#JapaneseArchitecture

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|11 Ozaki Memorial Hall : Ichiro Ebihara

John Barr

Oct 22, 20198 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|11 Ozaki Memorial Hall : Ichiro Ebihara

The Osaka Memorial Hall marks the introduction of parliamentary democracy to Japan and the possibility of a new beginning after WWII.

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|10 Toyoda Hall : Fumihiko Maki

John Barr

Aug 30, 20197 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|10 Toyoda Hall : Fumihiko Maki

Toyoda Hall, Fumihiko Maki's debut project, contains the seeds of ideas that he has continued to develop throughout his career...

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|09 Ministry of Foreign Affairs : Hideo Kosaka

John Barr

Aug 2, 20195 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|09 Ministry of Foreign Affairs : Hideo Kosaka

The design of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building represents a time when modernism was concerned with social issues.

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|08 Kasuien : Togo Murano

John Barr

Jul 2, 201910 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|08 Kasuien : Togo Murano

Togo Murano is one of the most popular 20th century architects amongst Japanese, and yet he is not widely known outside Japan...

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|07 : Ura House : Takamasa Yoshizaka

John Barr

Jun 4, 20194 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|07 : Ura House : Takamasa Yoshizaka

The Ura House, designed by Takamasa Yoshizaka in 1956, is influenced by Corbusian ideas but also anticipates Japanese Metabolism.

From Imperial Power to Consumer Power : Imperial Palace, Kyoto to Naka Incineration Plant, Hiroshima

John Barr

May 7, 20193 min read

From Imperial Power to Consumer Power : Imperial Palace, Kyoto to Naka Incineration Plant, Hiroshima

The Naka Incineration Plant Hiroshima illustrates Japan's movement from a pre-modern, feudal, society to a post-modern, consumer society.

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|06 : Osaka Gas Building : Takeo Yasui.

John Barr

Apr 29, 20194 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|06 : Osaka Gas Building : Takeo Yasui.

The Osaka Gas Building, designed by Takeo Yasui and completed in 1933, reflects Osaka's optimistic embrace of the future at that time.

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|05 : Kagawa Prefectural Government Offices : Takamatsu : Kenzo Tange

John Barr

Dec 12, 20189 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|05 : Kagawa Prefectural Government Offices : Takamatsu : Kenzo Tange

The Kagawa Prefectural Government Offices (1958) offered a radical new vision of what Japanese public buildings might be.

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|04 : The Hiroshima Peace Centre : Kenzo Tange

John Barr

Nov 21, 20186 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|04 : The Hiroshima Peace Centre : Kenzo Tange

The background to the Hiroshima Peace Centre hardly needs to be explained: the first use of the Atomic Bomb and the deaths of over 200,000.

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|03 : International House of Japan : Kunio Maekawa, Junzo Sakakura, Junzo Yoshimura

John Barr

Nov 3, 20183 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|03 : International House of Japan : Kunio Maekawa, Junzo Sakakura, Junzo Yoshimura

The International House of Japan reflects the changed realities for Japan after WWII.

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|02 : Dojunkai Apartments : Tokyo : Dojunkai Corporation

John Barr

Oct 12, 20185 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|02 : Dojunkai Apartments : Tokyo : Dojunkai Corporation

The real value of Tokyo's Dojunkai Apartments has been ignored in the rush to maximise economic gain from the land that they occupied.

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|01 : Tokyo Women's Christian University : Antonin Raymond

John Barr

Oct 5, 20182 min read

Do|Co|Mo|Mo|Japan|01 : Tokyo Women's Christian University : Antonin Raymond

Tokyo Women's Christian University is Antonin Raymond's first major building in Japan.

Yoshio Taniguchi : The Man in the White Suit

John Barr

Aug 21, 20188 min read

Yoshio Taniguchi : The Man in the White Suit

In the 1951 film, The Man in the White Suit, chemist Sidney Stratton invents a fabric that will never crease or get dirty or wear out.

Kiyonori Kikutake (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)

John Barr

Jun 29, 201813 min read

Kiyonori Kikutake (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)

The widow of Japanese Architect Kiyonori Kikutake has described different facets of her husband's personality, one gentle and reflective.

Katsura Imperial Villa (All Things to All Men)

John Barr

Apr 25, 201816 min read

Katsura Imperial Villa (All Things to All Men)

In the 20th century Katsura Imperial Villa became a kind of touchstone for the essence of Japanese architecture.

John Barr

Mar 6, 20186 min read

Tadao Ando : Romanesque Architect

Tadao Ando is possibly the most famous Japanese architect of the modern era. But Ando's work is neither modern nor Japanese.

MOMA Kamakura : The Last Japanese Building

John Barr

Feb 2, 201810 min read

MOMA Kamakura : The Last Japanese Building

One of the qualities of traditional Japanese architecture rarely acknowledged is that, for the most part, it was built cheaply.