"Kenzô Tange - Kengo Kuma, Architectes des Jeux de Tokyo" Exhibition in Paris

Kenzô Tange and Kengo Kuma, prominent figures in Japanese architecture, are from 2 May to 29 June 2024 the protagonists of an exhibition in Paris organised under the direction of the Maison de la culture du Japon, a large exhibition space dedicated to Franco-Japanese friendship a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower. Titled "Kenzô Tange - Kengo Kuma, Architectes des Jeux de Tokyo," the project is curated by Saikaku Toyokawa and showcases numerous models, photographs and multimedia installations which explore the legacy of these two leading figures in contemporary architecture. A particular focus has been devoted to the sport facilities they designed for the 1964 and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games: this theme acquires a particular resonance in Paris, a city that is set to host the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in just two months.

From 26 July to 8 September, the French capital will pulse to the rhythm of sport, festivities, and celebration, filled with athletes striving for the podium and passionate fans from all around the world cheering on their champions. Yet, after the flames of Olympia have been extinguished and all the medals awarded, the question arises: what remains of this grand celebration? What legacy does it leave behind for the host cities? This is the premise of the exhibition, which explores Tokyo’s hosting of the Olympics in 1964 and 2021, and the inspiration it provided for the construction of exceptional sports infrastructure such as Kenzô Tange's Yoyogi Gymnasium and Kengo Kuma's National Stadium.

The first room of the exhibition presents the biographical and architectural path of these two great masters of Japanese architecture. Black and white photographs and three-dimensional models make tangibly eloquent the poetics of Tange, highlighting his pursuit to merge Western rationalism and functionalism with Japan's millennia-old architectural heritage during a period of rapid political and economic growth. Tange's projects that have been chosen to illustrate these principles include the St. Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo, where dynamic hyperbolic curves in reinforced concrete create a cruciform layout infused with a lux mirabilis et continua­. Another example is the Imabari Town Hall, where the brutal materiality of reinforced concrete is sublimated into a harmonious whole, drawing inspiration from Le Corbusier's work in Ahmedabad, India. Kuma, like Tange, upholds a deep connection to Japanese tradition, while also distancing himself from it, with a clear inclination toward technological innovation and experimental design, often avoiding reinforced concrete in favor of more environmentally aware building materials. This approach is evident in the Bato Hiroshige Museum, where Kuma's design takes its morphology from the artist's ukiyo-e works, allowing it to blend with its surroundings from a materic point of view using cedar wood, stone, and washi paper.

The exhibition's journey through Tange's and Kuma's works reaches its climax in a room that serves as the narrative fulcrum of the entire showcase. Here, visitors can find a large 1/1000 scale model of the Shibuya and Aoyama districts in Tokyo, where Tange's Yoyogi Gymnasium and Kuma's National Stadium are located. These two architectural icons are interpreted through four key words — line, eaves, landscape, and arch — in such a way as to progressively highlight their points of encounter, as well as their points of clash. Therefore, the Yoyogi Gymnasium, designed by Tange for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to host swimming, diving, and basketball events, presents a fluid volumetry reminiscent of the elegantly curved traditional mukuri roofing, countering the monolithic heaviness of the reinforced concrete used in its construction. This curved space and the projection of its eaves initiate a dialogue between interior and exterior, incorporating both architectural influences, such as the Tōshōdai-ji temple in Nara, and literary ones, as seen in Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's In Praise of Shadows. Kuma's stadium, built for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, features instead a large volume that doesn’t overshadow the delicacy of its wooden construction. The structure's four progressively projecting, vegetated canopies allow finally the imposing design to gently fit in the surrounding urban landscape. Several black-and-white photographs by Yasuhiro Ishimoto (documenting Yoyogi during and after its construction in 1964) and Mikiya Takimoto (capturing the National Stadium in May 2023) finally represent the rich spatiality of these two projects on a flat, two-dimensional plane, allowing visitors to examine how these architectural works engage with the exhibition's guiding concepts.

The third room of the exhibition explores the connections between Tange, Kuma, and the imperial villa of Katsura. This complex, featuring various shoin halls and tea pavilions commissioned by Prince Hachijō Toshihito in the 17th century, has long captivated architects with its pristine materials—such as dark hinoki wood and thatch—its rigorous compositional principles grounded in the modularity of tatami, the adaptable spaces enabled by fusuma and shōji screens, and, finally, the purity of its structural elements: columns, architraves, balustrades ... In Europe, Walter Gropius considered Katsura the classical materialisation of the principles of modernity, while Bruno Taut praised it as the "quintessence of authentic Japanese tradition." Meanwhile, in Japan, Katsura was also crucial for Tange and Kuma, influencing their designs in projects such as the Seijo Villa in Tokyo and the Great Bamboo Wall, near Beijing. 

Tange, in the Seijo villa, demonstrates lyricism in a domestic architecture where natural materials - such as wood and stone - are rhythmised in a restful composition based on geometries, horizontals and verticals. Elements like engawa, tatami, ranma and shōji panels create an osmotic and fluid space where Le Corbusier's modernism meets the delicacy of traditional Japanese architecture. In contrast, Kuma draws inspiration especially from the rich materiality of Katsura, as seen in his Great Bamboo Wall, a hotel located near the Great Wall of China. The building's façades are entirely clad in bamboo shutters, allowing it to blend harmoniously with the undulations of the surrounding landscape. The hotel seems almost to give life to the anti-urban dream of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, a group of Chinese scholars and philosophers of the third century CE who could easily be imagined sipping tea in Kuma's central pavilion and discussing the Daoist harmony of the ordering principles of the universe: the Yin and Yang, the natural and artificial, a combination which Kuma skillfully interprets here as well as in his Tokyo Olympic Stadium.

Finally, the last room of the exhibition explores the connections between Tange, Kuma and France, the country where the exhibition is being held. Western architecture and art owe a profound debt to Japanese culture: the journeys to Japan undertaken by Bruno Taut and Charlotte Perriand, the previously mentioned influence of Katsura on Gropius, the impact of the Ho-o-den on Frank Lloyd Wright, and the impact of ukiyo-e on Impressionist and Art Nouveau aesthetics all bear witness of this exchange. Conversely, the dialogue between France and Japan flowed in both directions, with many Japanese architects travelling to France to study its rich architectural tradition, including Tange's mentor, Hideto Kishida, as well as Kunio Maekawa and Junzō Sakakura. The room that closes the exhibition exhibits letters, photographs and furnishings that demonstrate the intensity of the infinite solicitations of this planetary exchange. It also highlights Kuma's work in France, with photographs and models of his projects on display. Notable examples include the Albert Kahn Museum, which fosters a renewed dialogue between architecture and landscape, and the under-construction Saint Denis Pleyel metro station, a new urban centrality in a wounded urban tissue, contributing to its healing and regeneration.

Concluding the article is an interview granted by Saikaku Toyokawa, curator of the exhibition, to ADF:

Filippo Esposito: Paris, where the exhibition takes place, is set to host the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad this year. What key lessons do you think future Olympic host cities can learn from Tange and Kuma's work in Tokyo?

Saikaku Toyokawa: I can raise two points that act as important lessons that should be learned by future Olympic host cities. The first is that massive sports facilities built in city centers should continue to be used with care, and the second is the importance of using wood in massive public facilities.

Regarding the former, the JOC (Japan Olympic Committee) designated the area around the Yoyogi National Gymnasium as the Heritage Zone in preparation for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The Yoyogi National Gymnasium was used in 1964 for swimming and basketball events and was used in 2021 as the venue for handball. The Yoyogi National Gymnasium is a rare example, as no changes have been made to its original appearance since it was originally built 60 years ago, and it continues to be used to this day. I think future Olympic host cities should learn from this. In Paris, structures were built when hosting the world's fair such as the Eiffel Tower (1889), the Grand Palais (1900), and the Petit Palais (1900), all of which continue to be used. One can say that Tokyo has finally learned from the urban planning of Paris in this regard and has begun to implement it as well.

Regarding the latter, the Japan National Stadium designed by Kengo Kuma makes frequent use of wood, showing the world the role carried out by the material in future massive public facilities. While some in Japan criticize the heavy use of wood in the exteriors of public architecture as a populist choice made in an attempt for mass appeal, I think that the use of wood products in interiors and exteriors alike, and even in columns and beams, is an irreversible trend.

Filippo Esposito: The exhibition showcases how the flexibility, modularity, and craftsmanship of the Katsura Imperial Villa have made it a classic of Japanese architecture, influencing architects both in Japan and internationally, including Kuma, Tange, and Walter Gropius. What do you think are some other lesser known yet equally impactful traditional Japanese architectural works that could inspire new architects in Japan and beyond, and why?

Saikaku Toyokawa: I could say that Ise Jingu is a work of traditional Japanese architecture that is as impactful as the Katsura Imperial Villa. When Tange explained the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum to sculptor Isamu Noguchi, he raised the differences between the Katsura Imperial Villa and Ise Jingu as examples.

The rock garden at Ryoanji in Kyoto has also left a profound impression on many foreign architects who have visited it with its way of expressing a garden through the arrangement of decorations and plants.

Saikaku Toyokawa: I'd like to answer this question assuming that the tradition of French architecture includes Le Corbusier's modern architecture.

From the time he was in university, Tange was strongly drawn to Le Corbusier, and he designed domestic Japanese architecture and cities with Le Corbusier always on his mind. In particular, Le Corbusier's architectural concrete expressions strongly influence the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, the Kagawa Prefectural Government Office, and Imabari City Hall, Tange's early masterpieces.

Meanwhile, Tange also deepened his understanding of Japanese traditional architecture through his design work. As this happened, black-and-white photos by Yasuhiro Ishimoto were a source of inspiration for Tange. The Katsura Imperial Villa as photographed by Ishimoto and photos of the facade and pilotis of the Tange House are proof of just how similar the architectural proportions of the two are. The Kagawa Prefectural Government Office also has a facade that is strongly aware of Japanese wooden architecture, and so we can call it a work by Tange as someone who never took his eyes off of both French and Japanese traditions.

Kuma belongs to a generation that criticizes the values of modern architecture built by Tange and his contemporaries. In other words, it's thought that Kuma began his career in architecture by not placing blind faith in Corbusier and distancing himself from traditional Japanese architecture as well. At the same time, Kuma's Musée Départemental Albert-Kahn in France makes good use of bamboo blinds and external corridors seen in traditional Japanese architecture in order to make the garden and architecture blend into one another.

Filippo Esposito: What do you hope visitors will take away from the exhibition and which aspects do you think they will find most enlightening?

Saikaku Toyokawa: This exhibition compares and contrasts two stadiums, two houses, and activities in Paris by two architects. While the two stadiums in particular differ greatly in their capacity, we can see various points of similarity and difference by comparing them from the perspective of the architectural contrivances needed to construct facilities where tens of thousands of spectators will gather. When comparing the two stadiums, Kuma uses lines, eaves, landscapes, and arches as keywords. This exhibition follows Kuma's four keywords and displays only beautiful photographs and models. I would like visitors to feel the allure of the two stadiums while inside the exhibition, then to one day visit Japan and see the legacy of the Tokyo Olympics with their own eyes.

As for the houses, the works that differ the most from the stadiums, I have chosen the Tange House and Kuma's Great (Bamboo) Wall. Here, photographs of the two houses and the Katsura Imperial Villa are compared and contrasted, and I would like visitors to understand the way in which the two architects grappled with Japanese tradition.

Finally, Tokyo and Paris were important bases of activity for the two architects, and I hope that visitors get a sense that these Japanese architects active on a global stage played a role in tying Japan and France strongly together.