Rising East Tower.” The name “Tokyo Sky Tree” received the greatest number of votes, and as such was selected as the name for the new tower.

Height

At the start of planning, the building was supposed to have a height of 610 meters, but in October of 2009, this was changed to 634 meters. High-rise buildings are being constructed, or designed, in countries all over the world, so for the purpose of making Japan’s Sky Tree stand above all the rest, its extension was made final. It is possible to read the number 634 as “musashi” in Japanese. Musashi was the old name for the area around Tokyo (musashi no kuni), and is a name familiar to all Japanese people. Because of this play on word it was decided to construct the tower at a height 634 meters.

Faculty Outline

In the 634 meter tall tower, there are observation decks located at 350 meters and 450 meters. The plan is that the first observation deck, at 350 meters, will be equipped with a restaurant, and the second deck, at 450 meters, will have a “sky corridor,” surrounded by glass, making it possible to “take a walk on air.”