The Asahi Beer Hall ( a.k.a. ''Super Dry Hall'', or ''Flamme d'Or'') is one of the buildings of the Asahi Breweries headquarters located on the east bank of the Sumida River in Sumida,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. It was designed by French

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

Philippe Starck Philippe Starck (; born 18 January 1949) is a French industrial architect and designer known for his wide range of designs, including interior design, architecture, household objects, furniture, boats and other vehicles. Life Starck was born on ...

and was completed in 1989. It is considered one of Tokyo's most recognizable modern structures. The shape of the building is that of a beer glass, designed to complement the neighboring golden beer mug-shaped building housing the Asahi Breweries offices.

The Asahi Flame (Flamme d'Or)

It is noted for the ''Asahi Flame'', an enormous golden structure at the top, said to represent both the 'burning heart of Asahi beer' and a frothy head. The 360-tonne golden flame was made by shipbuilders using submarine-

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form Physical object, objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Pr ...

techniques. It is completely empty. The Asahi Flame is sometimes colloquially referred to as "the golden turd" (

kin no unko or "golden poo" is a Japanese cultural phenomenon. It is a symbol of good luck, as the name is a pun meaning "golden poo" and "good luck" in Japanese. By 2006, 2.7 million mobile phone charms in this form had been sold. The symbol, or something ...

, 金のうんこ) and the Asahi Beer Hall itself as "poo building" (unko-biru, うんこビル).

Access

The building is a 3 minute-walk from

Asakusa Station is a railway station in the Asakusa district of Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tobu Railway, Tokyo Metro, and Toei Subway. It formed one terminus of the original subway line in Tokyo, now the Ginza Line. Station layout There is a connect ...

, on the opposite side of the Sumida River.

References

External links

Asahi Beer HQ
{{Authority control Office buildings completed in 1989 Buildings and structures in Sumida, Tokyo Asahi Breweries 1989 establishments in Japan Postmodern architecture in Japan