I spent today walking around Aoyoma, a fairly upscale shopping district near Harajuku in Tokyo. One of the more distinctive features of the area is the Prada building, designed by the Swiss duo Herzog & de Meuron. It was really hot walking around it and staring up at the sun, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to shoot such a cool looking structure. The way the glass warps the interior while simultaneously reflecting the exterior makes for some really interesting compositions. From immediately below, looking up at the sky, the building kind of resembles bubble wrap, or perhaps the bottom of an almost boiling pot. My favorite part is the color contrast of the cross sections, between the black of the edges and the off-white of the supports. The attendants inside kept tossing me suspicious glances, once they figured out I was *not* there to buy anything.
I passed by this evening as well and the building looked awesome in a completely different way. Kind of like a 24 hour bee hive. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera; I would have really liked to round out the photo group with a few night shots. On an unrelated note, I didn’t have my camera because I was on the way to a Mike Stern concert at the Blue Note. If you are remotely into progressive jazz guitar at all, check out his music. He and the band (especially bassist Richard Bona) really tore the roof off the place tonight.
Really nice! Hope you are enjoying your time in Japan!
derivative, based in toronto, created the visuals there in tokyo:
http://www.derivativeinc.com/Events/12-PradaHerzog/AboutPradaAoyama.asp
🙂
i would love to see this in person!!!
Alex, I’m loving the colors in these shots. Did you color adjust the top two or is the mII just that good?
Really nice shots Alex! The compositions you chose complement your words about the design of the building very well. That camera is amazing!
@Kevin – Haha the MKII is *that* good, but these were edited fairly extensively in Lightroom. Since I’m on my tiny laptop, I am not using Photoshop right yet. Lightroom has been nice for quick hotel-based editing. When I get back I am going to revisit them in Photoshop.
Hey Alex, what lens did you use for those top shots? Is the the kit lens? Really awesome shots.
Cant beat the sky in the first two, perfect.
May be a little off topic, but that bassist you mentioned (Richard Bona) also has an amazing voice… very talented and worth checking out!
I love Herzog & de Meuron… such a big fan!