The Umeda Sky Building (梅田スカイビル) is a spectacular high rise building in the Kita district of Osaka, near Osaka and Umeda Stations. The building was originally conceived in 1988 as the "City of Air" project, which planned to create four interconnected towers in northern Osaka. When the Japan economic bubble of the 1980s burst, the number of towers were down to two instead of the original four. It is also known as the "New Umeda City". The 173 meter tall building consists of two towers that are connected with each other by the "Floating Garden Observatory" on the 39th floor. The observatory offers great views of the city through its windows and from its open-air deck. In the basement, there is a restaurant floor that replicates a town of the early Showa Period, while offices occupy most other floors. In 2008, the British publisher Dorling Kindersley included the Umeda Sky Building in a “Top 20” list of world buildings that also included the legendary Taj Mahal in India, and Spain’s Sagrada Família.
