A retro-futurist vision
Hatoya Hotel, Itō, Shizuoka
Every generation sees the future through its own style prism. The Takenaka Corporation, which designed the Hatoya Hotel, has arguably been doing exactly that since 1610, when their founding father Tobei Masataka built his first shrine.
From an original 1947 hotel built by a magician with a thing for pigeons, the Hatoya Hotel expanded five-fold in the early 1970s under the guiding hand of the corporation. Today the bird motif is carried throughout the development.
Futurama, Norman Bel Geddes 1939 New York World’s Fair exhibit and ride and Walt Disney’s Tomorrowland in 1967 and all the Streamline Moderne design in between, were iterative representations of an optimistic future. Technology would raise the standard of living, make the world a better place. Walter Disney commented,
“Tomorrow is a heck of thing to keep up with…”
All photos of Hatoya Hotel are the Copyright of Takayama
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The history of Takenaka Corporation.
Hatoya Hotel Shizuoka, 1391 Oka, Itō, Japan
Paul Goldberger: Back to the Future: A new look at Modernist hero Norman Bel Geddes, designer of the original 1939 Futurama
Through the City of Tomorrow Without a Stop: Advertisement for Shell 1937 by Norman Bel Geddes
