Kenzo Tange

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Kenzo Tange (丹下健三, Tange Kenzō; September 4, 1913 - March 22, 2005) was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five continents.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office, Shinjuku-ku Tokyo

In 1913 Tange was born in Sakai, Osaka. In 1935 Tange entered the Architecture Department of the University of Tokyo, and became an assistant professor there in 1946.

In 1949 he won the competition to re-design Hiroshima, following its atomic bombing in 1945. His design for the Peace Park and Peace Memorial owes much to Le Corbusier, and is often called ‘the spiritual core of the city’. One reason Tange gave for applying for the job was that as a secondary student he had studied in the city.

Tange won international fame for his design for the gymnasium for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. His Pritzker Prize citation described it as "among the most beautiful buildings of the 20th century".

He was also known for his ‘Tokyo Plan’ of 1960, which proposed a radical redesign of the city. Although not fully implemented, it influenced architects worldwide.

In 2005, his funeral was held in one of his works, Tokyo Cathedral.

[edit] Selected projects

2005: Hwa Chong Institution Boarding School, Singapore
2003: The Linear - Private Apartments, Singapore
2000: Tokyo Dome Hotel
2000: Kagawa Prefectural Government Building the main offices, Takamatsu, Kagawa
1998: WKC Centre For Health Development, Kobe, Hyogo
1998: University of Bahrain, Sakhir, Bahrain
1996: Fuji Television Building, Odaiba, Tokyo
1991: Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Shinjuku
1986: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
1979: Hanae Mori Building Aoyama, Tokyo
1970: Site of Expo '70, Suita, Osaka
1964: Yoyogi National Gymnasium for the 1964 Summer Olympics, Tokyo
1964: St. Mary's Cathedral (Tokyo Cathedral) (Roman Catholic), Tokyo
1960: Kurashiki City Hall, Kurashiki, Okayama
1958: Kagawa Prefectural Government Building the east offices, Takamatsu, Kagawa
1957: (Former) Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Yurakucho
1955: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima

1955: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum at the Peace Memorial Park of Hiroshima.	1964: Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Shibuya, Tokyo.	1958: Kagawa Prefectural the Government Building the east office	1964: St. Mary's Cathedral (Tokyo Cathedral), Tokyo
1991: Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Shinjuku	1996: The Fuji TV headquarters in Odaiba is known for its eccentric architecture.	2000: Kagawa Prefectural the Government Building the main office