stonecrandall Chapter 26 Akasaka's "Pink Building"
Chapter 26 Akasaka's "Pink Building"
In April 1986, the cherry blossoms in Tokyo were blooming rather recklessly.
A gust of wind blew, and pink and white petals fell like a blizzard, covering the Akasaka-mitsuke intersection. The black asphalt road was stained pink, and passing taxis kicked up bursts of petal rain, which stuck to the windshields, making a dry, screeching sound from the wipers.
Akasaka, a neighborhood right next to Nagatacho and Roppongi, always has a peculiar smell in the air that is a mixture of power and money.
A seven-story building stands abruptly on a bustling street corner.
It has no exterior walls; the exposed gray concrete beams and columns resemble a giant biological skeleton, and the rusty scaffolding makes a slight metallic clanging sound in the wind. The original developer was embroiled in a financing scandal, and the funding chain broke six months ago, leaving the construction project halted and becoming a scar on Akasaka.
"How ugly!"
A crisp sound broke the silence in front of the construction site.
Satsuki stood outside the yellow warning line that read "No Entry," looking up at the concrete skeleton.
Today she was wearing the spring uniform of the junior high school at St. Hua Girls' Academy. A dark blue blazer, a gray pleated skirt, and a red ribbon tied at the collar. Having just entered junior high, she had grown a bit taller, but was still not very tall. Standing among a group of construction managers in dark overalls, she looked like a doll that had wandered onto a construction site.
"Young Miss, although it looks ugly now, the location is truly unbeatable."
The project manager next to him rubbed his hands together, looking ingratiating.
"This is prime real estate right outside Akasaka-mitsuke subway station. Whether you use it for office space or a hotel, you won't have trouble finding a tenant."
Satsuki ignored him, and simply reached out and caught a falling cherry blossom petal.
"Office building?"
She chuckled softly, gently crushed the petal with her finger, and a little pink sap flowed out.
"Akasaka has no shortage of those office buildings filled with middle-aged men who are full of fat. Those things are disgusting to look at."
She turned around and walked towards the temporary tin shed next to the construction site.
"Let them in. I don't have much time; I have a riding lesson this afternoon."
The shed was very simple, containing only a long table covered with blueprints and a few folding chairs. The air was filled with a mixture of dust and the smell of instant coffee.
Satsuki sat in the main seat, put her schoolbag aside, and took out a bottle of Evian water from it.
The first person to enter was a senior architect with gray hair.
He was dressed in an elegant three-piece suit and immediately unfurled a huge rendering upon entering.
"Ms. Saionji, based on your requirements, we have designed a neoclassical style." The old architect pointed to the heavy granite exterior walls and Roman columns on the drawings. "This design is dignified and grand, which is very much in line with Akasaka's status as a political center. If used to build a high-end law firm or bank branch, it will definitely reflect a sense of credibility."
Satsuki glanced at it only once before looking away.
"Next."
The old architect was stunned: "Huh? But..."
"It's too heavy." Satsuki unscrewed the cap, took a sip of water, and said, "It looks like a tomb. There are already enough dead people in Akasaka; we don't need another coffin."
The old architect blushed, packed up the blueprints, and stormed out.
The second person to enter was a middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses who claimed to be a follower of the Bauhaus style.
"Form follows function." He adjusted his glasses and showed a square box made entirely of glass and steel. "Minimalist, efficient, and maximizing light transmission. This is the design for the future."
"boring."
Satsuki yawned, too lazy to even comment.
"If you want to design glass boxes, go to Mitsubishi Estate in Marunouchi. I'm not here to cramm people into cans like sardines."
The middle-aged man was also kicked out.
The shed fell silent.
The project manager wiped his sweat somewhat awkwardly: "Miss, these are already two of the most famous agencies in Tokyo..."
"And what about the last one?" Satsuki pointed to the last name on the list.
"That...that guy named Ando, he's a young man who recently went independent, he's not very famous, he used to draw construction plans for big firms." The person in charge hesitated, "Should we send him back?"
"Let him in."
The door was pushed open.
The person who entered was a young man wearing a wrinkled khaki trench coat and with messy hair like a bird's nest. He wasn't carrying a huge rendering, but just a sketchbook, and his dark circles looked like he hadn't slept for three days.
"Sit down." Satsuki raised her chin.
Ando pulled out a chair, sat down, and threw his sketchbook on the table.
"I've seen the plans of those two old guys," Ando said in a hoarse, smoky voice. "One wanted to build a tomb, the other wanted to build a fish tank. Both are rubbish."
The person in charge next to him frowned, about to reprimand him, but was stopped by Satsuki raising her hand.
"And what about you?" Satsuki looked at him with interest. "What do you want to build?"
"I don't want to build anything."
Ando leaned back in his chair, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and was about to light it when he saw Satsuki's school uniform and irritably stuffed it back in.
"Akasaka is a place inhabited by a schizophrenic."
He pointed out the window.
"By day, this place is the domain of politicians and bureaucrats in black suits—serious, oppressive, and filled with the stench of power. But by night, it's the place in all of Tokyo where desire flows the fastest."
"That building is at the intersection. It's like an eye."
"It watches those who appear virtuous during the day, but shed their disguises here at night."
Satsuki put down the water bottle in her hand.
She leaned forward slightly, a sign that she was interested.
"continue."
"So, there's no need for 'stability' or 'efficiency' here." Ando stared at Satsuki. "What's needed here is 'excitement.' Something that can make your heart skip a beat when you pass by."
"But..." he shrugged, "I haven't decided on the specifics yet. Because I don't know what you want to do with this building. If you also want to rent it to a trading company as office space, then I suggest you go with the glass box design; it'll save you money."
Satsuki smiled.
She took a magazine out of her bag and threw it in front of Ando.
It was a women's fashion magazine that had just been launched. On the cover, a professional woman with big wavy hair, wearing a padded-shoulder suit, was laughing confidently, holding a Chanel handbag in her hand.
"Do you know what big thing happened this month?" Satsuki asked.
"The Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded?" Ando shrugged.
"No. It's the Equal Employment Opportunity Act that has been officially implemented."
Satsuki extended a finger and gently tapped the woman on the magazine cover.
"Starting this month, Japanese women will no longer be just 'office vases' serving tea and water. They can be promoted, receive raises, and wield power just like men."
"What does this mean?"
Ando frowned. "Does that mean... the streets are full of women wearing padded-shoulder suits?"
"It means they will have money."
Satsuki's voice became soft and seductive.
"Lots and lots of money. And they're more willing to spend money than men."
"Men earn money to save for a house, to support their families, and to drown their sorrows in nightclubs. But women earn money to pamper themselves."
She stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the gray skeleton of the building.
"This building is not for men."
"There won't be any izakayas here, nor will there be any smoky coffee shops."
"I'm going to turn this place into a giant, candy-colored trap."
Satsuki turned around, her back to the sunlight, and looked at Ando.
"I want you to paint it pink."
"ha?"
Ando thought he had misheard and picked at his ears.
"What color did you say?"
"Pink," Satsuki repeated firmly. "Not that pale cherry blossom pink, nor that tacky bright pink. It has to be... like freshly applied lipstick, glossy, alluring, a pink that makes you want to take a bite."
Ando's mouth dropped open: "Are you crazy? In Akasaka? To build a pink building? Architectural critics will call it an aesthetic disaster! It'll be like... a giant red-light district sign!"
"Aesthetic appreciation is for the poor."
Satsuki coldly interrupted him.
"What I want is not art, what I want is desire."
"Imagine a pink tower suddenly appearing in a neighborhood full of gray concrete and black glass curtain walls. It's like a splash of red in a sea of green—contrasting, glaring, but absolutely impossible to ignore."
"Every woman who passes by will feel an instinctive urge the moment she sees it—'That place belongs to me.'"
She walked back to the table, picked up Ando's sketching pen, and drew several lines on the white paper.
"It will be full of beauty salons, nail salons, French desserts flown in from Paris, and boutiques that only sell limited seasonal items."
"Even a cup of coffee will cost tens of thousands of yen. Even a cake will be made to look like a piece of jewelry."
"And there's a restroom."
Satsuki stared into Ando's eyes.
"The restrooms on each floor should occupy the best location on that floor, be large, have makeup mirrors with light bulbs like those in Hollywood backstage, have velvet sofas, and have fragrances like those in a five-star hotel."
"Because that's where women go backstage, where they touch up their makeup, gossip, and fix their outfits."
Ando stared blankly at the girl in the school uniform.
He felt his worldview was collapsing.
Pink exterior walls. A huge dressing room. Expensive desserts.
From an academic perspective, this is kitsch, garbage, and a decline in architecture.
but……
The image that flashed through Ando's mind was:
On a gray, rainy night in Akasaka, a pink tower radiating an ambiguous glow attracts countless women in high heels who flock to it like pilgrims, squandering their newly earned wages and searching for an illusion called "being themselves."
The scene... had a chilling, decadent beauty.
"It is a container for desire."
Ando muttered to himself.
He grabbed the pen, his hand beginning to tremble. Not from fear, but from excitement.
He started scribbling frantically on the paper.
The lines are no longer straight and horizontal, but have become rounded and flowing.
The entrance is no longer a solemn gate, but has been designed as a curved archway resembling slightly parted lips, with gold trim.
The windows were designed to be floor-to-ceiling, each letting in a warm yellow light that showcased the wide array of goods inside.
"The exterior walls can't just be painted," Ando said rapidly as he painted. "We need to use custom-made ceramic panels with a glaze on the surface. During the day, it should look pink, and at night, when the lights shine on it, it should have a silky sheen."
"There also needs to be a terrace. The top floor should have a semi-open terrace, filled with roses. Women can drink champagne there and look down at the men still working overtime below."
"right."
Satsuki looked at the gradually taking shape sketch and a satisfied smile appeared on her lips.
That's it.
"We don't need that so-called 'eternity.' This building doesn't need to exist for a hundred years."
"It only needs to bloom like a poisonous orchid in this era, draining the wallets of every woman who walks in."
Ten minutes later.
Ando put down his pen.
Looking at the bizarre and flamboyant building on the paper, he felt as if he had just signed a contract to sell his soul.
"I'll get yelled at to death for this." Ando took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it without hesitation this time. "Those old pedants at 'Architecture New Wave' will call me a pimp."
"But your name will be on the lips of every woman in Tokyo."
Satsuki packed her schoolbag and stood up.
"And I'll give you three times the design fee. In cash."
Upon hearing "three times" and "cash," Ando's fingers, holding a cigarette, hovered steadily in mid-air.
He exhaled a puff of smoke, which swirled in the dim light of the shed.
When will construction begin?
"tomorrow."
Satsuki walked to the door and pushed it open.
The cherry blossoms are still falling outside.
The pink and white petals that fall into the black soil will soon rot and turn into mud.
But in this soon-to-be-built "Pink Building," as long as the gold coins continue to clink, the cherry blossoms here will bloom forever.
"Mr. Ando."
Satsuki turned around and took one last look at the young architect.
"Welcome to the Heisei era."
The door closed.
Ando looked at the empty doorway, then at the pink sketch on the table.
He suddenly burst into laughter, a somewhat manic laugh.
He knew he had grasped a rope. He didn't know if that rope led to heaven or hell, but at least he no longer had to draw toilet plans in that dusty office.
He wanted to build a huge, pink temple in Akasaka.