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Ginza Sony Park Project
Architecture
History

Ginza Sony Park Project

Sony Building exterior. Bird’s eye view of Ginza Sony Park. Interior view of Ginza Sony Park in its final form.

The Ginza Sony Park Project is a project to reconstruct the Sony Building, which was built based on the concept of "Open to public spirit", and has had an over 50-year history as part of the city of Ginza.

The Sony Building was created by Akio Morita, one of the founders of Sony, in 1966. Morita called the 33-square meter public space-the epitome of the concept of providing a public space-the "Garden of Ginza." In an effort to carry on our founder's vision for the next 50 years, we began a project that would redefine the "Garden of Ginza" as the "Park of Ginza," bringing a new kind of rhythm to the city of Ginza, making it easier for people to visit, and allowing various avenues of enjoyment.

Reconstruction was based on a new and unprecedented two-phase process that was also designed to be unique and distinctly Sony. The first phase was a one-of-a-kind experiment in which the site would be turned into a park in the process of being demolished (August 2018 to September 2021), instead of the new building being constructed immediately. The results were that the park received 8.54 million visitors in its approximately three-year existence, which included a part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After this was the second phase, in which demolition and the construction of the new building were resumed. Construction for Ginza Sony Park - the project's final form - was completed on August 15, 2024, and its grand opening was held on January 26, 2025.

Sony Building

1966 - 2017
Ginza Sony Park

2018 - 2021
Ginza Sony Park

2025 -

Architecture

Ginza Sony Park

2025 -

Buildings in Ginza have a height limit of 56 meters under the Ginza Rules, a set of district planning rules meant to protect the look of the urban landscape. The new Ginza Sony Park, which has a steel-frame concrete structure, with five above-ground floors and four basement floors, is about half the height of the limit set in the Ginza Rules. Its height has purposely been set low in order to create a sense of openness and a new kind of landscape in this high-concentration urban area.

Ginza Sony Park also carries on the unique elements that the Sony Building held so dear: the design concept of providing a public space, its "junction" architecture, and its vertical-promenade style.

Exterior. Ginza Sony Park, with its low height and grid-like façade, is nestled between Maison Hermès and Tokyu Plaza Ginza. Trees line the street in front of it.

Open to public spirit

Back in the day, there was a 33-square meter public space, located on the corner of the street facing the Sukiyabashi Crossing in Ginza, called "Sony Square." The public space was based on the concept of "creating" a city in a scenic manner, and was designed to be enjoyable to those who visited the city, serving as an external space where people could interact with the city, in an urban environment where there is typically little openness.

Founder Akio Morita called this space the "Garden of Ginza." In the spring, a field of gerbera daisies in full bloom; in the summer, an aquarium to bring a sense of coolness to the space. The space, which hosted various seasonal events that brought color and joy to the city, and came to be loved by many over the years, was the epitome of the concept of providing a public space.

Ginza Sony Park has inherited this 50-year concept of the "Garden of Ginza," and evolved it into the "Park of Ginza." The goal is to bring rhythm to the city and its people, creating a sense of openness that allows people to spend their time as they wish, and offering a variety of activities to inspire their curiosity.

Interior. The atrium space, surrounded by concrete staircases, connects seamlessly into Sukiyabashi Crossing.

Junction Architecture

Ginza Sony Park is located in a prestigious location that allows it to serve various urban functions, with the park facing Harumi Avenue, Sotobori Street, and the Sony Street, and the basement floors connected directly to the subway concourse and one of the area's largest underground parking lots.

While the park faced various challenges, including the difficulty of constructing a new building in this particular location, it was able to carry on the "junction architecture" used since the Sony Building, to link these urban functions to the building in an organic manner.

The atrium space serves as a natural receptacle for the flow of people coming in from the Sukiyabashi Crossing, and the lack of doors and walls separating the inside from the outside on the basement floors is designed to make the flow of people underground as seamless as possible, all so that visitors to Ginza can come and go through the space as naturally as possible.

Exterior. The atrium in the first and second above-ground floors allows glimpses of Sony Street through the building.

Vertical Promenade

Staggered floors, or a "flower petal structure," was used in the Sony Building to make effective use of the relatively small piece of land on which the building stood. This structure connected the above-ground floors in a series of connected sub-floors, turning it into a vertical promenade.

The new Ginza Sony Park has further iterated on this concept, bringing in the external above-ground environment in a dynamic manner, to connect everything from the third basement floor to the fifth floor (roof) in a single vertical promenade.

Overview

Exterior. The first floor area, which features a large staircase that leads up to the second floor, is a large atrium space that while technically inside of the building, is basically outdoors.

Exterior. A partly sunny sky, as seen looking up through the grid-like façade.

Interior. Designed for sunlight and shadows to show through the grid-like façade.

Interior. Stairway all the way to the upper level.

Interior. Sunlight shines through from above the stairway landing.

Exterior. The rooftop floor, nestled low compared to the surrounding buildings, with its concrete tower and pavilion beneath the blue sky.

The first floor has activity area PARK 1. There are elevators (A, B, C) and stairs. It faces Sony Street, Harumi Avenue, and Sotobori Street.

The second floor has an atrium in the middle of the floor. There are elevators (A, B, C) and stairs.

The third floor has activity area PARK 3. There are elevators (A, B, C), a unisex bathroom, and stairs.

The fourth floor has activity area PARK 4. There are elevators (A, B, C), a unisex bathroom, and stairs.

The fifth floor is the rooftop. There are elevators (B, C), a unisex bathroom, and stairs

The first basement floor has an atrium in the middle of the floor. There are elevators (A, B, C) and stairs. There is an upward escalator that connects from the subway concourse.

The second basement floor has activity area PARK B2. There is a men’s bathroom, barrier-free bathroom, baby room, elevators (A, B, C), a women’s bathroom, an ostomy-friendly bathroom, a nursing room, and stairs. There is an upward escalator that connects to the first basement floor from the subway concourse. It connects directly to the Ginza Station subway concourse and Nishi-Ginza Parking.

The third basement floor has casual dining. There is a barrier-free bathroom, a diaper changing station, elevators (A, B, C), a platform lift, an ostomy-friendly bathroom, baby chairs, and stairs. The adjacent Nishi-Ginza Parking has parking spaces for those with impairments.

Park Map (PDF : 268KB)

Site area: 707.42 ㎡

Building area: 584.75 ㎡

Total floor area: 4,357.49 ㎡

Structure material: Steel-framed reinforced concrete construction (partially steel-framed)

Floors: Five above-ground floors and four basement level

Height: 33.863 m

History

Sony Building

1966 - 2017

Based on the concept of providing a public space, the Sony Building has had an over 50-year history as part of the Ginza city district.

This 33-square meter public space was based on the concept of "creating" a city in a scenic manner, and was meant to serve as an external space where people could interact with the city in an urban environment where there is typically little openness, on a corner facing Sukiyabashi Crossing in Ginza. Designed to be enjoyable to those who visited the city, the space was the epitome of the concept of providing a public space.

Founder Akio Morita called this the "Garden of Ginza." In the spring, a field of gerbera daisies in full bloom; in the summer, an aquarium to bring a sense of coolness to the space. Having hosted various seasonal events that brought color and joy to the city, it was the epitome of the concept of providing a public space.

Ginza Sony Park

2018 - 2021

Reconstruction of the building was based on a new unprecedented two-phase process that was also designed to be unique and distinctly Sony.

The first phase was a one-of-a-kind experiment in which the site would be turned into a park in the process of being demolished, instead of the new building being constructed immediately.

Within that open space where time seems to move at a different pace, Ginza Sony Park which emerged after the demolition has been hosting a variety of programs that inspire a sense of adventure, welcoming 8,540,000 visitors in roughly the past three years including during the COVID-19 pandemic.