Lego Architecture: Imperial Hotel. The original Imperial Hotel was a three-story, wooden Victorian-style structure built across the avenue from the Emperor''s palace. It opened in 1890 and was the only European-style hotel in the country at that time. By 1915 the hotel was no longer able to accommodate the growing numbers of visitors and it was decided to replace the out-dated building with a new modern hotel. Looking for a western architect who could bridge the cultural divide between East and West, the hotelÆs owners commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design and build the new Imperial Hotel. The 250 room hotel was designed roughly in the shape of its own logo, with the guest room wings forming the letter ''H'', while the public rooms were in a smaller but taller central wing shaped like the letter ôIö that cut through the middle of the ''H''.
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright from 1916-1922, the Imperial Hotel of Tokyo, Japan was commissioned to bridge the divide between the Western and Eastern worlds. This modern masterpiece exemplifies Frank Lloyd Wright's imagination and genius, designed in the shape of it’s own monogram logo and strong enough to withstand Japan’s frequent and devastating earthquakes. Today, the main entrance and lobby are all that remains of this icon, displayed in the Meiji Museum in Nogoya, Japan. This highly detailed LEGO® model, co-developed and designed by LEGO architects, captures all of the distinctive features that made the Imperial Hotel an architectural landmark for generations. The assembled Imperial Hotel model stands over 11" (28cm) wide on a base with printed name label. Set includes a booklet with facts about the building, its construction and its history.