Tange Kenzo: From Pre-war period to Olympic Games and World Expo 1938-1970
The first major exhibition in Tokyo dedicated to Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tange Kenzo is opening later this month. Renowned for combining traditional Japanese and modernist forms in his designs, the exhibition features a retrospective of the first half of the influential architect’s career1
- 1. The exhibition titled, TANGE KENZO 1938-1970: From Pre-war period to Olympic Games and World Expo, is presented by the National Archives of Modern Architecture (NAMA), Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, in cooperation with Tange Associates, Uchida Michiko, Tokyo Metropolitan Parks Association, Japan Arts Council, World Monuments Fund (WMF), American Express, DOCOMOMO Japan, and The Museum of Art, Kochi.
2020 is the commemorative year the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Tokyo. Looking back, architect Tange Kenzo played a leading role in realizing both the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964 and the Osaka World Expo in 1970. At National Archives of Modern Architecture, Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, we have made use of our research findings on architectural materials related to Tange Kenzo from the past three years (2014-2016) and have organized this exhibition tracing his career from his graduation thesis to the Tokyo Olympics and the Osaka Expo. In this exhibition, we will retrace and explore the first half of Tange’s life through architectural materials for his national projects such as Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Yoyogi National Stadium, as well as for other projects including an addition to his own house and structural studies that have not been presented before.
