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.
