Frank Lloyd Wright in Japan







There are actually quite a few buildings in Japan designed or inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, as mentioned in P's fascinating post previously here on Kurashi: Magnificient Obsessions (thanks!)

The Imperial Hotel in central Tokyo was a landmark until the late 1960s.

Old Tokyo has some wonderful photos from postcards, that I imagine some of you may have in your grandfathers' collections...








Wow, have a look at that luggage sticker - Imagine having that on your suitcase back in the 1920s or 1930s!






Here is the entrance of the Yamamura House in Hyogo prefecture, also known as the Yodoko House.

It was completed in 1924.


But this is also about people. Arata Endo was one of the Japanese architects who studied Wright's philosophy. This helped him to build his ideal view of organic architecture: "to find a point where humans and architecture meet, to make architecture the art based on everyday lives, and not to classify architecture into practicality, science or art."

I think Frank Lloyd Wright was very lucky to meet students in Japan, such as Endo, who probably taught the teacher more than we will ever know.

More photos on the Wright in Japan website, a NPO that wants to foster greater cultural awareness of Frank Lloyd Wright's enduring architectural legacy in Japan through the collection, management and deployment of Wright-related documents and artifacts.

Endo and Wright collaborated to design the Jiyu Gakuen, a famous school in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Wright extended his congratulations for the opening of the school in 1921 by sending a following message:
　
"This little school building was designed for the Jiyu - Gakuen - in the same spirit implied by the name of the school - a free spirit. The children seem to belong to the building in quite the same way as the flowers belong to the tree, and the building belongs to them as the tree belongs to its flowers."

(Click to enlarge photos)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War

Image
A unique three-day international conference is being held at Makuhari near Tokyo, a day after the 61st anniversary of the enforcement of Japan's Constitution. It is organized by nongovernmental groups, including Japan-based Peace Boat . Organizers said the meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the significance of the constitutional article that endorses demilitarization and what people can do to promote its spirit, notes The Japan Times . While the constitution stipulates that Japan renounces war as a sovereign right and that it will not maintain land, sea and air forces, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been keen to make amendments. "The war in Iraq has shown that even the strongest, biggest army in the world can not keep peace in a single city. It proves that aggression never instates peace," Tatsuya Yoshioka, director of Peace Boat and a representative of the event's organizing committee, said during the opening remarks. "Article 9 is a treasu...
Read more

マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から

Image
  My new book has been published! マーティン・フリッド (著)   世界中の消費者が同じ課題を抱え、悩み、たたかっている。スウェーデンに生まれ、ヨーロッパ、そして日本の消費者運動の現場を歩いてきた著者が、人びとの日常によりそいながら軽妙なユーモアを交えて食、環境、エネルギー、社会のあり方、政治、経済を考えます。   https://nishoren.net/new-information/14177 Consumers all over the world are facing similar problems, worries, and struggles. In this book, the author, who was born in Sweden and has walked the frontlines of consumer movements in Europe ...
Read more

Salvador Dali, Hiroshima and Okinawa

Image
Spanish artist Salvador Dali was deeply terrified by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , and his exact, detailed style was very much suited to show the horror of the A-bomb, which America tried to keep a secret by classifying photos and descriptions until the end of the occupation of Japan in 1952. The Bureau of Atomic Tourism has more details if you want to know more about the legacy of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Even today, do people understand the real horror of atomic bombs? If not, then, why not ? Dali's paintings are on display in Fukushima prefecture, where you can view Melancholy Atomic and Uranium Idyll and The Three Sphinxes of Bikini at the Morohashi Museum of Modern Art . Long YouTube video from the Nihon University (Nichidai) channel with an interview featuring Morohashi Eiji, the son of the founder of the unique museum, and scenes from the Morohashi Museum (29:20): #271美術館への誘い ダリの世界 Is there a hidden message in Dali's Bikini hydrogen bomb painting...
Read more