I love walking around my local area. There's no end to what you can find on a lazy afternoon or evening stroll: vast parks that transport you out of the hustle-and-bustle, shrines and temples for every occasion, tiny shops selling specialty goods (taiyaki!), secret research labs and, occasionally, really cool buildings.
This post is about one of the latter. I was walking around the far side of Waseda University, an area I hadn't really been to before, while waiting for a friend one day. Just as I was about to head back, to my great surprise I stumbled across an amazing building right next to the campus!
As the sign above shows, it was called "Waseda El Dorado". It was, apparently, the creation of an ex-Waseda student, and is 'gaudy Gaudiesque".
Whatever the critics may say of it, I absolutely loved it. It's like a fantasy book come to life in a building. The bottom floor is occupied by several shops - an antiques store and a hair salon I think it was - while the rest is apartments. There is a small entrance-corridor/lobby that can be freely entered as well, which allows one to have a good look at the amazing detail which has gone into this building. Everything, and I mean everything, has been looked after, which reminds me of the similar level of detail found in the Ghibli museum (You'll have to visit to see that one though - no photos allowed!).
I could go on and attempt to describe the building some more, but I think that pictures will speak more than any of my words could. Enjoy!