[continued from part 2]
Domus:
One of the notable aspects
of Ichiban-kan is the social
importance of the spaces for
circulation. Neither of the two
buildings have doors so you can
enter from the street and go
straight to the sixth or seventh
floor. It's like the street entering
the building, which is something
we no longer have.
Minoru Takeyama:
When I was a child there were no
keys. To me the building evokes
the same atmosphere, even
though all the tenants have a
lock or a shutter.
Yasutaka Yoshimura:
The building transmits a feeling
of public space and this is really
special and typical of Tokyo. Girls
even do their make-up in the
street, so they perceive the street
as a private space. We can say
that the border between these
two kinds of spaces is melting
away in Tokyo, and in this sense
I really think your building is
representative of the city. It's
not about a facade, but about
planning.
Yoshiharu Tsukamoto:
Could you tell us how Charles
Jencks discovered your building
and put it on the cover of his book
The Language of Post-Modern
Architecture in 1977?
Minoru Takeyama:
To be honest I don't know. I met
Jencks's wife Maggie Keswick
before they got married. She
was doing research for a book
on Chinese gardens and I helped
her to find good material. She
belonged to a very rich family
and knew a lot of Japanese
aristocrats. She always called me
up whenever she was in Japan.
Maggie did a lot of work for
Jencks, finding new buildings in
Tokyo and so on.
Takeyama: Superurban #3
The final part of our conversation with Japanese architect Minoru Takeyama, author of Supergraphics icons Ichiban-kan and Niban-kan.
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- Roberto Zancan
- 06 February 2012
- Tokyo
Yoshiharu Tsukamoto:
Did you have many discussions
with Charles Jencks?
Minoru Takeyama:
Yes we had many discussions,
but only many years later. Kisho
Kurokawa was always with us
when Jencks visited Japan. I didn't
take him to see Niban-kan and
Ichiban-kan, though.
Domus:
At the time were you surprised
that your building became not
just an icon but also a programme
for the post-modern movement?
You have said that you were not a
post-modernist in those days.
Minoru Takeyama:
Defining post-modernism is a
difficult task, and before postmodernism...
I think it is hard
to find modernism in Japan. We
shouldn't talk about what is
coming next before it happens.