Architect Seminar Kenzo TangePresented by Sreekanth P. S.

NationalityJapaneseBorn4 September 1913 Osaka, Japan

Died22 March 2005 Tokyo, Japan

Alma mater The University of Tokyo

Practice1946 Tange Laboratory1961 The Urbanists and Architects TeamKenzo Tange Associates

AwardsPlitzker Prize, RIBA Gold Medal, AIA Gold Medal, Order of Culture, Order of Sacred Treasures

An influential protagonist of the Structuralist movement. He believed in combining traditional Japanese styles withmodernism.Influenced from an early age by the Swiss modernist, Le CorbusierWinner of the 1987 Pritzker Prizeforarchitecture

Yoyogi National Gymnasium(1964)

Formed in the late 1950s by a small group of young Japanese architects and designersHuman society modelled in biological termsBased on Buddhist notions of impermanence and change.Relied heavily on advanced technology, and they often consist of adaptable plug-in megastructures

Mega city planning for Tokyo (Kenzo Tange 1960)The most famous built example of Metabolism is Kurokawa's Nakagin Capsule Tower (1972).

Yoyogi National GymnasiumSt. Mary's CathedralHiroshima Peace MonumentFuji TV headquarters

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building(1991)

Computer ChipGothic CathedralTraditional Japanese houses.

The exterior surfaces covered with geometric pattern executed in graniteEarthquake resistant structureObservation desk at the topAt the top of each tower are satellite dishes pointing in all directions.

The smaller building housing government offices is located to the south of the main building.The two structures are joined by the multi-story portico .The style of the south building is less vertical and takes on the form of a cluster of buildings.

Acts as an unifying elementThe portico wraps gently around the plaza, joining it to the main building as well as the assembly hall. Sculptures

The fan-shaped plaza, modeled on the famous Campo in Siena, Acts as a separationSlopes gently up as one moves away from the main structure. An oasis of rare harmony and tranquillity

Campo in Siena

The assembly hall is a circular metal-clad structure which looms over the plaza from above the portico. A round window placed at its center

First Floor Plan of super block

Second Floor Plan of super block

Section of Super Block

Fusion of eastern and western elementsOne based on structural principle other on futuristic principleShift to Monumental Structures from his minimalist ideologies

Kenzo Tange's attempt to embrace the postmodernist movement of the eighties. Deviation from his general idea of Traditional Japanese ArchitectureThe perfect architectural incarnation of modern Japan

* The pattern successfully adds texture and vibrancy to an otherwise plain facade.

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