For some 50 years now, Japan has enchanted us with its exceptional architecture. Over this period, the center (the centers, in fact) of world architecture moved from one place to another, the countries or regions coming to the fore and then discretely withdrawing, maybe returning later full of vigour. Well, in Japan’s case the elite production seems seamless. In the 1950s and 1960s the fabulous monsters were especially Kenzo Tange or Kunio Mayekawa.
As a student, I remember leafing through old magazines that my father obtained after unbelievable efforts for a young architect during the communist age. At that time “Architecture d’Aujourd’hui” or “Domus” would dedicate special issues of hundred of pages to the Japanese architecture. From today’s perspective, the transition to Brutalism, Metabolism, and a local Postmodernism, the reinventing of modernity in the 1980s by Ando, Ito, and Shinohara, the infinity of hues in contemporary trends seem incredible smooth. It might not be so; however, the continuity of excellence mixed with the displacement marked by the formal language is crashing.
The mythical technological level cannot explain this phenomenon alone, although a large part of such works could not have been built without it. Certainly, the emphasis on the autonomous object is important, perhaps in its refined relation to nature, and less on the urban context. In fact the feverish Japanese urbanity seems to be captured rather by writers, representatives of social sciences, Manga fans from all over the world than by the architectural journals. The essential matter here is perhaps their relaxed attitude towards tradition, the integration of some basic principles that deny any effort of strictly formal appropriation. This is discussed at length in the introduction of this folder, yet I find it extremely resourceful for the Romanian, actually the East-European context. For a long time we shall not be able to access their technology, discipline, and thoroughness of execution, however, this kind of design, at once sensitive and bold, could be a very good example.
This special issue of “Arhitectura” acts as a catalogue of the exhibition “Continuity and Mutation”, a part of “Xtreme East” program within the Bucharest Architecture Biennial in 2006 dedicated to the contemporary Japanese phenomenon. It also contains the “Sensai” exhibition (works by young architects) and six conferences delivered by established professionals and representatives of the young generation. Obviously, this is the most important Japanese presence in Romania so far, and we are certainly very happy about it.
