I recently went to visit the Yamamura House near Kobe originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and also not so recently visited Shin Takamatsu's Week Building project in Kyoto. Both projects exhibit a strong affection for details in an exuberant manner that might be called ostentatious by some minimalists. Most of today's architecture has focused on the minimalist aesthetic, cutting back on sculptural detail in favor of clean lines and increased economy. Other sculptural modern architecture such as that of Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid design their flowing lines and curves at a super-human scale that is fairly removed from our immediate tactile perception. In addition, Takamatsu and Wright's works, despite being in Japan, do not exhibit the sort of minimal "Zen-like" aesthetic commonly associated with Japan and Japanese design in general.
"Week Building" Facade
Shin Takamatsu developed an early affliction for a technical and mechanical tectonic expression. Takamatsu's "Week Building" was completed in 1986 and expresses a fascinating robotic tectonic that embodies the zeitgeist of the Japan's Bubble Economy at the time. Riding the wave of technology, trade, and speculation, the high-tech mechanical and man-made was seen as the hope for Japan to rise as a leading power in the 20th century. This fetishization of technology carried over into the aesthetics of Takamatsu's work of which the "Week Building" is a prime example. In place of capitals, the transition between pillar and lintel is expressed with a hinge-like joint.
Handrails, bridges, and beam connections are all connected via a similar round member. Despite their appearance the hinges and joints does not move, yet the give the impression of a flexible, machine-like transforming building that operates based off motion and movement. Technology as an agent of mobilization for Japan's economic development is the underlying theme of this shopping complex. Takamatsu's sculptural details are perhaps an excessive tectonic statement, however this excess is representative of the excess of the bubble age. Nonetheless, they provide an interactive tactile experience when wandering through the now-deserted building's grounds.
Detail of Column Joint
Perhaps the greatest master of sculptural details to come to Japan was Frank Lloyd Wright. His (in)famous Tokyo Imperial Hotel was devoid of plain surfaces as nearly every sill, wall, and ceiling was detailed in his unique style. While here in Japan building the Imperial Hotel, Wright designed an initial scheme for the Yamamura House in 1918 that was carried out by his assistants, Arata Endo and Makoto Minami, in 1924 after Wright's departure. The Yamamura House is full of similar sculptural details and the ubiquitous use of the famous Oyaishi stone. Wright's custom-designed furniture and sculptures create a rich tactile experience for the senses.
Central Dining Room
Although the original design was fairly devoid of any association with Japanese traditional housing types (aside from perhaps the low horizontality naturally found in most of Wrights "Prairie Style" buildings), Endo and Minami added several washitsu (Japanese style tatami mat rooms) as well as staggered shelving similar to those found in traditional Japanese Shoin mansions. The inclusion of such uniquely Japanese elements like the staggered shelving, which was admired by Bruno Taut in his 1930s writings on Katsura Villa, presaged the West's soon-to-be-rediscovered fascination with Japanese architecture.
Custom Furniture in Study with Staggered Shelves
Today, both Wright's Yamamura House and Takamatsu's Week remain deserted and devoid of their originally intended functions. Whereas Takamatsu's suffers from the economic depression, ironic considering the spirit it embodied of a rising economic power, Wright's is devoid of permanent inhabitants and functions merely to preserve the memory of Wright's intervention in a wealthy Japanese suburb. Just as the West no longer looks towards Japan as an economic or architectural role model, the movement for scupturally focused architectural design has been forgotten in time as well.
Ground Entrance to Yamamura House
