DARUMA-OTOSHI, a New Demolition Method recognized as an "Innovation Award Finalist" in the 2012 CTBUH Awards Program.

DARUMA-OTOSHI, a New Demolition Method recognized as an "Innovation Award Finalist" in the 2012 CTBUH Awards Program.

Demolishing tall buildings in the middle of a city is becoming an everyday occurrence in big cities such as Tokyo, where the lack of space forces city planners to reinvent the urban core. It is becoming an issue impact on the environment and re-use of materials.  Kajima Corporation has developed a method that addresses and improves over traditional demolition methods. Deconstruction versus demolition. The “Cut and Take Down Method” consists on: “temporary columns are used around the structural column grid, the existing columns are replaced, and then hydraulic jacks are placed where the existing columns were and the building can be lowered to the next floor plate where the process is repeated”

"Daryna-Otoshi" is an old Japanese game that consists in taking the bottom pieces of a toy without dissasembling it. 

“There are so many quiet revolutions going on in tall buildings. Top-down construction is one such revolution, and here is another—bottom-up demolition.”
- Antony Wood, 2012 Awards Juror, CTBUH

These two videos clearly show how this amazing method works: