PRESS RELEASE

2022.1.26

Museum of Contemporary Art TokyoYOSIZAKA Takamasa Panorama World: from life-size to the earth
Sat. 19 March – Sun. 19 June, 2022

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo will be hosting an exhibition of Tokyo-born architect YOSIZAKA
Takamasa (1917-1980).
YOSIZAKA Takamasa was an architect who was active from the postwar reconstruction period until 1980. He
studied under Wajiro Kon, known as the founder of "Modernology," and Le Corbusier, the maestro of modern
architecture. YOSIZAKA’s works include YOSIZAKA House, his personal residence built on an artificial
ground*, Japan Pavilion, Biennial of Venice, which received the Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts, AIJ
Prize-winning Athénée Français, and Inter-University Seminar House, which was selected and designated asHistorical Architecture by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to name a few. He is known for the uniquearchitecture with its sculptural concrete forms.

1YOSIZAKA Takamasa
Photo courtesy：Arukitekuto"I believe that architecture is one of the clues for mutual understanding in the world."
Meanwhile, YOSIZAKA was not limited to architecture but in cross-disciplinary activities, and his ability totake actions such as traveling around the world has earned him a reputation as the most cosmopolitan
architect. The Japanese subtitle of this exhibition “Panoramiru from hige (beard) to earth” is a combination ofwords coined by YOSIZAKA. “Panoramiru" means to look beyond regions and times and “Hige (beard)” is a
representation of himself and life-size scale of himself. The subtitle also means expansion of his activities
from individual level to global scale. This is the first exhibition at a public art museum to provide a full pictureof the activities of YOSIZAKA Takamasa.
*In order to solve the housing problem after the World War II, YOSIZAKA aimed to "create a land by artificial power where everything was
ready for living.” He called this “artificial ground.”Contact:

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations

Chiako Kudo / Aya Takahashi

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en* All Programs are subject to change.

２ Dice World Map, 1942 ⓒYOSIZAKA Takamasa

３ YOSIZAKA House, 1955

４ Japanese Pavilion, Biennial of Venice,(Photograph by Eiji Kitada, 1982)

1956 (Photograph by Eiji Kitada, 1997)

Highlights
1. A closer look at the ”person” of YOSIZAKA Takamasa, a man with many faces…architect, educator,
alpinist, adventurer, critic of civilization
The life of YOSIZAKA Takamasa and his cross-disciplinary activities centering on architecture are captured inchains of four groups: "Theory of Livelihood (Man and Dwelling)," "Theory of Form (Environment and Shape),""Theory of SHUJU (Co-living and its Appearance)," and "Theory of Traveling Around (Behavior andContemplation)”. This will be introduced in seven chapters organized according to time period and themes.

2. Introduction of housing architecture, public architecture, and mountain architecture by “YOSIZAKA
Takamasa + Atelier U”, and the regional planning projects by YOSIZAKA Laboratory at Waseda
University"Perspectives and Visions for Discovery. Means and Ingenuity for Realization. Which is best? Let’s find out
together.”

YOSIZAKA’s architectural career began with a barrack he built as his own residence in the burnt-out ruins of the war. Since
then, his work has expanded to include private residences, public buildings such as schools and city halls, mountainarchitecture for life in the polar regions and regional planning, with the scale of his works broadening from life-size to global.
These architectural works were not done by himself. He founded a design studio called “Atelier U” (renamed fromYOSIZAKA Laboratory in 1963). He discussed and built the architecture together with the members of the Atelier who had
come together around the idea of "DISCONTINUOUS UNITY” as well as the graduate students he was teaching. In thisexhibition, 30 architectures and projects will be introduced, unraveling what YOSIZAKA aimed to achieve through thearchitectures and the message to the society. Of these, the regional planning projects will be exhibited for the first time.

Contact:

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations

Chiako Kudo / Aya Takahashi

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en* All Programs are subject to change.

５ Gotsu City Hall, 1962 (Photograph by Eiji Kitada, 1994)

６ Inter-University Seminar House, 1965 (Photograph by Eiji Kitada, 1997)

3. Sketches, manuscripts, notebooks, documents, photographs... many materials that are the source ofYOSIZAKA’s creativity are on display
The purpose of this exhibition is to reevaluate the works of YOSIZAKA Takamasa in the modern age. In 2015,
the National Archives of Modern Architecture, Agency for Cultural Affairs, archived “YOSIZAKA Takamasa +Atelier U Architectural Fonds”, and in 2017, Waseda University collected his personal materials such as hisdiary, manuscripts, notebooks, documents, and photographs. As a result, archiving and restoration of hisworks is underway. This exhibition will display materials in various formats that decipher the secrets ofYOSIZAKA’s thoughts, ideas and creativity.

７ Dried Slug, 1966

Contact:ⓒYOSIZAKA Takamasa

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations

Chiako Kudo / Aya Takahashi

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en* All Programs are subject to change.

Artist Profile
Born in Tokyo in 1917. Graduated from International School of Geneva in 1933. Graduated from theDepartment of Architecture at Waseda University. Studied under Wajiro Kon and participated in the survey offarm villages and Minka (traditional private houses). Researched “Seikatsugaku” (lifology) and “Jukyogaku”(housing studies). Visited France in 1950 as a first post-war French government-sponsored student andworked at Le Corbusier's atelier for two years. Worked in design practice and learnt the modernist architecture
style in the field, including the practice of Domino System (Maison Dom-Ino) and the Modulor Theory. In 1954,
YOSIZAKA was appointed Assistant Professor, and in 1959 Professor of Waseda University. After establishinghis design studio YOSIZAKA Laboratory in 1954 (renamed Atelier U in 1964), began his full-scale architecture
design. Representative works include YOSIZAKA House (1955), URA House (1956), Japanese Pavilion,

Biennial of Venice (1956), Gotsu City Hall (1962), Athénée Français (1962), Inter-University Seminar House(1965). While being internationally active with invitations from universities and conferences all around theworld, in 1970, he was awarded the Cabinet Office General Prize for his work, The Japanese Archipelago in the

21st Century, where he proposed new society and environment as well as the future form of “SHUJU”(Coliving and its Appearance). YOSIZAKA authored many books including General Theory of Housing Studies, A

Certain House and Forms of Living: Iukeilogy. He also translated many works of his mentor, Le Corbusier andhelped spread his name in Japan. Worked on mountain architecture and regional planning, with a strong
awareness for the coming and going of “Human-Environment”, and returned to an architectural philosophy
that transcends postmodernism and designs that do not defy the environment, topography, or climate. In 1960,
he was awarded the French L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Served as President of the Architectural Instituteof Japan, President of the Japan Society of Lifology, Director of the Japanese Alpine Club and Director of theJapanese Society of Snow and Ice. As an adventurer and alpinist, led the Equatorial African Expeditionary
Team of Waseda University in 1957, and made history for a first female alpinist to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
Led Waseda University Alaska-McKinley Expedition Team in 1960, and organized the Himalayan K2expedition.

８ Self-Portrait Sketch, 1979

Contact:ⓒYOSIZAKA Takamasa

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations

Chiako Kudo / Aya Takahashi

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en* All Programs are subject to change.

Contents of the Exhibition
Chapter 1: Starting Point
Introduces YOSIZAKA's upbringing, formative experiences and his teacher-student relationship with Wajiro
Kon and Le Corbusier, and traces his activities around the globe.
Chapter 2：YOSIZAKA House“The earth belonged to everyone once again”
Introduces YOSIZAKA House, an artificial ground that is also the base of his design activities, and zeroes inon the idea of architecture.
Chapter 3: The Idea of Architecture
Discovers the forms from structural models, site photographs and drawings of architectural works byYOSIZAKA Takamasa + Atelier U.
Chapter 4: Mountains, Snow and Ice, Architecture
Exhibits YOSIZAKA’s research on snow environment and snow ice along with his works on mountainarchitectures, such as mountain lodges and hotels.
Chapter 5: From Primitive Border to Civilized Border
Introduces his explorations and travelogues of Alaska and Africa, housings around the world and records oftraveling around the globe.
Chapter 6: Recommendation to Play
Explores the source of expression in the drawings and symbolic ideas through YOSIZAKA’s diagrams andsketches.
Chapter 7: To Iukeilogy
Explains the "Investigatory Method" and "Iukeilogy" proposed by YOSIZAKA and provides an overview ofurban and regional planning by Atelier U.

Contact:

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations

Chiako Kudo / Aya Takahashi

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en* All Programs are subject to change.

Events
Related talks and gallery tours will be held.
※Please visit the museum website for updates and more details.

Information
Exhibition Period

Sat. 19 March – Sun. 19 June, 2022

ClosedMondays (except 21 March), 22 March, 2022

Opening Hours

10:00－18:00 (Tickets available until 30 minutes before closing.)

Admission

Adults－1,400 yen / University & College Students, Over 65－1,000yen/High School & Junior High School Students－500 yen / Elementary
School Students & Younger－Free

Venue

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Exhibition Gallery 1F

Organizers

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo operated by Tokyo Metropolitan
Foundation for History and Culture

Planning Cooperation ofArukitekuto, KITADA Photo Office

With the Special Cooperation ofNational Archives of Modern Architecture, Agency for Cultural Affairs

In Cooperation withInter-University Seminar House, The Japanese Society of Snow and Ice,
Fondation Le Corbusier, Waseda University Architecture Department
Honjo Archives

Supported byAlumni Association of WASEDA Architecture, DOCOMOMO Japan,Architectural Institute of Japan, The Japan Institute of Architects

CuratorYoshitaro Inami (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)

Concurrent Exhibitions“The art of Special Effects Production Designer Yasuyuki ‘TAIKO’ Inoue”“MOT Collection”“Tokyo Contemporary Art Award 2020-2022 Exhibition”

Contact:

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations

Chiako Kudo / Aya Takahashi

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en* All Programs are subject to change.

IMAGE REQUEST FORM

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□1

YOSIZAKA Takamasa□2Dice World Map, 1942 ⓒYOSIZAKA Takamasa□3

YOSIZAKA House, 1955 (Photograph by Eiji Kitada, 1982)□4

Japanese Pavilion, Biennial of Venice, 1956 (Photograph by Eiji Kitada, 1997)□5

Gotsu City Hall, 1962 (Photograph by Eiji Kitada, 1994)□6

Inter-University Seminar House, 1965 (Photograph by Eiji Kitada, 1997)□7

Dried Slug, 1966 ⓒYOSIZAKA Takamasa□8

Self-Portrait Sketch, 1979 ⓒYOSIZAKA Takamasa

Contact:

Photo courtesy：Arukitekuto

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations

Chiako Kudo / Aya Takahashi

TEL: +81-3-5245-1134

E-MAIL: mot-pr@mot-art.jp

URL: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en* All Programs are subject to change.