The ivy-covered Dojyunkai Apartments in Tokyo's Aoyama district have long been a popular landmark along Omote-sando boulevard. Although the antiquated buildings add a serene touch to the fashionable, bustling district, efforts to protect the site from redevelopment into a shopping complex have so far gotten nowhere.
The 75-year-old buildings are expected to be razed by year's end, and a shopping complex -- no different from those on the opposite side of the street -- is slated to be built by 2005 by major developer Mori Building Co. and architect Tadao Ando.
Masaki Onishi, 24, and Motoko Tanaka, 26, students of architecture in Tokyo, held a photo exhibition in March in a gallery in the apartment complex, titled "Is It True That It Will Be Gone?"