The Kenzō Tange Archive -- 丹下健三アーカイブ

Kenzō Tange was among the most influential architects of postwar Japan and is considered the mentor of the Metabolist group. His work brings together international modern aesthetics with traditional Japanese design. Born in Osaka in 1913, Kenzō Tange was enrolled in the architecture program at Tokyo Imperial University from 1935 to 1938, and continued his graduate studies at the same university from 1942 through 1946, when he was appointed assistant professor (Tokyo Imperial University).

In 1949 he was awarded the first prize in the Competition for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, a project that launched him into the international architectural scene. In 1960 he was the program director of WoDeCo (World Design Conference) in Tokyo, where the international participating members (including architects and designers such as Herbert Bayer, Hiromu Hara, Louis Kahn, Masaru Katsumi, Iwatarō Koike, Takashi Kōno, Tomás Maldonado, Fumihiko Maki, Jean Prouvé, Paul Rudolph, Junzō Sakakura, Peter Smithson, Christopher Tunnard, Minoru Yamasaki and Kenzō Tange, among others) signed the World Design Tokyo Declaration. "Metabolism 1960", published soon after WoDeCo, is considered by some architectural historians as the Metabolist manifesto. It includes four seminal essays: “Ocean City” by Kiyonori Kikutake, “Material and Man” by Noboru Kawazoe, “Toward Group Form” by Masato Ōtaka and Fumihiko Maki, and “Space City” by Noriaki (Kishō) Kurokawa.

In 1960 Kenzō Tange also developed a master plan that envisioned the growth of the city of Tokyo over Tokyo Bay and published it as "A Plan for Tokyo, 1960." At the time Kenzō Tange was also teaching a design studio at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) on the topic of "A Community on the Sea", where together with his students he also explored the possibility of city growth on the water, in this case for the city of Boston. In 1963 Kenzō Tange was promoted to professor of urban engineering at Tokyo University.

Other notable projects by Kenzō Tange include Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (1958), Kagawa Prefectural Government Building (1958), Kurashiki Civic Center (1958), Yoyogi Stadiums (1964), Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium (1964), Dentsu Building in Tokyo (1967), Yamanashi Press and Broadcasting Center (1967), St. Mary’s Cathedral in Tokyo (1967), Shizuoka Press and Broadcasting Center in Tokyo, and the World Expo in Osaka (1970, Core Facilities). Among numerous worldwide urban projects, of particular note is the competition for the reconstruction of Skopje, after the devastating earthquake of 1963 for which Kenzō Tange won the first prize, the design development process (including Tange and a team of local architects) was later overseen and coordinated by the United Nations.

Among other awards for lifelong achievements and contributions, Kenzō Tange was awarded a Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects (1965), a Gold Medal by the American Institute of Architects (1966), the Order of Culture by the Japanese Government (1980), and the Pritzker Prize (1987). Kenzō Tange died in Tokyo in 2005.