namBa H!PS

 

Though sometimes I make spelling mistakes, the title of this post is not one of them.. .... this is really how the building is named.

It was designed by one of my favorite Japanese architects, Shin Takamatsu, a Shimane- born architect.

It is an entertainment complex and opened in 2007.

The red structure running up inside the hourglass-shaped cavity is actually a free-fall type of amusement park ride called YABAFO.

The complex is home to restaurants, spas, pachinko parlors, and karaoke. There is even a golf studio and the exterior of the building is used for rock climbing events.

The above photo seems to be a love hotel. I spotted the composition while walking around Namba Hips...

The previous post in this series on Osaka was on Namba Hatch, the nearby music venue...

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Namba Hatch

 

Namba Hatch is a uniquely-shaped building on the south bank of the Dotonbori River in Namba, Osaka.

It is a kind of concert hall and music venue, though not an auditorium with fixed seats.

Rock, Jazz, Blues, Hip-Hop and other contemporary styles are put on and the venue can hold less than 2,000 standing, much less sitting.

Several boat tours leave from the river landing here....

The octagonal main structure is quite striking. Namba Hatch was designed by Yasui Architecture & Engineering.

The only other building of theirs that I have knowingly covered was also in Osaka, the Kantelle Ogimachi Square

The previous post in this series on Osaka was on the nearby OCAT, the Osaka City Air Terminal.

f you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.

OCAT Osaka City Air Terminal

 

Osaka City Air Terminal does have buses that run to both Kansai Airport and Itami Airport, but in reality it is a multi-use business and commercial complex in Namba.

As well as the bus terminal, which was the biggest in all of west Japan at one point, the complex hosts government offices, commercial offices, and a variety of retail establishments.

I rarely visit cities, so for me they are somewhat similar to safari parks... the chance to see exotic, possibly dangerous, creatures in their natural habitat.

As many of you know, I am also a sucker for modern architecture, and that is usually where my gaze falls....

Two floors of OCAT are below ground, and one of the underground passageways was the subject of the previous post.

I have been unable to find out who created the large metal sculpture in the underground entrance...

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Luminous Wall OCAT Walk Namba

 

Not long after arriving in Japan, and having seen the massive complex of underground shopping malls and passageways in Osaka, I entertained the notion that maybe the Japanese were becoming troglodytes.

Of course they do offer protection from the traffic and inclement weather, including the dangerous sunshine that the Japanese female lives in terror of....

As a visitor, I hate them, not least because I get lost a lot and find the direction signage confusing...

However, in OCAT WALK, an underground passage that connects Namba Station with OCAT, I found this delightful art installation cum lighting system.

An undulating wall of fairly standard glass bricks with subtle lighting behind and miniature artwork in some bricks.

I have been unable to learn anything about it, who designed it, etc.

This is the first in a series of posts on an afternoon I spent in Namba.

I spend very little time in cities. I find them strange, and if I can I treat my visits to them as if visiting a theme park like disneyland

if you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.