After the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, the Imperial Hotel suffered minor damages. Wright's Imperial Hotel was demolished in 1967. A modern hotel tower was constructed on the site of Wright's building in 1968, and a tower addition was added in the 1980s

While the Imperial Hotel was originally owned and partly funded by the imperial family, the current owner of the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo is Imperial Hotel, Ltd., which runs a chain of luxury hotels in Japan.

The Imperial Hotel is a masonry building in which reinforced concrete cantilevered slabs rise from a type of “floating foundation.” The hotel is also composed of brick that had to be specially made because of their unique design: the brickwork in the lower part of the structure was filled with reinforcing steel rods and concrete, the upper bricks left hollow to reduce the weight of the building. Because the traditional tile roofs were heavy, lightweight copper was used. The structure and its form was planned to have a low center of gravity, with balanced loads supported by cantilevered reinforced concrete slabs, a type of construction entirely new to the Japanese.Carefully integrated into the structure of the hotel was a system of ornament using Oya stone, found in the quarries at Nikko. Because the stone was easy to carve and lightweight, it was ideal to provide the ornament for the hotel. The stone ornaments were anchored to the edifice during construction by steel reinforcing and poured concrete. These oya stone carvings adorn the capitals of the columns, the facias of roofs and decks, and balconies and terrace walls. The Imperial Hotel was quite extensive. Therefore, Wright used a unit system, or grid, in his plans. This allowed the design of the structure to be more cohesive as the parts better related to the whole. To accommodate all the requirements and elements necessary for a building on a city lot 288 feet across and 452 feet long, Wright created a plan that is basically a large H.As the hotel was intended to function as a place where the Japanese and their Western associates could meet, dine and conduct business, it was designed to offer small private dining rooms, a large banquet hall capable of accommodating one thousand people, a theatre and a cabaret. The structure also possessed two levels of balconies overlooking the main lobby on three sides. The “H” floor plan allowed these elements to be grouped in the main, central block of the building, which was then flanked on two sides by long wings that contained guest rooms and suites. These two wings were separated from the central core by gardens, pools, open-air terraces, and bridges, both covered and open, that made the connection from wings to core.The structure kept with the grammar of historic Japanese buildings by possessing sloped walls and hipped roofs.

1915-1922

The context of the Imperial Hotel was an unusual mixture of East and West that characterized Tokyo in the early Taisho era. In essentials, the hotel was in a sensitive location, directly opposite the Imperial Palace itself and what is now Hibiya Park in the theatre district. Neighboring structures of the Imperial Hotel, include temples that had an influence on the exterior design of the hotel.

Wright’s interest in technical innovation in Tokyo manifested itself in his design for two difficult challenges that the Imperial Hotel faced. The construction of the Imperial Hotel absolutely had to address two distinct challenges with the building. One very important issue was the frequency of earthquakes in Japan, with the subsequent fires they caused. To address the earthquake threat, Wright designed the building with masonry in which reinforced concrete cantilevered slabs rising from a type of “floating” foundation. To render the structure fireproof, the Hotel was, yet again, constructed completely of masonry (specifically reinforced concrete and brick). The brick had to be specially made because of their unique design: the brickwork in the lower part of the structure was filled with reinforcing steel rods and concrete, the upper bricks left hollow to reduce the weight of the building. Because the traditional tile roofs were heavy, lightweight copper was used. The structure and its form was planned to have a low center of gravity, with balanced loads supported by cantilevered reinforced concrete slabs, a type of construction entirely new the Japanese.

Located on a primary site in central Tokyo, just across from Hibiya Park and Imperial Place, the hotel had to serve a unique role: pleasing foreign guests with the latest amenities while sustaining Japan’s proud aesthetic tradition.The Imperial Hotel became the social center in Tokyo for both the international community and travelers from abroad (especially after the earthquake). The Hotel was intended to be neither entirely Japanese nor completely Western but rather a world in itself - unique place where locals foreigners could meet on equal terms. Socially, the Imperial Hotel was meant as a bridge between East and West. Wright himself called the hotel a “social clearinghouse.” He designed the structure to be just that.

The Imperial Hotel had an extensive decorative scheme. Wright skillfully deployed ornament to emphasize the building’s geometries in every detail. The complex is also stunningly symmetrical.Wright opted to design with the “traditional” character of Japanese buildings. When asked why he did not make the design “more modern,” he replied,” There was tradition there worthy of respect and I felt it my duty as well as my privilege to make the building belong to them so far as I might.” Wright was clearly conscious of the need for the hotel to acknowledge its illustrious “traditionally designed” neighbors, although not through any kind of direct imitation. Wright accomplishes this through is organically decorative forms. He regarded these forms as being their own content. that is aesthetically pleasing in themselves without reference to any external concept at all. Wright saw the Imperial Hotel as a positive conglomerate of modern utilities and his idea of the formal, decorative aspect of Japan’s own aesthetic tradition. Not all were approving of Wright’s decision to create a universal aesthetic style for the Imperial Hotel that suited the Japanese and Westerner’s alike. One of Wright’s assistants on the project, Antonin Raymond, recalled the design as lacking any apparent connection with its Japanese context. However, the aesthetic qualities of the Imperial Hotel reflect a free will contribution to the finest elements of Japanese culture rather than omitting them.Eventually, many travelers began to consider Wright’s Imperial Hotel as dark and musty. The hotel’s foundation had settled unevenly into the soft subsoil making the long hallways and corridors have a wavy/rubbery appearance to them.

The original, wooden Imperial Hotel was constructed between 1888 and 1890 in the French Second Style. The 1890 hotel was designed by Yuzuru Watanabe, a Japanese government architect. The structure was located across the avenue from the Emperor’s palace on the same site that the hotel occupies today and was intended as a home away from home for western visitors. The lavish hotel offered foreign guests a reassuring array of familiar facilities and services including expensive American beds outfitted with Irish linens, English sterling silver cutlery, rare French wines, and wood-burning fireplaces. For many years, the Imperial was the only fully European-style hotel in Tokyo. The old Imperial Hotel was very popular after its opening. Its original sixty-plus rooms soon proved inadequate to accommodate the increased flow of visitors to Japan. Therefore, in 1910, it was decided that a completely new building was required.Frank Lloyd Wright had long been interested in Japanese culture. As early as 1911, he expressed interest in the commission for the new Imperial Hotel. After making several trips to Japan, Wirght was finally given the commission the building of the new Imperial Hotel. Wright spent a lengthy period in Japan working on the hotel design during mid-1910s and it was not until late 1919 before any substantial progress was made to the site. The site suffered many difficulties during its construction process. Specifically, the unreliable soil conditions, tensions between various players on the Hotel Board, the controversial design and increasing price demands put various delays on the project.In April of 1922, the original Imperial Hotel was destroyed by fire. The fire proved to be destructive in many ways. Not only did it decimate the hotel’s accommodation and put pressure for the immediate opening of the new building, it also caused the death of one of the hotel’s patrons. As a result, Wright lost many of his allies on the Hotel Board and departed from Japan three months later, leaving one wing of the new building to be completed by his assistant Arata Endo and his construction manager Paul Mueller.On the Hotel’s grand opening day, Sept. 1, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake reduced nearly 70 percent of the building in Tokyo and Yokohama to rubble and killed over 140,000 people. The Imperial Hotel made it through the earthquake relatively unscathed. It received “iconic” status as an earthquake-proof building and it is Wright who is responsible for its structural merits.By the 1960s, Wright’s Imperial Hotel had suffered irreparable damages from floods, earthquakes, wartime bombing and pollution. Specialists declared the structure unsafe and unable to withstand further major tremors. Wright’s Imperial Hotel was demolished in 1968 to be replaced by a modern high-rise hotel. All that remains today of Wright’s Imperial Hotel is a reconstruction of the front lobby, at Museum Meiji Mura near Nagoya, and several original decorative pieces that reside at the Old Imperial Bar. Also, some pats of it have been incorporated into its replacement, erected in 1970.

The Imperial Hotel was an important feature in Tokyo’s architectural scene. From its very first days, the Imperial Hotel set the stage for the introduction into Japan of the latest in western technologies, culture and traditions of hospitality.The Wright-designed hotel enjoyed a forty-five year reign as one of Tokyo’s premiere hotels. In its heyday, the hotel was so highly regarded that it was used during the Occupation after WWII.Wright’s “universal” design received mixed reviews. being praised for creating an aesthetic bridge between the East and West and criticized for not clearly incorporating distinctly Japanese elements into the design. However, the aesthetic qualities of the Imperial Hotel reflect a free will contribution to the finest elements of Japanese culture rather than omitting them.Wright’s genius not only manifested itself in terms of aesthetics but also in technical innovation. Wright’s design of “floating” foundation fortified the Imperial Hotel’s iconic status as an “earthquake-proof” structure. Despite all of its redeeming qualities, Wright’s Imperial Hotel was demolished in 1968 and replaced by a modern hotel complex.