ARTICLE

The "Ginza Sony Park Project" Begins

Jun 13, 2016

Exterior. Kazuo Hirai and Daisuke Nagano stand on the stairs leading from the ground floor to the basement floors.

(From concept book at time of project presentation in June 2016)

This year, 2016, will mark a milestone for Sony.

Sony's predecessor, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Corporation, was established in 1946, just after the end of the war. This year marks our 70th anniversary. It is also the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Sony Building-the Sony Group's "showroom." In this commemorative year, we have made the decision to transform the Sony Building into a new Sony hub for information sharing, one more attractive than ever before.

The year the Sony Building was completed, 1966, was smack in the midst of Japan's rapid economic growth. That Sony built this building of eight above-ground and four underground floors as a company showroom, not just in Ginza-the most prestigious area of Tokyo-but in central Ginza, on this corner of Sukiyabashi Crossing, was a revolutionary event in the Japan of 50 years ago. Since then, the Sony Building has existed as a unique building at the Ginza junction, and a symbol of the city itself, welcoming numerous visitors not just from Japan, but from all over the world, for 50 years. Elderly customers who say the Sony Building was the meeting spot of choice in their youth. Families who look forward to the "Sony Aquarium" event every summer. And the biggest Sony fans, who rush to the Sony Building as soon as a new product comes out, so they can be the first to try it out. The Sony Building is a singular building, but the memories it has created are as numerous as the people who have visited it. The Sony Building, as loved as it is by so many, will continue to serve as a hub for communicating the made-in-Japan Sony brand to the rest of the world.

Road map chart. Sony Building (1966-2017), Ginza Sony Park Phase 1 (2018-2020), then Ginza Sony Park Phase 2 (2022 onwards).

It is also true, however, that in the past half century, Sony's businesses have expanded considerably, and there have been dramatic changes in the ways people communicate with one another. In many ways, the building and its operational systems are not very suited to today's needs. For this reason, we began about three years ago to consider the possibility of a "rebirth," a transformation of the Sony Building, and spent a great deal of time discussing what the next-generation Sony Building should be. The key idea I conveyed to the members of this project, all the way in the early stages, was "inviting." In other words, the concept of providing a public space. We believed that the new Sony Building should provide a place, a space, that is open not only to customers who have come to visit with a specific purpose in mind, but for those simply strolling around Ginza. To that end, the planning of this project was focused around the design and functionality of the building, as well as the public aspect of the building, as a part of the city itself. And now we are pleased to announce the start of the "Ginza Sony Park Project."

This project, which spans from 2017 to 2022, will see the current Sony Building undergo a dramatic two-step transformation, and will ultimately result in the creation of a new space within the city of Ginza. The key concept in the first phase of the project is the creation of Ginza Sony Park, an open/blank space highly accessible to the public, in Sukiyabashi Crossing in the center of Ginza. A space that "brings in" the world around it, to share information in a new kind of way.

Bird's eye view. Bird's eye view of Ginza Sony Park and its surrounding buildings at Sukiyabashi Crossing.

The Sony Building, even now, is intimately connected to the city of Ginza and the transportation systems around it. But with Ginza Sony Park, we will work to further realize the concept of providing a public space, creating a next-generation information hub explicitly designed for this purpose, from its open structure to its various experimental activities. Following this will be the construction of the new Sony Building, which will begin in the fall of 2020. The new Sony Building will combine the concept of providing a public space with the concept of incorporating urban functions, and will serve as an urban facility that is highly accessible to the public.

Construction for this new building is expected to be complete in 2022. The new Sony Building will bring in those in nearby communities who will work with us to bring more life to Ginza's Sukiyabashi Crossing, as well as the members of the "Ginza Sony Park Project." We will also seek the opinions of a wide variety of people, including business partners who wish to make use of the park, in order to make the new Sony Building worthy of this next-generation city of Ginza.

Sony will continue to make new efforts towards this next-generation evolution, delivering inspiration and surprise through challenges that are distinctly Sony. We hope you are as excited as we are.

Kazuo Hirai

* 2022 was the initial plan. Construction was actually completed in August 2024, and the grand opening was set for January 2025.　

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