Kenzo Tange & Kengo Kuma: Architects of the Tokyo Games 1964–2020 places two of Japan's most significant architects in direct dialogue, using the Tokyo Olympics as the axis around which their distinct design philosophies — and their shared relationship with the city of Paris — are examined and compared.
About This Book
Published as the catalogue for an exhibition held at the Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris, this volume draws a precise line between two generations of Japanese architecture by staging Kenzo Tange and Kengo Kuma against the same brief: the Olympic Games in Tokyo, held in 1964 and 2020 respectively. Rather than a straightforward monograph on either figure, the book functions as a comparative study — probing similarities and divergences in approach, urban engagement, and design philosophy across more than half a century. Photographs by Yasuhiro Ishimoto and Mikiya Takimoto give the argument visual weight, while essays by Kuma and architectural historian Saikaku Toyokawa provide the interpretive framework.
Key Features
- 116 pages of comparative architectural analysis, essays, and documentary photography
- Essays by Kengo Kuma and architectural historian Saikaku Toyokawa
- Photography by Yasuhiro Ishimoto and Mikiya Takimoto
- Examines both architects' work for the Tokyo Olympics (1964 and 2020) and their involvement with Paris
- Published by Toto, 2005
What You'll Discover
- How Kenzo Tange's 1964 Olympic structures and Kengo Kuma's 2020 work represent contrasting responses to the same city and the same international stage
- The role Paris played in the careers and international profiles of both architects
- Kengo Kuma's own interpretation of his design philosophy, presented in essay form alongside critical analysis by Saikaku Toyokawa
- A visual record of both architects' Olympic work through photographs by Yasuhiro Ishimoto and Mikiya Takimoto
About the Author
Kengo Kuma is a Tokyo-based architect whose work served as the centrepiece of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Saikaku Toyokawa is an architectural historian whose essay provides critical and historical context for both architects' contributions to Tokyo and beyond.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 116
- Dimensions: 290 x 220mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9784887064126
- Publisher: Toto
- Publication Date: 2005
Perfect For: Architects, historians, and students with a serious interest in Japanese architecture, Olympic design, or the intergenerational evolution of modernist and contemporary practice.