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MANILA, Philippines - Who is this Japanese architect, who is one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism?
He was influenced from an early age by the Swiss modernist Le Corbusier. He gained international recognition in 1949 when he won the competition for the design of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. He was a member of CIAM (Congres Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne) in the ‘50s.
Born on Sept. 4,1913 in Osaka, Japan, he spent his early life in the Chinese cities of Hankow and Shanghai; he and his family returned to Japan after learning of the death of one of his uncles.
He moved to Hiroshima in 1930 to attend high school. It was here that he first encountered the works of Swiss modernist Le Corbusier. His discovery of the drawings of the Palace of the Soviets in a foreign art journal convinced him to become an architect.
He began the tertiary studies he desired at University of Tokyo’s architecture department. He studied under Hideto Kishida and Shozo Uchida.
He started to work as an architect at the office of Kunio Maekawa. During his employment, he traveled to Manchuria, participating in an architectural design competition for a bank, and toured Japanese-occupied Jehol on his return.
In 1942, he entered a competition for the design of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Memorial Hall. He was awarded first prize for a design that would have been situated at the base of Mount Fuji; the hall he conceived was a fusion of Shinto shrine architecture and the plaza on Capitoline Hill in Rome.
In the summer of 1946 he was invited by the War Damage Rehabilitation Board to put forward a proposal for certain war damaged cities; he submitted plans for Hiroshima and Maebashi. His design for an airport in Kanon was accepted and built.
He continued to practice until three years before his death in 2005.
He disliked postmodernism in the 1980s and considered this style of architecture to be only “transitional architectural expressions.” His funeral was held in one of his works, the Tokyo Cathedral.
Last week’s question: Who is the American-Italian celebrity chef not only known for his Chef Panisse and Oliveto restaurants, as well as a curemaster for traditional Italian cured meats?
Answer: Paul Bertolli
Winner: Jerome Jara of Pandi, Bulacan
