Architecture of Cultural Exchange: Japan and Western Modernism (13 May)

Prof. Kai Kappel (Humboldt University of Berlin):

"Architecture of Cultural Exchange: Japan and Western Modernism 1900–1939, Interweaving Histories"

(Monday, 13 May, 6pm - 8pm)

This lecture focuses on the multifaceted processes of exchange between Japanese and European/American architects at the beginning of the 20th century, in particular between the two World Wars. A closer look at architects’ travels, research trips and the mutual reception of journals, books and manifestos (including photography) could shed new light on our understanding of this cultural exchange of interweaving histories and multiple modernities.

On the one hand, “western” architects disseminated new construction methods while simultaneously discovering the timeless qualities of traditional Japanese architecture; on the other hand, Japanese architects – in particular those who had studied Art Nouveau in Vienna, concrete architecture in France, expressionism, modernist urban structures, Bauhaus design in Germany or wooden constructions in Scandinavia – raised the question about the role of what might be considered intrinsically “Japanese” within the international modernist movement.

Lecture will take place in the Akamon General Research Bldg., Room 742, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus (building no. 38 on this map).