Japanese architecture's commanding presence on the world state can be traced to the struggles of earlier generations of Japan's modernist architects. This first book-length study of Maekawa Kunio (1905-1986) focuses on one of the most distinctive leaders in Japan's modernist architectural community. Maekawa's work and critical writing, produced during a career that lasted from the 1930s to the 1980s, put him at the vanguard of the Japanese architectural profession. Jonathan Reynolds shows how Maekawa negotiated the transition in Japan between prewar and postwar architecture and how his work, which explored modernism's ambivalence about the relation between "tradition" and contemporary practice, also exploited the new technology and building materials, incorporating them into modernist design and ideology.Maekawa studied architecture at the prestigious Tokyo Imperial University before moving to Paris in 1928 to work with Le Corbusier. The experience had a powerful impact on Maekawa, who became an effective advocate for Le Corbusier and modernism when he returned to Japan two years later. Maekawa designed residential, commercial, and governmental buildings in Japan and abroad. He became particularly well known internationally for his public architecture, especially museums and public spaces such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall. These projects illustrate the principles that brought Maekawa respect and admiration from architects the world over.
Carefully researched, with numerous illustrations that complement discussions of Maekawa's principal projects, Reynolds's book will be welcomed in the fields of architecture and design. It will also attract readers interested intwentieth-century Japan, for in addition to highlighting Maekawa's architectural career, Reynolds portrays the broader cultural context within which Maekawa and other Japanese architects and artists sought to be heard and recognized.
