Taniguchi Yoshiro

quotes on Taniguchi Yoshiro

"We are apt to perceive Yoshiro Taniguchi as an arch-conservative and reactionary because of the Establishment status that he achieved. It is true that in his public buildings (e.g., Togu Palace, Hotel Okura, and the Eastern Antiquities Gallery of the National Museum), he took the path of traditionalism that modernism had rejected and that he developed a decorative style that had great popular appeal. but he also left behind a body of work, particularly in his youth, which is attractive to the modernist, namely the handsome neo-classical schools (Keio University), the stern and poetic literary monuments and memorial halls (Toson Kinendo), and a factory of a classicist beauty unrivalled in modern Japan (Chichibu Cement); he is indeed one of the masters of modern Japanese architecture.
His work was always in conscious contrast to that of modernists such as Mayekawa and Tange, and he continually broadened the possible range of modern architectural vocabulary in Japan. He had a wide following that included the general public, intellectuals and the ruling elite, yet his architecture was by no means "populist;" it was, in fact, very difficult to understand. Why, then, is its appeal wider and deeper than that of the work of Tange or Mayekawa?
That appeal is due not simply to the traditionalism of his late work, but also to his classicist rigor and "class," his deep involvement in his design, his attitude toward architecture as philosophy and toward architectural expression as poetry, as well as to the charactersitic decorative spaces of traditionalist motifs in his later years. He managed to reconcile the apparently conflicting worlds of classicism and ornament, insofar as he could maintain the ideals of Zweckmassichkeit [Zweckmäßigkeit - correction added] and Sachlichkeit, to create a non-eclectic, non-derivative style. This reconciliation is clear in his Hotel Okura, the Imperial Theatre, and the Tokyo Kogyo University Memorial Hall. These works appealed to the general public, although they were disregarded by many modernists. They constituted his unspoken criticism of the structuralist and heroic yet (for lack of ornament) slightly anaemic forms of modern architecture.
Taniguchi was from the start also a man of letters, and in his writings he expressed the deep impression made on him by the neo-classicism of Schinkel and the traditionalism of Tessenow. What is interesting is that from early on he showered criticism on what he saw as inorganic rationalism and arbitrary formal manipulation. He did not go so far as to espouse decoration, yet he did not reject it either. It was therefore quite natural for him to turn toward traditional decorative patterns via re-evaluation of traditional culture. Whereas Tessenow created a world of stark, absolute order, taking an anti-international, regionalist stance, Taniguchi, while also anti-internationa, developed finally a world of ornamental beauty.
His is not a light, simple world of patterns, however, but is unexpectedly dark and heavy. There is, beyond his planar, compositional world, a profound incomprehensibility. There is neither formality nor clarity of concept. His world is created from what most modern architects threw away along with ornament: craftsmanship, studied proportions and treatment of details. It is an expression of corporeality, the aftermath of a struggle between self-restraint and a will to express. Proportions are deliberately distorted in a way contrary to traditional Japanese architectural order (kiwari). The cumulative effect of such details contrasts with the conceptuality of modern architecture and results in an illegible totality, yet his work, whether we like it or not, is almost awesomly overpowering and replete in evidence of a will. This corporeality, that is, the vestige of the designer's struggle and thought, requires the maximum self-restraint and formal control. Taniguchi clearly possessed both this restraint and the will to express; that is what gives the effect of darkness and weight to this designs. Yet this quality or "aura" is impossible to capture on photographs, and it is a pity that Taniguchi's architecture may be thus misunderstood. Yet amid the current post-modern reconsideration of what architecture really is, his work is valuable for the alternative approach that it suggests." - Arai, Katsuyoshi, "TANIGUCHI, Yoshiro.", in Emanuel, Muriel (Ed.) "Contemporary Architects", 1980, p.797-798

awards and prizes

project list

1969

YASUYO BUILDING

安与ビル - Yasuyo Biru

1958

SEVENTIETH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM, TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

東京工業大学創立70周年記念講堂

1957

SAEKI HOUSE - MOUNTAIN RETREAT AND MAIN RESIDENCE

山荘と本邸　佐伯邸 - Sansō to hontei, Saiki-tei

1956

NUMBER 2 PLANT, CHICHIBU CEMENT COMPANY

秩父セメント第2工場

+ Nikken Sekkei

further readings

www.artnet.com/library/08/0832/T083260.asp

http://eng.archinform.net/arch/8420.htm

www.japan-photo.de/mod-ja93.htm

publications

'Gallery of Eastern Antiquities',

in: The Japan Architect (Tokyo), December 1968

Y. Taniguchi

'Tokyo Kaikan',

in: The Japan Architect (Tokyo), April 1972

Y. Taniguchi