How a Land Fight Led to One of the World’s Weirdest Buildings
go back and forth: to have a long discussion or argument where two sides cannot agree or keep changing their opinions
In the US, many buildings skip the 13th floor, moving directly from floor 12 to 14.. According to the Otis Elevator Company, 85% of tall buildings skip the 13th floor because it’s considered unlucky. The US isn’t the only country that makes superstitious design decisions. In some parts of Asia, buildings also skip the fourth floor because the word “four” sounds like “death” in some languages.
In Osaka, Japan, there’s a building that is missing not just the 4th floor, but also the fifth, sixth, and seventh. But it’s not because of superstition. In the 1980s, a highway company wanted to build a road across a piece of land, but the landowners didn’t want to sell. The two sides went back and forth for five years until they found a creative solution.
The highway goes through the 5th to 7th floors of the building. But it does not touch the building at all. People still work in the building, and the elevator just skips those floors.
Today, the Gate Tower is the only office building in Japan with a highway running through it. Watch the video below to see its unusual design.
Sample sentences
The two companies went back and forth for months before they signed the contract.
My parents went back and forth about buying a new car. One wanted it, the other didn’t.
We went back and forth with the landlord before he agreed to lower the rent.
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