By relying on Japanese philosophies of space, and western architectural tools, Kenzō Tange attempted to create a new architectural style that would transform Japanese traditions and help them find a place in modern day society.
Wandering through the streets of Takamatsu City, it is almost impossible to miss the gardens of Kenzō Tange’s Kagawa Prefectural Office Building. A procession of concrete pilotis provide a porous gateway from the street into the gardens which frame, with a miniature mountain, rough rock carvings and a pond, a staggering eight-story concrete tower.
The Kagawa Prefectural Office Building was constructed in 1958 by famed modernist architect Kenzō Tange. It was designed only a decade after the end of the Second World War, under a newly democratically-elected government. This new government was tasked with the reconstruction of cities. The building, then, was commissioned as an attempt to create a physical embodiment of the newly introduced principles of democracy.
The project was an opportunity for Tange to express a new type of architectural tradition: one that grappled with the changing socio-economic landscape of postwar Japan, as well as the nations rich history and beliefs. Although Kenzō Tange was profoundly interested in tradition, he was also described as the leading voice of the “anti-traditionalist” architectural movement. In reality, this building is an example of how he chose not to ignore or embrace tradition, but rather an attempt to progress tradition in Japans new reality.
Materiality
The geographically diverse archipelago of Japan has always been met with catastrophic earthquakes, typhoons and humidity. Due to its ability to withstand these conditions, wood became Japan’s principle building material. When one walks around Tange’s Kagawa Office Building, however, there is no sign of wood. Instead, the building unapologetically embraces its concrete materiality, emphasizing the weight and solidity of the structure. From a material standpoint, the tower seems to stray away from Japanese tradition.
Kenzō Tange believed tradition was not something formalized, materialized and permanent. Instead, he thought of it as a “creative force. [...] In one sense, for a tradition to live it must constantly be destroyed”. Additionally, he believed that historically, Japanese tradition had always been too attached to the aristocratic ideal of Nature – one that expected an unrealistic harmony between the dwelling and the outside world. In reality, the common farmer could not afford to have a huge traditional opening in their house that unified the interior and the exterior. Therefore, Tange believed in a tradition that was rooted in the cultural energy of the common people, not the aristocracy; “houses ought to be built of steel and concrete, and they ought to be much better insulated than they are.”
While in the past wood might have served the common Japanese farmer as the perfect material to withstand extreme weather conditions, in the 20th century, concrete and steel were much better suited for the cause. He believed in an architecture centered around the needs of the common people, and understood that "these needs change from time to time and from place to place.”
Form
Kenzō Tange did not ignore wood altogether in his design of the Kagawa Office Building. Although it wasn’t physically used, forms that emerged from its traditional use — like post-and-beam construction — were implemented as an ode to the material. Thought the form is completely ornamental, it reveals Tange’s deep appreciation and understating of ancient Japanese traditions. He was known to have been enamored by the forest of columns from the iconic Kiyo-mizy-dera building, and even introduced this image into his second place entry for the National Diet Library competition. We could even say that his use of pilotis as a gateway into the gardens also take inspiration from the Kiyo-mizy-dera building. Tange also wrote books about historic houses, like “Katsura” published in 1960, which talks about tradition and creation in Japanese architecture, and focuses on the wonders of the Katsura Palace.
Through his deep understanding of classical Japanese methods of construction, Tange implements well known forms in the design of his building that makes the casual wonderer feel as if they were surrounded by pagodas in ancient Buddhist temples.
Photographed by Yutaka Saito (left) and Evan Chakroff (right).
Although Tange’s own group wanted to overcome tradition, it is impossible to dismiss the influence that it had on their work. Traditional forms were expressed on a universal level, but their direct links to the past are undeniable. In the article ‘No Friend of Tradition’, Charles S. Terry describes Tange’s architectural paradox; “[Tange] argues against tradition, but often relies on it”, and goes on to describe the Kagawa Office Building as a building which “is not traditional, but which draws on the Buddhist architecture of the past; which is not based on a Western model, but which shows a complete command of Western concepts and Western materials”. The use of post-and-beam is one of many examples where traditional Japanese architecture influenced Tange’s designs. He uses its forms as ornamental features, but also evolves the tradition by using concrete and steel, placing the office building in a modern and democratic context.
Typology
Another area in which Kenzō Tange’s Kagawa Prefectural Office Building relates to traditional Japanese architecture is through its emphasis on open space. Historically, administrative buildings in Japan were private and enclosed. Paradoxically, traditional Japanese architecture is commonly revered for its grand spatial qualities. Residential homes are often described with terms like “openness” and “freedom”. Kenzō Tange himself said that Japanese tradition is defined by the “indeterminacy of space”, and was inspired by its expansive spatial qualities.
In the design of the Kagawa Prefectural Office Building, the combination of large balconies, pilotis, gardens, and a transparent structural skeleton make for a building that indisputably “represents a new type of public administration building, whose partial feature is its openness”. Tange utilized traditional spatial techniques in order to create a public administration building that was open not only to staff, but also to the public, and allowed the citizenry to come through its gates. This was a drastic change from past administrative buildings, and represented an important statement of democracy. It was a theme “that had never been adopted in prewar public buildings”, and Tange hoped to set a precedent for future architects.
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Kenzō Tange was an architect during a tumultuous time in Japan. The consequences of the Second World War left Japan in a limbo between the old and the new. Ideologies were changing radically, and thus architecture had to as well. Tange understood the importance of tradition , and knew that as cities began to grow again, it could not be ignored. Although his group actively tried to stray away from tradition, every building that they designed contained a great sensibility of Japanese forms. As it is clear in the Kagawa Prefectural Office Building, Kenzō Tange did not just synthesize Western and Japanese styles of architecture, he created an entirely new style. He successfully utilized spatial and aesthetic tools from Japanese tradition to build a public building that had never been seen before in Japan, and that would soon become a model for future generations.
