Architect

KENZO TANGE

"Architecture must have something that appeals to the human heart, but even
then, basic forms, spaces and appearances must be logical. Creative work is
expressed in our time as a union of technology and humanity".
 Kenzo Tange _history
• Born in 1913 in Osaka and lived in Imabari, Japan

• Graduate from the University of Tokyo's Department of

Architecture, he worked for four years in the office of Kunio
Maekawa, an important disciple of Le Corbusier.

• In 1942 assistant professor in University of Tokyo Graduate

School.

• Established Tange Laboratory where young associates such as ...

Sachio Otani, Fumihiko Maki, Koji Kamiya, and Kisho Kurokawa
exchanged fruitful ideas.

• Tange spearheaded the country’s reconstruction after World

War II and played an important role in his country's rebirth and
economic upswing
 Kenzo Tange _his journey

• 1949 – selected winner of design

competition to build peace park &
peace center hiroshima.

• In the 1950's Tange was strongly

influenced by Le Corbusier as well
as by the Renaissance Master,
Michelangelo.

• He was also greatly influenced by

traditional Japanese architecture
which is clearly expressed in the
Kagawa Prefectural Office, 1958
 Kenzo Tange _his journey

• In 1960's, he focussed most of his time

into urban Planning.

• The buildings Tange continued to plan

were part of a spatial context concerned
with great metropolitan areas. Such ideas
into the nature of the urban structure
were at the core of the Tokyo Plan, 1960,
expressing a change from mere
functionalism toward structuralism.
 Shizuoka Press Bldg.
Tokyo Dome Hotel

Hiroshima Peace Park

The Cocoon

Fuji T.V Center

St.Mary’s Cathedral Olympic Gymnasium

 Hanae Mori Bldg.

Yoyogi Center Kyoto School

Shinatra R&D Center

Grand Prince Hotel Tokyo Mid-Town Bldg.

St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo
St. Mary's Cathedral (1963)

• St. Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo.

• The original structure of 1899 was a

wooden building in the Gothic style. It
was burned during world war 2.

• Kenzo Tange won the competition

for the reconstruction of this church
in 1961.

• Tange conceived the new church as a

concrete structure, simple in concept
and complex in shape, which gives an
impression of the lightness of a bird
and its wings.
St. Mary's Cathedral (1963)

• 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 the on
length of the four facades.

• The bell tower is 60 m in height and

stands at a little distance from the
cathedral center whose interior is finished
in exposed concrete

• The exterior surfaces are clad in stainless

steel, which gives them a special radiance
in keeping with the religious character of
the building
Peace Memorial Park Museum,
Hiroshima
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Complex,

• In 1949, Tange won a national competition to design a

Peace Park in central Hiroshima.

• Hiroshima Peace Memorial is dedicated to the legacy of

Hiroshima as the first city in the world to suffer a Nuclear
attack, and to the memories of the bomb's direct and
indirect victims.

• The complex, comprising a memorial, a museum, a

community center, and an auditorium-hotel building,
was completed in 1956.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Complex,

• The free-standing memorial monument, a

dramatic saddle-like arch made of
reinforced concrete, is a 20th-century
statement that recalls a building type in
which the tombs of prehistoric Japanese
rulers were Placed

• The museum, a long, horizontal structure

of glass and concrete raised above ground
on concrete columns (called pilotis), is
reminiscent of buildings by Le Corbusier
and also of ancient Japanese prototypes

• This theme of synthesizing modern

architecture with traditional symbolism
characterized the initial phase of Tange's
career.
 Conclusion

• Kenzo Tange's work marked an awareness of Japanese

architectural traditions expressed through a contemporary
interpretation of architectural form.

• He believed that Architecture always should be a reflection

or expression of social structure... dynamic-- always
advancing forward from the past to the future.

“I do not wish to repeat what I have done. I find that every

project is a springboard to the next, always advancing
forward from the past to the ever-changing future. That is
my next challenge.”- Kenzo Tange