A Highway Running Through An Office

In Osaka, Japan, an entire office building contains a highway offramp passing directly through its fifth, sixth, and seventh floors. The road is technically a separate tenant that leases the space from the building owners.

This bizarre architectural marriage happened because of a stubborn property dispute between the government and the landowner. The owner refused to move, so planners negotiated a unique compromise that integrated the highway into the structure itself. The elevators skip the floors containing the road, and the building is specially reinforced to suppress noise and vibration for the office workers inside. It remains a world-class example of how urban planning can get creative in cramped spaces.