Rethink urged on revamp of '60 s chic hotel in Tokyo
Monocle's Tyler Brule goes against globalised style by leading an effort to preserve the mid-20th century modern architecture of the Okura
The announcement that froze the marrow of every devotee of mid-20th century modern architecture - that Hotel Okura Tokyo, the epitome of 1960s chic, is to be partly obliterated from September next year - caused a seismic reaction in the blogosphere.
But all is not yet lost - and it will not be if Tyler Brule has his way. Channelling the power of his global affairs, culture and business magazine , the Canadian journalist and entrepreneur is standing in the path of the bulldozers waving an international petition designed to force a rethink.
The Tokyo Olympic Games of 2020 may be the impetus behind the decision to destroy the main hotel building in favour of a 38-storey steel-and-glass tower expansion, but Brule envisages a different means of taking gold.
"We're heading towards 6,000 names and we're not just going to forward the petition as an e-mail," says Brule. "We'll present it in a beautiful format and make sure all the hotel board members, management, cabinet office and the Tokyo governor's office see that people care. That international opinion is not just 'why are you doing this?' but that 'I'm going to vote with my feet and stay somewhere else. I might as well, because your new hotel is probably going to be like every other new property'."
Having just landed in London after another visit to the Tokyo frontlines, Brule is effusive about the singular attractions of the Okura - a cavernous, retro-kitsch lobby with an enormous, LED-lit world time zones map; period furniture and lighting; and a low-slung main building in what was once known as the "international" style - and its proposed successor, in what might be called "21st-century bland".
