Maekawa Kunio and the emergence of Japanese modernist architecture / Jonathan M. Reynolds.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reynolds, Jonathan M. (Jonathan McKean)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Maekawa, Kunio.

Architecture--Japan--History--20th century.

Architecture.

Modern movement (Architecture).

Japan.

History.

Architecture--Japan--History--1868-.

Modern movement (Architecture)--Japan.

Maekawa, Kunio--Influence.

Physical Description:

xviii, 318 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), plans ; 27 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2001]

Summary:

Japanese architecture's commanding presence on the world stage can be traced to the struggles of earlier generations of Japan's modernist architects. This first book-length study of Maekawa Kunio (1905-1986) focuses on one of the most distinctive leaders in Japan's modernist architectural community. Maekawa's work and critical writing, produced during a career that lasted from the 1930s to the 1980s, put him at the vanguard of the Japanese architectural profession. Jonathan Reynolds shows how Maekawa negotiated the transition in Japan between prewar and postwar architecture and how his work, which explored modernism's ambivalence about the relation between "tradition" and contemporary practice, also exploited the new technology and building materials, incorporating them into modernist design and ideology.

Maekawa studied architecture at the prestigious Tokyo Imperial University before moving to Paris in 1928 to work with Le Corbusier. The experience had a powerful impact on Maekawa, who became an effective advocate for Le Corbusier and modernism when he returned to Japan two years later. Maekawa designed residential, commercial, and governmental buildings in Japan and abroad. He became particularly well known internationally for his public architecture, especially museums and public spaces such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall. These projects illustrate the principles that brought Maekawa respect and admiration from architects the world over.

Carefully researched, with numerous illustrations that complement discussions of Maekawa's principal projects, Reynold's book will be welcomed in the fields of architecture and design. It will also attract readers interested in twentieth-century Japan, for in addition to highlighting Maekawa's architectural career, Reynolds portrays the broader cultural context within which Maekawa and other Japanese architects and artists sought to be heard and recognized.

Contents:

1 The Architectural Profession in Japan, 1850-1930 9

2 Family and Education 38

3 A Modernist Crusader, 1930-1945 74

4 "People's Architecture" in Postwar Japan 135

5 "Tradition" Redux 196

6 Recasting Modernism 222.

Notes:

"Ahmanson-Murphy fine arts imprint"--Half t.p.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-303) and index.

ISBN:

0520214951

OCLC:

43751567