Kanzo Tange

1.1 Born: 1913 in Osaka, Japan. 1.2 Died : March 22, 2005 1.3 Education: Graduated in Architecture Courses from Tokyo Imperial University in 1938. In 1942, he returned back to the University for Graduate Course.

1.4 Profession:
He seeked employment in 1938 in the office

of Kunio Maekawa for 4 yrs.

In office, he joined Japanese Werkbund. In 1946, he accepted professorship in Tokyo

University.

In 1949 ,he began his successful private practice. By 1957, Tange and Asso. Adopted firm name KENZO TANGE AND URTEC(derived from urbanist architecture)

KANZO TANGE WITH PRIME-MINISTER LEE KUANG IN 1972

1.5 Influences:
His

first mentor, Maekawa, developing International Style and Bauhaus Principles under him. while working on Villa Savoye and Swiss Pavilion. Western Renaissance Architecture, especially Michelangelo.

Antonin Raymond in Japan and office of Le Corb

Congress Internationaux darchitecture Moderne

(CIAM)

2.0 Philosophy

He believed that Japanese are searching freedom of expression symbolizing new society free from old technocratic regimes. He demonstrated that unique regionalism could be developed ,and recognized within the circumstance of International Style. He marked a remarked awareness of Japanese Architectural traditions expressed through a contemporary interpretation of architectural form.

The National Gymnasium de Yoyogi, Tokyo

Date: 1961 -1964 Building Type: Sports Stadium Construction System: Concrete, Steel cable. Climate: Temperate Context: Urban Style: Modern

The Olympic Stadia in Tokyo designed for the Tokyo Olympics can be regarded as the culmination of architects career, designed in 1960 and built in 1964, with the highest achievements of the Japanese tradition.

The plan [of the larger stadium] is in the form of two semi-circles, slightly displaced in relation to one another, with their unconnecting ends elongated into points.

The entrances are located in the concave sides.

Interior View of the Stadium

The roof is supported on two reinforced concrete pillars, and is made up of a system of steel cables onto which enameled steel plates are then soldered.

The curving form of the roof serves to make it more resistant to wind, which can reach hurricane force in this region.

ST. MARYS CATHEDRAL,TOKYO, JAPAN

Date: 1963 Building Type: Church Construction System: Concrete Context: Urban Style: Modern

The original structure in 1899 was a wooden building in the Gothic style. It was burned during World War II. The present church, designed by Kenzo Tange, dates from 1964. Kenzo Tange won the competition for the reconstruction of this church in 1961.

The plan of the building is in the form of a cross, from which the walls, eight hyperbolic parabolas, rise up at an angle.

These open upwards to form a cross of light which continues vertically to the length the four facades. To this rhomboid volume other secondary constructions are added. The bell tower is 60 m in height and stands at a little distance from the cathedral proper.

SECTIONAL ELEVATION

The exterior surfaces are clad in stainless steel, which gives them a special radiance in keeping with the religious character of the building."

Interior View

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Building, Hiroshima

Built: 1949-56 Building Type: Museum and community centre Construction System: Concrete Style: Modern

Site Plan

 The building is raised up on pillars, its structure a framework of exposed concrete. The complex as a whole has a monumental quality. There are two secondary buildings, one on either side It consists of an auditorium, a hotel, an exhibition gallery, a library, offices, a conference center to the west, and an assembly hall with capacity for 2,500 people to the east The monument is in the form of a hyperbolic parabola, brings together modern tendencies and techniques and the ancient form

The A Bomb Dome

It is the skeletal ruins of the former Industrial Promotion Hall. It was left how it was after the bomb It is probably the most well known symbol of the park.

The Statue of the A-Bomb Children.

It is dedicated to the memory of the children who died as a result of the bombing. The statue is of a girl, with outstretched arms with a crane rising above her.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

It is the primary museum in the park dedicated to educating visitors about the bomb. The Museum has exhibits and information covering the build up to war, the role of Hiroshima in the war up to the bombing, and extensive information on the bombing and its effects.

Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound.

The Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound is a large, grass-covered knoll It contains the ashes of 70,000 unidentified victims of the bomb

The Memorial Cenotaph.

Near the center of the park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a Cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The Cenotaph carries the epitaph, "Repose ye in Peace, for the error shall not be repeated." Through the monument you can see the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome.

Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall

The Hall of Remembrance which contains a a 360 degree panorama of the destroyed Hiroshima recreated using 140,000 tiles - the number of people estimated to have died from the bomb by the end of 1945.

4.0 Bibliography/Webliography

Kanzo Tange And URTEC Works Of Kanzo Tange and Urtec Twentieth Century Architecture Architecture And Architects Kanzo Tange