Art & Art History
NIKKEN SEKKEI: Its Ninety Years and the Modernization of Japan
NIKKEN SEKKEI: Its Ninety Years and the Modernization of Japan features works by Nikken Sekkei, the oldest and largest architecture firm in Japan. Although little known in America, in Japan Nikken Sekkei is highly regarded not only for the quality and influence of its built work but also for its advanced research in construction technology and innovative management of complex design projects. The origins of Nikken Sekkei date back to a predecessor firm established in 1900 to provide Sumitomo Bank with a headquarters building designed in the neoclassical style and constructed using the latest in Western technology. Today, Nikken Sekkei employs a staff of 1,500 architects, planners, and engineers. Projects range from corporate headquarters to public housing, from private museums to the world’s largest and most advanced cyclotron.
Beginning with the landmark Osaka library of 1903 and ending with such recent overseas projects as the Islamic Development Bank (Saudi Arabia), the exhibition presents a selection of forty projects arranged chronologically on forty panels. Panels include introductory text describing the period in which the projects were designed, as well as photographs and drawings documenting the projects themselves. In this way the exhibition establishes the historical parallels between the growth of Nikken Sekkei and the modernization of Japan. These parallels are shown in successive phases from 1900 to the present: Meiji importation of western technology and eclectic styles; political liberalization and Japanese development of European modernism; nationalism and the Imperial Crown style; the Pacific War and heavy industry; postwar reconstruction and urbanization; the “economic miracle” and megastructures; high technology and the revival of the Japanese tradition.
This exhibition is accompanied by a monograph by Botond Bognar, Kenneth Frampton, and Sandy Heck, with additional text by Kunio Kudo, which offers the first comprehensive look at the critical relationships between modern Japanese history and Japan’s leading design office: Nikken Sekkei. The exhibition was curated by Dr. Kunio Kudo, a professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation. The monograph was published by Princeton Architecture Press, New York.
CURATOR BIOGRAPHY
Kunio Kudo is adjunct associate professor of architecture at Columbia University, specializing in Japanese architecture. He is a registered architect in Japan and the United States. Kudo received a B.Eng. in Architecture from Tokyo Institute of Technology, 1963, an M.Eng. in Architecture in 1965 and a Dr.Eng. in Architecture in 1969. In 1978, he received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design degree from Harvard University. He served as a regional science research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1971 and as an American study fellow at Brown University from 1977 to 1978. He was an associate professor of architecture at Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan, from 1972 to 1981 and a visiting professor at Nova Scotia Technical College, Canada, in 1980. Kudo co-authored Japanese Building Practice: From Ancient Times to the Meiji Period with Kenneth Frampton and Keith Vincent.
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
Nikken Sekkei
1868: Meiji Restoration and the Coming of Western Technology, 1989
Informational panel
1879: Early Vernacular Western Style, 1989
Informational panel
1894: Josiah Conder and His Students, 1989
Informational panel
1900: Noguchi and Hidaka: Founders of the Sumitomo Eizen, 1989
Informational panel
1903: The First Work of Sumitomo Eizen: Suma Villa, 1989
Informational panel
1904: Early Work of Sumitomo Eizen: Osaka Library, 1989
Informational panel
1904: Sumitomo Eizen Stylistic Exercises: Kamimoto Barber Shop, 1989
Informational panel
1908: Sumitomo Eizen: Sumitomo Bank Branch Offices, 1989
Informational panel
1926: The Commencement of a New Age: Sumitomo Bank Head Office, 1989
Informational panel
1929: Modern Movements Senoku-hakkokan, 1989
Informational panel
1933: A Second Era: Hasebe-Takegoshi Architectural Office, 1989
Informational panel
1935: Foreshadowing War: Osaka Stock Exchange, 1989
Informational panel
1941: Architecture During the War: K Factory, 1989
Informational panel
1945: In Ruins, 1989
Informational panel
1952: Postwar Scarcity: Iyo Bank, 1989
Informational panel
1954: Industry as Metaphor: Chichibu Cement Plant No. 2, 1989
Informational panel
1955: Healing the Scars of War: Yugawara Orthopedic Hospital, 1989
Informational panel
1956: Building Democracy: Kakegawa City Hall, 1989
Informational panel
1963: Economic Take-Off and Metabolism: The San’ai Dream Center, 1989
Informational panel
1966: Economic Boom and Megastructures: Palaceside Building, 1989
Informational panel
1966: A Season of Reason: The 114 Bank, 1989
Informational panel
1970: Osaka EXPO ’70: Emerging Economic Power, 1989
Informational panel
1971: Small-Scale Urban Intervention: Yamaguchi Citizens Center, 1989
Informational panel
1971: Increasing the Social Stock: Cycle Sports Center, 1989
Informational panel
1971: Double Core Long Span: POLA Building, 1989
Informational panel
1971: IBM Japan, 1989
Informational panel
1973: The Coming of the High-Rise: Sanwa Bank, 1989
Informational panel
1973: “Oil Shock” and the End of Megalomania: Sun Plaza, 1989
Informational panel
1975: More Art: Besshi Copper Mine Memorial Museum, 1989
Informational panel
1977: Mannerism: Nippon Press Center, 1989
Informational panel
1980: Bank of Japan Osaka Branch, 1989
Informational panel
1980: C. Itoh Building, 1989
Informational panel
1982: NS Building, 1989
Informational panel
1983: Osakajo Hall, 1989
Informational panel
1984: Taisho Kaijo, 1989
Informational panel
1985: Osaka City Hall, 1989
Informational panel
1986: Chiba Port Tower, 1989
Informational panel
1986: OBP, 1989
Informational panel
1992: Islamic Development Bank, 1989
Informational panel
Credits, 1989
Informational panel
NIKKEN SEKKEI: Planners Architects Engineers, 1989
Informational panel
On Nikken Sekkei Kenneth Frampton, 1989
Informational panel
PRINT COLLATERAL
Postcard: NIKKEN SEKKEI: Its Ninety Years and the Modernization of Japan
EXHIBITION SUPPORT
NIKKEN SEKKEI: Its Ninety Years and the Modernization of Japan is supported by the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Art and Design’s College of Architecture, Art, and Urban Planning.
This exhibition is also supported by the Illinois Arts Council.
PRESS RELEASE
NIKKEN SEKKEI
Its Ninety Years and the Modernization of Japan
Gallery 400
Chicago, IL
October 5–November 2, 1990
Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago presents an exhibition on Nikken Sekkei, the oldest and largest architecture firm in Japan. Although little known in America, in Japan, Nikken Sekkei is highly regarded not only for the quality and influence of its built work but also for both advanced research in construction technology and innovative management of complex design projects. The origins of Nikken Sekkei date back to a predecessor firm established in 1900 to provide Sumitomo Bank with a headquarters building designed in neoclassical style and constructed using the latest in Western technology. Today, Nikken Sekkei employs a staff of 1,500 architects, planners, and engineers. Projects range from corporate headquarters to public housing, from private museums to the world’s largest and most advanced cyclotron.
Beginning with the landmark Osaka library of 1903 and ending with such recent overseas projects as the Islamic Development Bank (Saudi Arabia), the exhibition presents a selection of forty projects arranged chronologically on forty panels. Panels include introductory text describing the period in which the projects were designed, as well as photographs and drawings documenting the projects themselves. In this way the exhibition establishes the historical parallels between the growth of Nikken Sekkei and the modernization of Japan. These parallels are shown to obtain in successive phases from 1900 to the present: Meiji importation of western technology and eclectic styles; political liberalization and Japanese development of European modernism; nationalism and the Imperial Crown style; the Pacific War and heavy industry; post-war reconstruction and urbanization; the “economic miracle” and megastructures, high technology and the revival of Japanese tradition.
This exhibition is accompanied by a monograph by Botond Bognar, Kenneth Frampton, and Sandy Heck with additional text by Kunio Kudo. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Kunio Kudo, professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation. The monograph is published by Princeton Architecture Press, New York, New York.