Building Interest

The world of Japanese architecture sustained two heavy blows last month, as architectural giant Kisho Kurokawa (designer of such constructs as the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the Nagoya City Art Museum) died of heart failure early last month and Kansai's wonderful Kirin Plaza Osaka shuttered its doors on October 31st. (It is scheduled for destruction some time in the future.) Though Kirin Plaza's on-site brewery, restaurant and art gallery were certainly enjoyable, the building itself - designed by famed architect Shin Takamatsu and opened in 1987 - was a dazzling, award-winning spot of futurism in the relatively down-and-dirty Dotonbori Bridge area.

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright once famously described architecture as 'frozen music;' despite some very heavy losses over the years, a lot of that music is still very alive and well in the Kansai area - and not simply the 'traditional Japanese buildings' that keep postcard companies in business.

There are treats everywhere: the Mitsui Sumitomo Bank outside Kitahama Station, with its stern, soaring pillars and 20s-New York façade; the intergalactic, domineering bulk of Namba's Minatomachi River Place; the fantastic curve of Kobe's Oriental Hotel; the Osaka Prefectural Children's Museum Big Bang, with its giant iron starship. With the sure-to-be-talkedabout Namba Hips building opening soon on Midosuji Avenue, Kansai architecture is perhaps livelier than ever. The Kirin Plaza is gone, but its music plays on …

Namba Hips, Osaka (2007)
Architect: Shoji Hirakawa

The latest, greatest addition to the Namba skyline is also one of the strangest-looking. Awe, then puzzlement, then awe again will probably be the first feelings that well up after laying eyes upon Namba Hips for the first time. From either side, it's a giant, robotic wedge of cheese; stand on the opposite side of Midosuji Street and face directly in front, and it's a giant keyhole in the middle of an urban universe. The design is daring, eye-grabbing, wonderfully stupid stuff; it pounds the 'art' flat back into architecture, but to what end? Well, Hips is apparently going to house (more) restaurants, games floors, a golf floor and a 70m freefall 'ride' that will drop people through that big keyhole.

www.namba-hips.com (in Japanese only)

National Museum of Art, Osaka (2004)
Architect: Cesar Pelli

It's the truly interesting building that can still gain attention, even with most of it invisible from ground level. The stainless-steel 'reeds' of the con- struction rise 170 feet above the street, and lead visitors down (and down) into the museum proper, which, aside from the lobby, is completely below sea level. The design is very organic, and the soaring design of the building's 'rooftop' sculpture help to make this one of the liveliest museums in town.

www.nmao.go.jp/english/home.html

Umeda Sky Building, Osaka (1993)
Architect: Hiroshi Hara

Umeda's Yodobashi Camera is a gargantuan lump that seemingly aspires to no higher purpose than to fit as many people and electronics inside as possible. The Sky Building, however - a 10-minute walk from Yodobashi Camera - is a riot of absurdity, a construct that looks as if its been sliced in half and pulled apart with a magician's flourish. Twilight is, by far, the best time to go; then, the building is lit up, giving the upper levels the appearance of some ready-to-collapse starship. Traipse across the ground-level plaza, take a seat next to the multicolored water fountains to the front left of the build- ing and enjoy the awesome expanse of it all. The Floating Garden observatory, allows for a superb, 360-degree view of the city.

www.skybldg.co.jp/garden/e/index.html

Kansai International Airport (1994)
Architect: Renzo Piano

Though lustily criticized for its crushing debt, wobbly foundation and lack of steady customers, Kansai International Airport is a heck of a pretty place to visit - and at 1.7 kilometers end- to-end, said to be the longest airport terminal in the world. With direct flights to cities around the world, Kansai has set many an incoming gaijin agog with its clean, airy design and spacious interior. The fourth floor departure hall, where the building's aerofoil design can truly be appreciated, is a swooping wonder to behold.

www.kansai-airport.or.jp/en/index.asp

Namba Parks, Osaka (2003)
Architect: Jon Jerde

The atmosphere may seem familiar (if somewhat less glamorous) if you've ever visited Tokyo's Roppongi Hills complex, but Namba Parks is a very pleasant, and unique - for Namba, anyway - way to escape the concrete doldrums of the rest of the area. Wide, soaring facades in an earthy color scheme add excitement to what Jerde described as an attempt to "blur the line between nature and the built environment." Cheap date idea: buy cakes from any of the numerous patisseries inside, and head outside to the top of the complex for a very nice night view (preferably, of course, before winter sets in).

www.nambaparks.com/index2.html (in Japanese only)

Chikatsu Asuka Historical Museum, Osaka (1994)
Architect: Tadao Ando

Kyoto sightseers visiting the Times Gallery in Sanjo revel in Ando's sumptuous, multilevel riverside space, which provides a small taste of the master's skill at blending the organic with the manmade. Ando's piece de resistance, perhaps, is this museum, which manages the nifty trick of making concrete blend in with the outside surroundings. The museum grounds - which feature a spread of tiny ponds, lush hills, ancient imperial tombs and copious numbers of trees - are utterly uninterrupted by Ando's signature concrete work.

www.mediajoy.com/chikatsu/

The designer of Kansai ...
and many other places

Younger Kansai residents who can spout the names, scandals and family histories of hometown heroes like musical group Kinki Kids, comedy act Downtown and the troubled Kamada boxing family will more than likely return a blank stare if pressed for infor- mation about Tadao Ando, a local whose drafting table has brought to life some of the finest creations in the area - and the world.

Born in Osaka in 1941, Ando worked a series of menial jobs before beginning a far more successful second life as an architect. (As has been well documented, Tadao never received formal training as architect, but merely 'trained' himself through sketches, traveling and copious reading.) Even early on, Ando separated himself from the herd, collecting prizes and fame for such works as Osaka's Azuma House complex (1977); Ibaraki-shi's stunning Church of the Light in 1989; the Suntory Museum, in 1994; Osaka's Shiba Ryotaro and Sayamaike Historical Museums, both completed in 2001.

The designer has had a hand in numerous projects overseas, as well: Spain selected Ando to build a Japanese Pavilion for its 1992 Expo; Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens bears the Ando stamp, as does the Morimoto restaurant in Manhattan.

The architect's efforts reaped the ultimate reward when he was selected for the very prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995. "Tadao Ando is that rare architect who combines artistic and intellectual sensitivity in a single individual capable of produc- ing buildings, large and small, that both serve and inspire," the Pritzker jury noted in their citation. "Working with smooth-as-silk concrete, Ando creates spaces using walls which he defines as the most basic element of architecture, but also the most enriching."

Ando certainly hasn't forgotten about his hometown, however; the architect is one of the key names in the Osaka 'rebranding' effort, leading the charge to revitalize the city with thousands and thousands of riverside cherry blossom trees.

Further Reading:
• Tadao Ando: Complete Works (Taschen Publishing, 2006)
• Tadao Ando: Light and Water (Monacelli, 2003)
A list of must-see buildings of Tadao Ando in the Kansai region can be collected from any of the Osaka Tourist Information Centers.

Text: Jeff Lo • Photos: KS