Nacasa & Partners

Column et cetera essence

The Reborn Oriental Hotel Kobe - Opening Report
vol.9


et cetera essence:
The Reborn Oriental Hotel Kobe - Opening Report
-Redefining “the Orient” with a playful Plan Do See attitude-

>>>Part 1. Talk with Takashi Okada and Ryu Kosaka
>>>Part 2. Reception Party Report


Since it first opened back in 1870, the Oriental Hotel has been a symbol of Kobe that has been adored by local residents and praised by famous guests ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Helen Keller. After suffering damage in the Kobe Earthquake fifteen years ago, this heritage was nearly lost, but then a new project was inaugurated to redefine the hotel and its 140-year history. At long last, in March of 2010, a new Oriental Hotel was born.
The hotel’s various businesses including accommodations, restaurants, and weddings are being developed by Plan Do See, which sought out the one of Japan’s top names in commercial space design, A.N.D.’s Ryu Kosaka, to handle the interior design. With a relationship built on rock-solid trust, this was Kosaka’s third time to work with Plan Do See, yet it is also a test of how to push innovation further than ever before…
We will explore the appeal of the newly recreated Oriental Hotel in a conversation between Ryu Kosaka and Takashi Okada, head of development at Plan Do See, in which they share the secrets of the hotel’s planning, design, and creation.
We also had the chance to make our way into the party celebrating the hotel’s completion and file a special report from inside the world of Takashi Okada and Ryu Kosaka’s reborn Oriental Hotel.
Text: Hiroki Yanagisawa (Freelance editor)
Edit: Nobuko Ohara (Nacasa & Partners Inc.)



Back Number

vol.01 Takeshi Nakasa with leading figures (Takeshi Nakajima/Takeshi Nakasa)
vol.02 "YASUMICHI MORITA" essence13
vol.03 Hot Talking Night in Ginza (Yukio Fujimaki/Yutaka Noda/Indigo Mochiizuki Ayano/Takeshi Nakasa)
vol.04 Takeshi Nakasa with leading fitures #2 (Shoji Hayashi/Takeshi Nakasa)
vol.05 Today's Order "Visualizing what's in a head" (Makoto Watanabe/Yoko Kinoshita/Atsushi Nakamichi)
vol.06 Look at Yukio Hashimoto's Design Perspective in Hong Kong & Macau
vol.07 Takeshi Nakasa with leading figures #3
vol.08 "Japan Living" essence by Marcia Iwatate
vol.09 Takeshi Nakasa with leading figures #4 (Andre Fu/Takeshi Nakasa)