Kenzo Tange

KENZO TANGE Tradition can, to be sure, participate in a creation, but it can no longer be creative itself.

Kenzo Tange's work marked a revived awareness of Japanese architectural traditions expressed through a contemporary interpretation of architectural form. Kenzo Tange demonstrated that a unique regionalism could be developed, and recognized, within the circumstance of the international style.

LIFE Kenzo Tange was born in, 1913 in the port city of Imabari. Kenzo Tange's private practice began in 1949 with his successful submission to the open competition for the Hiroshima Peace Center.

Corbusier was a major influence on him in his formative years. He designed the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo; which catapulted him to international fame and to the Pritzker Prize.

PEACE MEMORIAL MUSEUM Although the design philosophy is purely Japanese, Tange’s ideas aligned with modern architecture from the west in many ways – simplicity, lightness, openness, modulated repetition and ingenuous construction with exposed materials. This is around the same time as Le Corbusier.

Inevitably suggesting Le Corbusier influences, the museum is supported on pillars, like Le Corbusier’s pilotis. Furthermore, the building is articulated with exposed reinforced concrete.

Tange combined Le Corbusier’s five points with elements drawing from Japanese traditions, such as the sun-screens and the modular arrangement of the facade.

the parabolic shaped memorial sculpture in the garden resembles the Haniwa tombs of former rulers of Japan.

Inside, the museum transports the visitor into the catastrophe

of the blast.

The exhibition ranges technical data about the bomb to dramatic testimonies of victims, all in theatrically prepared halls.

YOYOGI NATIONAL GYMNASIUM, TOKYO Its aerodynamic, monumental and suggestive design became an icon of the Japanese capital

The complex consists of 2 buildings

The two gyms are placed in a landscaped platform. In fact, despite their monumental size, they give the impression that the roofs are born the park itself, emphasizing its relationship with the surrounding environment.

The elegant roofs of the two gyms use a contemporary language and a similar structural logic: they are suspended by two large steel cables. Both axes are arranged in an eastwest, which is also the predominant direction of plot.

The structural concept is based on a main spine that consists of two steel cables 13 " in diameter, anchored to two large slabs of concrete on either end of the building and to two structural towers. Cables describe a parabolic curve (technically, it is called catenary ) from which smaller wires are placed perpendicularly, to form a tent-like roof.

Kenzo Tange takes advantage of the gap between the two curves to propose an imposing triangular access, which, despite having a monumental scale, seem to be born of the earth, giving the building a feeling of lightness.

It is also important to note that the roof, although it used state-of-the-art technology at the time, still evokes elements of traditional Japanese architecture, particularly the roofs of Shinto shrines.

ST. MARY CATHEDRAL / KENZO TANGE, TOKYO

The Tokyo Cathedral has been completed in 1964, replacing the old wooden cathedral, in gothic style, burnt during wartime.

The complex consists of a group of structures, among which are the cathedral and bell tower.

The sculptural structure is wrapped in stainless steel.

The cathedral is based, as many ancient Christian churches, in a cross layout.

The plan layout is a diamond, which sides are joined to the vertices of the cross using 8 curves called hyperbolic paraboloids.

The eight walls – the elements which hold the whole structure – are at the same time roof and walls, enclosing the space and opening to the outside through vertical gaps.

These concrete walls provide a dramatic spectacle in their contact with light through the elongated windows on the sides of the cross

SHIZUOKA PRESS AND BROADCASTING CENTER The narrow, triangular site inspired Tange to design a vertical structure, consisting of

main infrastructural core, could

develop

urban megastructure,

into

a

which an

into which an ever-growing number of prefabricated capsules could be “plugged-in.”

RENEWAL OF TSUKIJI DISTRICT. KENZO TANGE, 1963