TANGE, Kenzo 1913–2005

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born September 4, 1913, in Osaka, Japan; died of heart failure March 22, 2005, in Tokyo, Japan. Architect, educator, and author. Tange, often recognized for his design for the Peace Memorial Park that honors those who died in Hiroshima, was a prize-winning architect whose work combined the best of modern and traditional, East and West designs. He earned his architecture degree at the University of Tokyo in 1938, and then worked for the firm Kunio Maekawa before returning to the university as a graduate student in 1942. He earned a Ph.D. in 1945 and completed his doctoral thesis in 1959. Tange, who was influenced by Swiss architect Le Corbusier through his work with that designer's disciple, Maekawa, thereafter combined an active career as both a working architect and a teacher. He began teaching architecture at the University of Tokyo in 1946, and in 1961 he became a partner in the firm Kenzo Tange & Urtec, which later became Kenzo Tange Associates. Tange made a name for himself early in his career, when his bid to rebuild the central core of the nuclear-bomb-devastated Hiroshima was accepted in 1951. The result was the Peace Memorial Park, which artfully includes a park, hotel, library, museum, and offices. This and later structures designed by Tange are notable for their eclectic and effective combination of old and new, Eastern and Western architecture. He also helped encourage the acceptance of the Metabolist school, which sought ways to accommodate Japan's rapidly growing population through such solutions as floating structures and buildings with replaceable components. Tange designed important buildings worldwide, including the Tokyo City Hall, the Nanyang Technological Institute, the World Square in Australia, King Faisal's Palace in Saudi Arabia, the Bulgarian Embassy and Chancellery, the Japanese Embassy in Mexico City, St. Mary's Cathedral, the Olympic Gyms in Tokyo, and additions to the Minneapolis Art Museum. He was recognized for his accomplishments in 1987, when he was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize. Retiring from teaching in 1974, Tange continued to lecture at universities and publish books. Among his writings are Japan in the Future (1966), Man and Architecture (1970), Architecture and City (1970), and Kenzo Tange (1987).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, March 23, 2005, section 3, p. 9.

Los Angeles Times, March 24, 2005, p. B10.

New York Times, March 23, 2005, p. A20.

Times (London, England), March 25, 2005, p. 67.

Washington Post, March 24, 2005, p. B6.