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Open

EXHIBITION

Japan Architects 1945-2010

2014.11.1 (Sat.) -
2015.3.15 (Sun.)

Information

Period :
2014.11.1 (Sat.) - 2015.3.15 (Sun.)
10:00 - 18:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays)
Venue :
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Closed:
Mondays, November 4, 25, December 29 to January 1, 13, (Open on November 3, 24, January 12)
Admission:
Adult: ¥1,000 (¥800)
University: ¥800 (¥600)
Elem/ JH/ HS: ¥400 (¥300)
65 and over: ¥800

[Combi Ticket for "Architecture since 3.11"]
Adult: ¥1,700 (¥1,400)
University: ¥1,400 (¥1,100)
Elem/ JH/ HS: ¥700 (¥600)
65 and over: ¥1,400

*( ) indicate advance ticket and group rates (20 or more).
For More Information:
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Phone: +81-76-220-2800
Facsimile: +81-76-220-2802
E-Mail: info@kanazawa21.jp

About the Exhibition

As a special exhibition marking its 10th anniversary, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa is collaborating with the Centre Pompidou (Paris) in holding exhibition of post-war Japanese architecture, “Japan Architects 1945-2010” taking the Centre Pompidou’s collection of works and materials as a core.

Mr. Migayrou has divided the 65-year period from 1945 to 2010 into six sections and color-coded each section’s concept. His compelling vantage point on post-war Japanese architecture will be another exhibition highlight.

Architects played a major role in Japan’s national project of reconstructing from the ruins of war. Adhering to the principles of modernism or, in some cases, pursing an essentially Japanese style, they designed and constructed public facilities and buildings of all kinds. As they did so, the architects gradually expanded their focus from architecture to urban design, and in the 1960s, the architectural movement “Metabolism” was born, impelled by new economic and technological development. This movement reached its apogee at the 1970 Osaka Exposition and thereafter diversified, further evolved, and formed a new vision. A younger generation of architects inherited its aims, but already a minimalist style of architecture—what might be called “architecture of elimination”—was sweeping the nation. Then, in the late 1990s, after the collapse of Japan’s bubble economy and the Kobe Earthquake, works appeared that re-examined architecture from the perspectives of “narrative” and “program,” and many Japanese architects rose to international acclaim.
This exhibition offers a precious opportunity to follow the tracks of the Japanese architects who, swinging between Western modernism and Japanese identity, created their own style and vision and garnered international attention. The great number of works and materials—over 240 original drawings and models by some 80 architects who spear-headed the development of post-war Japanese architecture—are invaluable tools for understanding these architects’ conceptual and design processes. All together, they form an architecture exhibition of a scale never before seen in Japan. It is an exhibition of importance—not only for the light it casts on architectural history but also for the deep insight it offers into Japan’s rapidly changing post-war society.

Related Events

Frédéric MIGAYROU Lecture: “Japan Architects 1945-2010”
Date/time: Saturday 1 November 2014 14:00-16:00
Venue: Theater 21, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Capacity: First 120 arrivals
Admission: Free
Language: French with Japanese consecutive interpretation
ANDO Tadao Lecture: “Creating Potential for Regional Cities”
Date/time: Saturday 22 November 2014 19:30-21:00
Venue: Kanazawa Bunka Hall (15-1 Takaoka-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa)
Capacity: First 800 arrivals (advance application required)
Admission: Free
Application: Applications will be taken from Tuesday 21 October.
Please submit your name, address, telephone, and number in your party by any of the methods below:
1. FAX 076-220-2069 2. E-Mail bunshin@city.kanazawa.lg.jp 3. TEL 076-220-2442
Inquiries: Kanazawa Cultural Policy Division (TEL 076-220-2442)
ISOZAKI Arata Lecture: “Architect of ‘Wa’ Spaces”
Date/time: Friday 20 February 2015 18:30-20:30
Venue: Theater 21, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Capacity: First 120 arrivals (advanced application required)
Admission: Free
Application: Applications will be taken from Wednesday 10 November at 10:00 on a special museum website
(first-come first-served).
*Details about applying will be announced on the website on Wednesday 11 November

General Commissioner

Frédéric Migayrou

Deputy Director, Pompidou Centre, National Museum of Modern Art / Chair, Bartlett Professor of Architecture, The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, University of London.
He is one of the founder of the Collection of FRAC Région centre and presides over Archi Lab. He curated several major exhibitions, "Non Standard Architecture" (2003) "Morphosis" (2006) "Dominique Perrault" (2008) "Mondrian / De Stijl" (2010) "La Tendenza" (2012) "Bernard Tschumi" (2014) "Frank Gehry" (2014) in Pompidou Center and "Archi Lab 2013" in FRAC Région centre. He also supervises and writes many texts and lectures related to architecture.

Space design

Section 1: Black
Persistent demolition and regeneration, shade or darkness

Japan’s architecture, forever in danger of destruction or beset by demands for change, stands on impermanent ground. In “Section 1: Black,” architect Ryoji Suzuki uses architectural fragments from the collection of Tsutomu Ichiki—compiled by Ichiki during 40 years—to evoke a culture that ceaselessly undergoes destruction and rebirth, and its traditions of shadow or darkness.

Section 2: Dark Gray
Vision of cities and national land

A new architectural vernacular obtained from the systematic use of concrete gave form to numerous public buildings, such as city halls and cultural and educational facilities, and inspired a vision for building the city and nation in a humanistic dimension. The experimental designs of this period laid a foundation for a new Japanese architecture in the post-war period, and gradually, Japanese architecture achieved recognition on the international stage.

Featured architects: SAKAKURA Kenzo, SHIRAI Seiichi, MAEKAWA Kunio, MURANO Togo, YOSHIZAKA Takamasa, and others.

Section 3: Light Gray
New Japanese architecture

Riding on the back of rapid economic expansion and high-level industrial development, large construction companies constructed myriad buildings, and urbanization spread throughout Japan. In this era, the international style also arrived in Japan, and architects yearned to craft a new modernity. Meanwhile, architects seeking an essentially Japanese architecture also appeared.

Featured architects: EBIHARA Ichiro, IMAI Kenji, ISOZAKI Arata, KIKUTAKE Kiyoshi, TANGE Kenzo, and others.

Section 4: Color
Metabolism and new vision

In the 1960s, architects discovered new potential in industrial technology and the advent of new materials, and the movement “Metabolism” formed and gave Japanese architecture a fundamental identity. This movement reached its apogee in the experimental pavilions, constructed for Expo ’70, that announced Japan’s new, highly technological architecture and became the nation’s manifesto to the world.
Meanwhile, architectural research that was critical of industrial development also appeared, along with an array of new architectural visions, such as Pop architecture, criticism of modernism, media architecture, architecture as image, and architecture as icon.

Featured architects: OTAKA Masato, KUROKAWA Kisho, MAKI Fumihiko, MOZUNA Kiko, YAMASHITA Kazumasa, and others.

Section 5: Non-color
Architecture of disappearance

After the political turmoil of around 1970, a new generation of architects appeared who broke away from architecture that valued technology and idealistic optimism in an industrial society. Their minimalist architecture, founded on a return to geometric form, gained momentum as “light architecture” that eliminated structure, and it ultimately reached completion as “eliminative architecture.” The international acclaim won by these architects gave momentum to the next generation of architects.

Featured architects: ITO Toyo, ANDO Tadao, TAKAMATSU Shin, HASEGAWA Itsuko, FUJII Hiromi, and others.

Section 6: White
From reduction to a narrative

By the 1990s, Japanese architecture was regarded as one of the world’s most important stages for architectural activity. Many Japanese architects undertook international projects and embarked on international careers. The past decade has seen new architectural programs that reintroduce organic functions in the city and projects of “narrative architecture” that regress to concept. Narratives concerning architecture’s relationship with nature and society are woven using different methods, in each case, so as to tell a unique and compelling story.

Featured architects: AOKI Jun, ISHIBASHI Junya, KUMA Kengo, Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA, TEZUKA Takahara/TEZUKA Yui, BAN Shigeru, FUJIMORI Terunobu, FUJIMOTO Sou, and others.

Exhibition Architects and Artists

AIDA Takefumi, ANDO Tadao, AOKI Jun, Atelier Bow-Wow, AZUMA Takamitsu, BAN Shigeru, EBIHARA Ichiro, ENDO Shuhei, FUJII Hiromi, FUJIMORI Terunobu, FUJIMOTO Sou, HASEGAWA Itsuko, HAYAKAWA Kunihiko, HAYASHI Masako, HIRATA Akihisa, ICHIKAWA Sota / doubleNegatives Architecture, IMAI Kenji, INUI Kumiko, ISAKA Yoshitaro, ISHIGAMI Junya, ISHIYAMA Osamu, ISOZAKI Arata, ITO Toyo, KIKUTAKE Kiyonori, KITAGAWARA Atsushi, KUMA Kengo, KURAMOTO Tatsuhiko, KUROKAWA Kisho, MAYEKAWA Kunio, MAKI Fumihiko, MASUZAWA Makoto, MIKAN, MIZUTANI Eisuke, MOZUNA Kiko, MURANO Togo, MURATA Yutaka, NAGAYAMA Yuko, NAITO Hiroshi, NAKAMURA Hiroshi, NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD, NISHIZAWA Ryue, OHE Hiroshi, OTAKA Masato, OTANI Sachio, Antonin RAYMOND, ROKKAKU Kijo, SAKAKURA Junzo, SAKAMOTO Kazunari, Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA, SATO Mitsuhiko, SHIGETA Ryoichi, SHINOHARA Kazuo, SHIRAI Seiichi, SUZUKI Makoto, SUZUKI Ryoji, TAKAHASHI Teiichi / Daiichikobo, TAKAMATSU Shin, TAKASAKI Masaharu, TAKATSUKI Akiko, TANGE Kenzo, TANIGUCHI Yoshio, TANIGUCHI Yoshiro, TEZUKA Architects, TAKEI Makoto + NABESHIMA Chie / TNA, UTIDA Yositika, WATANABE Makoto, WATANABE Yoji, YAMAMOTO Riken, YAMASHITA Kazumasa, YAMASHITA Yasuhiro / Atelier Tekuto, YOKOO Tadanori, YOSHIMURA Junzo, YOSIZAKA Takamasa

Organizers

Organized by:
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Kanazawa Art Promotion and Development Foundation ), Pompidou Centre, National Museum of Modern Art
Under the auspices of:
the Embassy of France / Institut français du Japon, Japan Federation of Architects & Building Engineers Associations, Architectural Institute of Japan, Japan Association of Architectural Firms, The Japan Institute of Architects, Japan Federation of Construction Contractors, Japan Society of Urban and Regional Planners, City Planning Association of Japan, The City Planning Institute of Japan, THE HOKKOKU SHIMBUN
Supported by:
The Obayashi Foundation, Japanese Friends of Centre Pompidou, Kajima Corporation, Taisei Corporation, Takenaka Corporation, YKK AP Inc.
In Cooperation with:
JAPAN AIRLINES, Shinkenchiku-sha Co., Ltd.