Kenzo Tange - Architecture

TIMELINE
• Born in Osaka, Japan on 4th November 1913
• Did his graduation from The University of Tokyo in 1938 and worked for Kunio Maekawa until 1941
• Studied the City Planning at the Graduate School at the University of Tokyo after which the assumed a position
as an Assistant Professor of architecture
• He received a Degree in Engineering in 1959
• Two years later in 1961, he established Kenzo Tange + Urtec (another architect) who became his associates.
• He served as a professor of Urban Engineering at the University of Tokyo from 1963 to 1974, when he
retired as a professor
Achievements & Awards
• Tange received the Gold medals of the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and IAA (International Association
of Architects) and French Academy of Architecture for his activity as an architect and town planner in 1965
• He also received the “Pritzker Architecture Award” for the Yoyogi Olympic Stadiums, Tokyo

PHILOSOPHY
• Greatly influenced by Japan’s traditional architecture. (Traditional Japanese Architecture is based on nature’s philosophy)
ENGAWA - It is porch like space which is threshold of space creating transition from interior to exterior.
Proportions are accordingly KEN scale.
TATAMI MATS - Used for floor covering.
These are sturdy enough to walk to sit and to sleep.
It is in proportion to human scale that is roughly 3 ft. x 6 ft.
Rooms arrangement is according to these mats.
• After World War- II Japan’s city were badly damaged with exception of Kyoto. Demand of the people for the
immediate urban solution Japan’s rebirth as a democratic society provide architects a great opportunity. Reacting
against this hurried westernization new generation young architects, Kenzo Tange look more sympathetically towards
aspect of Japan’s own architecture culture in spite of that westernization.
• Concept of ISE Shrine
• Concept from multi story temples.
• Multi functioning
• Believed in fusion of traditional and modern architecture after 1960’s
• Took inspiration from the nature(Tree)
• His philosophy includes city should be able to born, grow, decay and die.

• Justification of function
• Justification of design
• Fundamentally rational and functional
• Appealing to emotions and senses
• Need of symbolism
PHILOSOPHY
• Structural approach
• Distinguish soft and hard environment
• Le Corbusier five main points are also included in
Tange’s philosophy
• Pilotis Ribbon Glazing
• Open plan Free façade
• Roof garden
Architects
Idea
Tradition
Act as a catalyst
Building Form
KURASHIKI CITY HALL, JAPAN

FAMOUS BUILDINGS
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Hiroshima
• City Hall, Shimizu
• City Hall, Tokyo
• Sports Centre, Shizuoka
• Kagawa Prefectural Office, Takamatsu
• City Hall, Imabari
• City Hall, Kurashiki
• Yoyogi Olympic Stadiums, Tokyo
• Communication Centre for Yamanashi Region, Kofu
• City Plan, Tokyo
• St. Mary’s Cathedral, Tokyo

“DESIGNS OF PURELY ARBITRARY NATURE
CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO LAST LONG”

Purpose – Expression of japan’s desire for genuine and
lasting piece
Location – Hiroshima, Japan
Construction Time - 1949-1956
Type – Museum & Community center
Site Area – 122,100 sq meter
Climate – Humid subtropical
Context - Urban
Style - Modern
Construction Materials – Concrete
Buildings – Hiroshima peace center
Museum hall
Conference center, children’s library
Memorial museum
HIROSHIMA CITY PLAN,JAPAN

CONCEPT:
• The solidarity of human kind as well as symbolizing a commitment to peace.

Construction time – 1952
Site Area – 2848.1 sq meter
FLOOR- 2 above ground
Height – 13.134 m
Style – Modern
Structure – Reinforced Concrete
HIROSHIMA PEACE CENTER

• It is a center part of the city.
• This area has been directly hit by the bomb.
• This building is raised on the pillars.
• Its structure is a framework of exposed concrete.
• Tange’s elevated the building on pilotis a common technique of
Le Corbusier
• He also look at Le Corbusier ribbon glazing to the extreme and
designed floor to ceiling window.
• Exposed of structure is in the reference to traditional Japanese
architecture
• This memorial has a seating capacity of 2500.

• It is the primary museum in the park dedicated to educating
visitors about the bomb.
• Structure is a framework of exposed concrete
• Complex as a whole has a monumental quality
• Building is raised up on pillars so the space is interpreted
As an extended of the open air, through which one may
walk about freely

MEMORIAL HALL
Site Area – 2489 sq meter
1 above basement
Height – 12.08m
Style – Modern

MEMORIAL HALL
• It is in form of hyperbola-parabola brings together modern
tendencies and techniques and ancient form of “haniwa” the
traditional tomb of the Japan’s ruler.
• It is set in an axial garden while the building raised as piers is
perpendicular to axis and acts as counter point structure in
composition of the ensemble.
• 50000 people can congregate around this.

MEMORIAL HALL

CHILDREN’S LIBRARY
Style – Modern

CHILDREN’S LIBRARY

CONFERENCE CENTER
Floor - 2 above ground
Height – 13.134 m
Style – Modern

“ARCHITECTURE ALWAYS SHOULD BE A
REFLECTION OR EXPRESSION OF SOCIAL
STRUCTURE”

Purpose – Government center, City hall
Location - Kurashiki, Japan
Construction Time - 1959 - 1960
Type - Community building
Climate – Humid subtropical
Context - Urban
Style - Modern
Construction Materials - Concrete
Buildings form – Rectangular

Site Area – 82,488 sq. m
Building Area – 2,088 sq. m
Total Floor Area – 7,244.70 sq. m
Number Of Stories – 3 with 1 basement & 2
penthouse floors
Height – 25.75 m
Building Facilities - Public Assembly Hall
City Hall (Offices, Meeting
Rooms, Mayor’s Office)
Citizen’s square

CONCEPT:
• Bulk active structure system
• Compact massing
• Expressed concrete frame

ABOUT THE BUILDING
• Initially, the building was designed with basic 2 structural cores which enclose the central facilities and the
vertical lines of traffic, taking span of 20 m.
• Composed of a minor structure of precast concrete blocks.
• A single form and space.
• Exposed concrete box articulated with horizontal sun shielding windows, sets in modern contrast to the
traditionally bound city it serves
• Its on monumental scale.
• Unity between interior and exterior.
• the use of structural elements to expressive ends.
• Relationship between form and function, between structure and expression, between program and proportion.
• The mass of the building which was in proportion with the small scale of houses around has given rise to further
and less justified structures which by enlarging the mass upset the original equilibrium.

EXTERIOR
• Kurashiki city hall has a free and ever changing
façade made of a series of -
horizontal, vertical windows,
solids and
voids.
• This work is a translation in cement left rough
with impression of wooden building.
• There are lines on the cement surface and
there is a sequence of paneling
• The entire mass is standing on four massive piers.

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

SECTION

INTERIOR

MATERIAL USED
• Precast concrete & stainless steel.
• White plaster on walls.
• Tile roofing.
• Exterior of concrete.
• Floor is of plane concrete.
• Ceiling is a giant combination of dead
concrete and beams.
• Entrance is for double height foyer.

PLAZA PUBLIC HALL
• Natural flow of space from the plaza to the public hall
and then to the counter section on second floor.
• The project visualize two primary structures based on a
continuous triangular section.
• Within the triangular structure there are open space for
community centers

“NEVERTHELES, THE BASIC FORMS, SPACES,
AND APPEARANCE MUST BE LOGICAL”

Purpose - 1964 Summer Olympic Games
Location - Tokyo, Japan
Construction Time - 1961-1964
Type - Sports Stadium
Site Area - 34.204 hectare
Climate - Temperate
Style - Modern
Construction Materials - Concrete, Steel and Cables
Buildings – Major Arena (Capacity – 13,291)
Minor Arena (Capacity – 3,202)
YOYOGI OLYMPIC ARENA, TOKYO

APPROACH
Main road
connectivity
Entrance to
the arena

CONCEPT:
• Hybridization of Western Modernist aesthetics and traditional Japanese Architecture.
• Suspension bridges
- Piles
- Cables
- Roadways (Here roof)

MAJOR ARENA

MAJOR ARENA
• Innovative structural design creates dramatic sweeping curves that appear to effortlessly drape from two large,
central supporting cables.
• The dynamically suspended roof and rough materials form one of the most iconic building profiles in the world.
• The subtle curves of the structural cables,
the sweeping roof plane, and the curving
concrete base seem to emerge from the
site appearing as one integrated entity.
• Structure with tensile and geometric
potential
• Main criteria behind curved
roof to resist wind
(Hurricane Force)
• Concave structure with inverted dome

MAJOR ARENA
Structure
Concrete Piles Steel tension cables (13” dia) extended beyond the
concrete piles to be suspended in center and side
spans

MAJOR ARENA
Structure
Steel plates were arranged in suspended state and
their length is adjusted to co-operate equally their load
Concrete pre-stressed anchor block

MAJOR ARENA
Structure • Roof supported of two super
pylons
• Two steel cables anchored in
concrete through the top of the
two concrete masts
• Central space – 120m X 125m
with no supports
• Largest suspended
roof span in the world.
• Parted (at an interval
of 2.58 meter) the
two main cables
(16.8m) to let in
the light

MAJOR ARENA
• Plan in the form of two semi-circles
• Entrance from the concave side
Entrance
Entrance
• Stiffening truss in the central span
used to avoid displacement of
suspension cable caused by lateral
winds
• Outer covering material is of
aluminum decking

MAJOR ARENA
Sections
• The structural system resembles a snails shell
• The gymnasiums low profile
and sweeping roof forms some semblance to that of
an abstracted Japanese pagoda.

MAJOR ARENA
Interior • Roofing – Wooden plates and aluminum decking

MAJOR ARENA
Interior

MINOR ARENA
• Roof slung on a long cable from the outside it sweeps up to be furled or rolled up round a central protruding rod.

MINOR ARENA
Structure
Track
Pylon
Concrete
Pre-stressed
Anchor
block
Steps for sitting
Principle tension cables
Hanging Beams
Lower curve beam
Upper curve beam

MINOR ARENA
Structure

MINOR ARENA
• Situated to the south west of major arena
• Connected to the major arena by a way of series of
underground and ground level facility
• Form is based on a circle
• Stadium diameter - 65m
• Concrete pre-stressed anchor block is at tale end
• The roof appears to be hung from summit point
• Asymmetrical configuration with an isolated
single abutment and spirally curved main
hanging member covers a conical shape

MINOR ARENA
Section & Elevation
• Floor – One
• Basement – Two

“I LIKE TO THINK THERE IS SOMETHING DEEP
IN OWN WORLD OF REALITY THAT WILL CREATE
A DYNAMIC BALANCE BETWEEN TECHONOLGY
AND HUMAN EXISTENCE, THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN WHICH HAS A DECISIVE EFFECT ON
CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL FORMS AND
SOCIAL STRUCTURES ”

Location - 3-15-16 Sekiguchi, Bunkyo- ku
Town or city - Tokyo
Country -Japan
Coordinates : 35° 42' 51" N, 139° 43' 36" E
Completed - 1961 - 1964
Renovated - 2007
Cathedral height - 39.4 m
Bell Tower height - 61.6 m
Covered area - 3,650 sq m
Site area -15,098 m2
Material used – stone , concrete , steel
ST. MARY CATHEDRAL , TOKYO

• The Tokyo Cathedral has been
completed in 1964 replacing the old
wooden cathedral, in gothic style,
burnt during wartime.
• Tange conceived the new church as
a concrete structure,
• simple in concept and complex in
shape, which recalls the lightness of a
bird and its wings.
• The reflection of the sunlight on the
stainless steel external cladding looks
as a shining dress on the hard
concrete slabs. Although it is a
monochromatic cladding, the curves
and the U-shaped profiles enhance
the dynamicity of the structure. It all
makes the church an iconic building
in the dense urban context of Tokyo.

• Concept - Following his term
"metabolism", designed the
cathedral as a living entity that
should transcend beyond the
borders of Japan to become an
architecture used for all peoples,
combining technology and
humanity, rising above the
mundane and inspiration for
getting construction in many of
the Gothic churches that Tange
visited on that occasion.
• The eight walls – the elements
which hold the whole structure
at the same time roof and walls
enclosing the space and opening
to the outside through vertical
gaps.

The walls are curved hyperbolically to express the tension to the sky, and turning
the rhomboidal ground floor into a cross at the roof top.
The different heights of the wings, asymmetrical, make it a dynamic shape on the
sky background. The highest wing is 39,41 m high

• Spaces
Spaces and doors made with its high
walls deviate from the model of
Japanese temple, close to design a
much more international diamond
volume, although the skirts of the
roofs may have evoked some of the
traditional Japanese architecture
and Buddhist temples or Zionists, with
spacious roof falls.
Secondary buildings contrast with
the main building in their ways, they
are rectangular and are joined to it
by roads and platforms.
• Basement
In the basement of 1005.5 square
meters, there is a small chapel that
can accommodate 200 seated and
100 standing, in addition to
numerous services relating to the
activities of the temple.
At the basement level the
stone blocks play in
contrast with the metal
wings, hanging to the
ground the movement of
the walls. The side
entrance zone has a lower
ceiling area which
introduces the main hall.

• Ground floor
In 2541.4 meters square, the Cathedral has a
capacity for 600 people seated and 2000
standing.
• Access
Two high concrete walls that frame the four
large windows indicate the main entrance is
located where a large wooden door.

• Altar
At the high sanctuary is the altar itself, the music and
the venue for the priest, this area is accessed by some
stairs. On the back it features a cross, The Holly Cross,
which stands behind a marble plaque of 17 meters
and illuminated by soft light that enters the cathedral.

• 2nd Floor and 3rd Floor
The second and third floor of 71 square
meters respectively and 32 are devoted
almost entirely to tasks related to the
body, its operation and maintenance.
• Body
Above the main entrance displays a
balcony that has been assigned to the
location of the body.
Spiral stairway
Balcony

• Interior
On a concrete base shaped like a
Latin cross walls rise high reaffirming the
design of the plant and which are deployed
eight hyperbolic parables that support the
roof of the cathedral and leading to four
main facades.
The structure consists of eight curved panels
together and upright almost vertically

The roof, windows with skylights , a large cross
shape and is the only place where the church
receives natural light,
while it extends to the ends of the cross, reaching
the ground as skirts,
design that is appreciated better from the
outside.

Natural
lighting

The effect of the light on the curved walls, changing at
every hour, makes the interior atmosphere extremely
involving: direct sunlight and diffused reflections
accompany the bending surfaces, and the visitor can
immediately see and understand the curving of the
concrete walls

• Baptistery
Located in the crypt of the church, to the right of the entrance.
The baptism itself is the form of an open hand that receives the light from
above.
The sculptor of this stack was Seiji Shimizu.

• Holly cross
The circle, attached to the cross,
indicates how the grace of Christ
envelopes each and every man
The Cross, as a symbol of the light
shining upon the world, divides the
rays of the incoming light-beam
• Pipe organ
The organ, built in 2004 is a worthy
completion of the interior of the
cathedral; it is located on the balcony
above the main entrance and is one
of the few instruments in Japan on
which is possible to propose organ
music in a contest different from the
concert hall, giving back to it its
sacred and spiritual nature.

• The Bell Tower
Like many European cathedrals,
the bell tower of the cathedral of St.
Mary is not in the same temple, but a few
meters.
It stands majestically showing its 60
meters high and its walls of concrete also
apparent and aesthetically integrated
with the whole complex,
housing four bells were brought from
West Germany.
At first glance the four sides of the bell
seemed flat, but in reality are hyperbolic
and its four corners amount as a single
straight line.
The bell tower follows the guidelines of
the composition: its four vertical lines are
in fact flowing into one, stretching up to
the sky.

• Materials
The exterior surfaces of the cathedral
are lined with sheets of galvanized
aluminium
and stainless steel frames and
supported by iron bolts,
while the back wall of reinforced
concrete to be in sight, feature the
works of the architect.
By skylight where the only natural light
received
by the temple are closed by glass and
above the main door are two wooden
walls that frame windows 4 amber or
ochre tone.
Both the music of the altar as plate 17
meters high that serves as background
to The Holly Cross are of Italian marble.

• Restoration
Due to the infiltration of rainwater through the years,
the bolts fixing the outer steel sheets have been rusting,
allowing strong winds or typhoons, so common in this
zone were dropping, some carrying and in other cases
causing high risk of causing serious accidents.
Taisei Construction Co. along with and support of Tange
Associates in 2007 began the restoration of all parties,
mainly the roof that offered a further deterioration.
With a scaffolding around the cathedral and a giant
crane was dismissed the original stainless steel cladding
to be replaced by others assembled with a special technique
that does not allow any seepage after waterproofing the walls
that were placed on the armour shielding Zinc 25mm impermeable
cement.
The skylight of the roof was also replaced by an aluminium frame
and tempered glass, creating a more affordable so that engineers
can perform the necessary inspections.

- AMIT JAKHAD (14010)
- MANSI PUSHPAKAR (14034)
- PRERNA CHOUHAN (14044)
- SAHIL (14048)

Kenzo Tange - Architecture

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