Tag: Architecture

1959 – Setagaya Ward Office – Kunio Maekawa

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© Lukas Gruntz
© Lukas Gruntz
© Lukas Gruntz

Setagaya Ward Office is an expetional exmaple of Kunio Maekawa’s facing concrete work. Outstanding is the folded plate structure of the auditorium. The concrete there becomes a impressive sculptural quality. Maekawa designed at the same time a similar auditorium  building for the UNSECO in Paris. In this work the strong influence by Le Corbusier is obvious. On June 25 2016, Setagaya Ward announced that they are considering demolishing and rebuilding the ward office buildings. The building do not meet current earthquake codes and could be at risk of collapse in a large earthquake.

Name: Setagaya Ward Office│Type: Administration│Architect: Kunio Maekawa│Completed: 1959

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1964 – Yoyogi National Gymnasium – Kenzo Tange

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Built for the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo the Yoyogi National Gymnasium has become an architectural icon for its distinctive design.  Designed by one of Japan’s most famous modernist architects, Kenzo Tange, the gymnasium is a hybridization of western modernist aesthetics and traditional Japanese architecture. Tange’s innovative structural design creates dramatic sweeping curves that appear to effortlessly drape from two large, central supporting cables. It’s dynamically suspended roof and rough materials form one of the most iconic building profiles in the world.

Name: Yoyogi National Gymnasium│Type: Sports│Architect: Kenzo Tange│Completed: 1964

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1962 – Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium – Murata Masachika Architects

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1962 – Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium – Murata Masachika Architects
1962 – Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium – Murata Masachika Architects
1962 – Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium – Murata Masachika Architects

The Olympic Park was the site of the second venue for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, hosting wrestling, volleyball, and other competitions. It was opened to the public after the Olympics as a park, and today is known as a sports park that harmoniously blends greenery with several types of athletic facilities.

Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium and currently used mostly for football matches (although mostly amateur and women’s matches) as well as American football games and athletics. The stadium holds 20,010 people. The stadium hosted some of the football preliminaries for the 1964 Summer Olympics. Worth seeing is the plant-like concrete structure of the roof on its west side.

 

Name: Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium│Type: Stadium│Architect: Murata Masachika Architects│Completed: 1962

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1942 – Maekawa House – Kunio Maekawa

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Kunio Maekawa House © Lukas Gruntz
Kunio Maekawa House © Lukas Gruntz
Kunio Maekawa House – Floor Plan
Kunio Maekawa House – Interior © Lukas Gruntz

Kunio Maekawa is one of the most influential Japanese modernist architects who studied in France to apprentice for Le Corbusier and later designed the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum during the 60s. His original house has been dismantled and relocated to the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum. Maekawa house was originally built in 1942 during the wartime regime. The interior was a very exquisite blending of Japanese construction and Western functional taste. Unbelievable that it was made during the wartime especially with the shortage of materials.

Name: Maekawa House│Type: residential│Architect: Kunio Maekawa│Completed: 1942

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