Abeno Harukas is the tallest building in Japan, but its significance extends beyond this, to its anchoring role in the urban core of one of the country’s great cities, and for its novel use of greenery. The building, situated above a major rail terminal, maximizes the density of the plot, but breaks up its mass with shifting volumes and sunlit sky lobbies and setbacks for sky gardens. Three volumes with different floor area are shifted and stacked to intake sunlight and wind to the cascading greenery of the central void. The gardens placed on setbacks reconcile the vertical greenery with that of the adjacent park. The public observatories challenge expectations by incorporating greenery, offering an open-air courtyard surrounded by the observation ramps, and deploying full-height glass in the restrooms.