Il Palazzo Fukuoka

Fukuoka 福岡

Hotel Il Palazzo in Fukuoka was built in 1989 and designed by Italian architect Aldo Rossi.

Palazzo means "palace" but it also refers to an architectural style of the 19th and 20th centuries based on renaissance palaces

It is built out of brick and the windowless facade is faced in Iranian travertine with exposed steel beams.

The contrast of the green steel and salmon pink stone works well.

The proportions are also quite pleasing.

However, being windowless it does tend to look like a love hotel, of which there are many nearby.

I must admit to not knowing Rossi's work, although he was the first Italian architect to win the Pritzker Prize.

Wild Japan

Hotel Il Palazzio

I really, really like this building, especially the windowless facade.

From the side you can see that it is just a regular brick hotel building.

It was built in 1987 and designed by Italian architect Aldo Rossi.

The facade is marble and steel and I believe the steel is enamelled. I like how it almost perfectly matches the color of the brick.

Atrium at Seahawk Hotel

The atrium of the Seahawk Hotel in Fukuoka is based on the design of a seashell.

It, and the hotel, were designed by Italian architect Cesar Pelli.

It offers great views out to sea and houses several restaurants and shops....

Seahawk Hotel

The Seahawk Hotel in the Hawkstown area of Fukuoka was until recently owned by JAL, the national airline. As part of the companies bankruptcy restructuring they had to sell off all their hotels, so now it is owned by Hilton.

With more than 1,000 rooms it was the biggest hotel in Japan, but that is now one in Tokyo, though it comprises 3 separate towers.

There are 34 floors above ground, rising to a height of 143 meters.

It was built in 1995 and designed by Cesar Pelli.

The hotel is way out of my price range, but it does have a fantastic atrium that I went in, so will post on that on my next architecture post.