Out with the old

This is how redevelopment zone “B Block” in front of Hiroshima Station looks right now. This was taken from the 10th floor of the Fukuya Department Store (formerly known as “Block A”).

So goes a large chunk of Hiroshima’s post war history, including the much loved Pearl coffee shop which had been in business for over half a century.

.In its place will be this 52 storey piece of delightful architecture, rivalling the Urban View Grand Tower and the Wakasaka redevelopment on the other side of the station for Hiroshima’s top eyesore. The redevelopment is part of a plan to re-imagine Hiroshima’s genkan – the point at which people from all over Japan and around the world enter the city.

The failure to take advantage of the skills of the many world class and innovative architects available is presumably a ploy to reassure newcomers, who will land in a city that looks pretty much the same as any other in Japan.