The office tower was built in Osaka for a Japanese insurance company. It has 28 above-ground floors, which house the actual offices, shops, university laboratories; 4 floors are underground: there is an underground parking place. Perrault created not only a comfortable, but also an original high-rise building. It does not at all resemble traditional multi-storey "boxes".
The prototype of the Fukoku tower was, surprisingly, a giant tree. The architect borrowed the expanding lower part of the "trunk" from him and played with the bark.
Closer to the top, the tower is significantly narrowed in relation to the base, which should resemble tree roots. The contrast between the bottom and top of the building is also achieved through the cladding. The entire building is covered with glass rectangular panels, but below, some of them are located in their "cells" at an angle, which imitates the roughness of the bark, and closer to the top, the surface of the facade becomes absolutely smooth.
The use of mirrored surfaces is a well-known move, but in the context of the created image it is read in a new way. The "glass tree" acquires natural colors due to the sky and greenery reflected in the facades. In addition, inside the building itself there is a research botanical garden (!), Which, thanks to transparent walls, is visible from afar both day and night.
Fukoku, located near Osaka City Station, has become a new symbol of the city for arriving travelers.
