Floating Garden Observatory at Umeda Sky Building

 

The observation deck on top of Umeda Sky Building in Osaka offers full 360 degree views over Osaka and beyond.

An elevator takes visitors most of the way up, but the final section is by a glass-enclosed escalator that crosses the circular open space high above the ground.

In Japanese it is called Kuchuteien, "floating garden".

The 39th and 40th floors have views but the best are from the open-air rooftop, 170 meters above the ground.

The previous post was on the Umeda Sky Buildings itself.

The view across the Yodo River towards Kobe.

The view towards the Northeast

Not sure what this bridge carries.... maybe utilities of some kind... certainly not any vehicles, trains etc as it just connects to two structures, one of them an NTT building I believe.

Another iconic Osaka building, the Gate Tower Building is a 16 storey office building with an off-ramp of an expressway passing though the building.

The view looking East...

The Osaka Hilton in front of Osaka Station to the SE of Umeda Sky Building.

Below is another iconic Osaka building, the perfect replica of a 14th century Belgian chapel, part of the hotels wedding facilities.

The descending escalator from the observatory.

Umeda Sky Building

 

Umeda Sky Buildings is one of the iconic modern buuldings of Osaka.

It is located between the Yodo River and Osaka Station and Umeda Station.

Though the area around it continues to be edevloped, there are no other high-rise structures around it.

It was designed by Hara Hiyoshi and opened in 1993.

It is 173 meters tall and has 40 floors.

It consisites of two towers connected at the upper floor.

The design is said to have been partly inspired by La Grande Arche de la Drfense in Paris

These two shots are taken looking up from inside some of the modern sculptures outside the building.

It is a multi-use building with many companies having offices in it.

many festivals and markets take place under it and in front of it.

The most popular feature of the building is the rooftop observation deck known as the Floating Garden Observatory accessible via the glass-enclosed escalators that cross the open central space.

I will post photos of the observatory, escalators, and views from later....

These last two shots are off the building immediately next door.

Umeda Architecture Snapshots

 

The high-rise buildings of Umeda in downtown Osaka may be quite familiar to many visitors, but because I live deep in the countryside and rarely visit cities the sights are quite unfamiliar Japan to me and very fascinating.

The cluster of seven temples that comprise the start of the Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage are all located in central Osaka and after visiting the 7th, Settsu Kokubunji, in the afternoon of my second day walking, it was now time to head West towards Kobe where temple 8 lay.

I had a hotel room booked for the night in Nishinomiya so I had no time to explore or engage in any kind of photographic study of the architecture, just snapshots as I passed by.

This is the Umekita Ship Hall, a commercial property on the northside of JR Osaka Station. It was designed by Nikken Sekkei

The unique Umeda Sky Building, designed by Hiroshi Hara, seen from a distance.

A replica of a medieval Belgian church on the 8th floor of the Hotel Monterey Osaka.

The previous post in this series on the Kinki Fudo Myo Pilgrimage was Settsu Kokubunji Temple.