Japan Center, Office skyscraper in the Innenstadt district, Frankfurt, Germany
The Japan Center is a 115-metre office tower in Frankfurt's Innenstadt district, completed in 1996 with 27 floors. Its square plan measures 36.9 m by 36.9 m, and the facade is clad in terracotta-coloured natural stone, not red granite. Large and small square windows alternate in bands, reflecting open-plan and single offices behind them, and the wide projecting roof recalls a Japanese stone lantern.
The structure was completed in 1996 as a major investment project for Frankfurt's financial sector. Berlin architect Joachim Ganz designed the building, which has shaped the skyline since its opening.
The building's name comes from its Japanese design: the 36.9 m square plan doubles the 0.9 × 1.8 m tatami mat module, and the overhanging roof recalls a Japanese stone lantern. The ground-floor arcade holds shops and a Japanese restaurant, while the 25th-floor restaurant serves as a staff canteen run by a catering firm.
The building stands in the Innenstadt district, in the banking quarter. The ground floor is a glazed base zone with a surrounding arcade holding a café; the first floor is a conference centre, and the 25th floor holds a canteen restaurant run by a catering firm. The square plan measures 36.9 m by 36.9 m, with a central core of nine lifts and two emergency staircases.
The building's square footprint measures 36.9 m by 36.9 m, a dimension doubled from the 0.9 m by 1.8 m Japanese tatami mat. Its wide projecting roof is shaped to recall a Japanese stone lantern. The facade stacks what look like six-storey office blocks, each rotated 90 degrees from the one below.
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