Seaside City Hall Seto Inland Kaiodo City City Hall

More than an office, a new place to visit. Japan's Seto Inland Sea is famous worldwide for its 700-plus islands, the foremost inland waterway of its kind. Onomichi lies at the center of the sea, historically a major shipping hub with mountain temples, and is a filming location for literature and film, recently certified as a Japan Heritage site; it is also a pilgrimage for cyclists. Onomichi City Hall is far more than an office building: the first, second and rooftop floors all hold viewing terraces with garden-like landscapes, connected by stairwells and open to the public outside office hours and on holidays. The client wanted not merely an administrative facility but a landmark city hall, a destination citizens can visit, extending civic life onto the terraces that look out over the island-studded sea. The city hall has become a popular destination for residents and tourists alike, proving that municipal architecture can be open, hospitable and deeply tied to place.