Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, Vertical campus building in Nishi-Shinjuku, Japan
Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower is a vertical educational building with 50 floors in Nishi-Shinjuku, reaching 204 meters high with white aluminum and dark blue glass panels arranged in diagonal patterns. The exterior displays a distinctive elliptical form created by rotating classroom areas around a central core as they rise through the structure.
The project began in 2006 following a design competition where 50 architects submitted 150 proposals, with construction completed in October 2008. This structure marked a shift in how educational institutions approach vertical campus design in dense urban areas.
Three specialized schools for fashion, information technology, and medical studies operate within this building, serving thousands of students in one vertical space. The stacked arrangement of different disciplines creates an unusual learning environment where students from separate fields share the same structure.
Students have access to dedicated lounges placed every three floors, offering views in multiple directions and providing places to rest between classes. The central core of the building helps with orientation as classrooms and facilities are organized around it throughout the structure.
The structure rotates classroom areas by 120 degrees around the inner core as it rises, creating the distinctive elliptical exterior shape. This spiral-like arrangement is an uncommon architectural solution for large educational buildings.
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