Imperial Hotel - Definition and Overview

Facade and pool of Imperial Hotel

The Imperial Hotel was a landmark in Tokyo, Japan. To replace the original wooden structure, the owners commissioned a design by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It survived the magnitude 7.9 Great Kanto earthquake of 1923. Time took its toll, and in 1976, the facade and pool were moved to Meiji Mura, a collection of buildings (mostly from the Meiji Era) in Inuyama, near Nagoya, while the rest of the structure was demolished to make way for a new hotel on the site.

This building was designed in the "Mayan Style" of Architecture that was primarily developed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This form incorporates a tall, pyramid-like structure, and a uses faintly mayan art and decorations. the main building materials are mainly poured concrete and concrete block.