In the middle of skyscrapers jungle in the Shinjuku district, the CocoonTower is definitely one of the most characteristic and particular. Located in the financial district of Nishi-Shinjuku was designed by Japanese architect KenzoTange before he died in 2005 and later realized from his company ”Kenzo Associates“ between May 2006 and October 2008. He was rewarded in 2008 with ’”Emporis Skyscraper Award” as best skyscraper of the year.

THE COCOON TOWER

Top 203 meters has 50 floors inside where there are three schools for about 10,000 students, a fashion one (the Tokyo Mode Gakuen), design one (HAL Tokyo and Shuto Iko) and also a medicine one. For this reason is the second building height dedicated exclusively to the study after the Moscow State University and the seventeenth tallest skyscraper in Tokyo.

On the ground floor ( in Japan marked as 1F ) is open to everybody a small but interesting cafe called Blue Square Cafe. Inside this space you can enjoy drinks on the style of Starbucks Coffee, cakes and breads like in a backery cafe, but the most interesting thing is the kind of entertainment offered to the clients!

THE ENTRANCE

In fact, a lot of iPod Touch are available to listen to music, surf the net, check your email, play with a selection of games. For lovers of reading instead there are  books placed directly in the structure of the tables, under the glass counter.

iPOD TOUCH “STATIONS”

Of course the cafe is located inside a building dedicated to fashion and design, you can so browse for free the latest Japanese architecture and fashion magazines  reporting latest creations of designers.

For foreigners who are interested in this field, have a selection of the highlights of the library is very interesting. Often in Japanese bookshops all publications are organized according to the alphabet in Japanese characters and not put on display. This makes it difficult for those unfamiliar with the language to obtain magazines with latest pictures. Usually then I go to this cafe and I look for publications that interest me most, i take a picture to the cover and I show it in the library where I intend to buy.