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dd20century · 2 years ago

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Arata Endo: Frank Lloyd Wright's Counterpart in Japan

“…from the standing point of working practically on architectural design, I want to think about daily facts on architecture and architectural beauty of the moment, which is found on either side of us, by the roadside and everywhere.”

– Arata Endo

If you’re a regular reader of Design and Desire in the Twentieth Century, you know that we frequently post on architect Frank Lloyd Wright, but until now, not much about his time working in Japan. In 1917 Wright was commissioned to design and oversee the building of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Japanese architect Arata Endo served Wright as his chief draftsperson and translator. (1) While in Japan Wright designed “14 buildings, only six of which would be built”; most were supervised by Arata Endo" (2). But who was Arata Endo? What happened to the architect after his time with Wright?

Arata Endo was born on June 1, 1889 in Fukuda, Nagasaki Prefecture (now a part of Nagasaki City). (3) He studied architecture at Tokyo Imperial University during the early 1910s. Prior to meeting Frank Lloyd Wright in Tokyo in 1917 had Endo worked on the team that was drawing up the plans for the Meiji Shrine. (1) “Endo had…risen to notoriety after publishing a scathing criticism of architect Kingo Tatsuno” (1), who was best known for work influenced by classical western architecture like the Bank of Japan building in Chuo City (1896) and the Tokyo Station Building (1914). (4)

Architects Arata Endō, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Ito Bunshiro. Image source.

Wright’s time in Japan coincided with “the Taisho era of modernity (1912–1926), [when] many Japanese were especially receptive to non-Japanese ideas” (5). Wright found that he and the young architect Endo shared “an infectious wit, no tolerance for mediocrity, and a belief in the sanctity of architecture” (6), and Wright hired the then twenty-seven-year-old Endo as his chief draftsperson on the Imperial Hotel project. Endo also introduced Wright to husband and wife architects Kameki and Nobuko Tsuchiura. The couple worked on the Imperial Hotel project, then later moved to the United States to work with Wright at Taliesin and in Los Angeles. (6)

In 1922, with the Imperial Hotels months away from completion, (2) circumstances forced Wright to return to the United States. It is not clear whether Wright had been fired or whether he left Japan for other reasons. Endo took over supervision of the project to completion. (1) “The Imperial Hotel (1914–1923)… became an icon of modern Tokyo” (5). Its innovative design was popular with both fashionable Japanese residents and foreign visitors. (5)

During his illustrious career, Frank Lloyd Wright occasionally collaborated with other architects, but he rarely credited those collaborators. Arata Endo was the only architect who was credited with designing a building with Wright, the Jiyu Gakuen school (1921) in Tokyo. Endo oversaw the construction of this project after Wright’s departure from Japan. (1) Endo also supervised the project for “the only surviving Frank Lloyd Wright residence in Japan: the Yodoko Guest House (1918)" (1).

Frank Lloyd Wright and Arata Endo, Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan (1921), Tokyo Japan. Image source.

Arata Endo designed few projects during the mid-1920s. Instead, he focused on writing several articles about his philosophy on architecture, “including ‘An essay on architectural art’ (1926) and ‘An essay on architecture’ (1928)” (7).

Sadly, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel was demolished in 1967, although Endo’s masterwork, the Koshien Hotel (1930), “which was heavily influenced by Wright’s Imperial Hotel” (1) is still extant. Like much of Wright’s work, “the façade of Koshien Hotel is characterized by horizontal lines, vertical lines, and pavilion roofs” (7), yet the hotel looks neither like traditional a Japanese inn nor a western hotel. (7) Beginning in 1944 the hotel was used as a Navy Hospital; later it was taken over by the American military during the post-war occupation. Presently it’s part of the Mukogawa Women’s University (1).

Arata Endo, Koshien Hotel (1930), Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Image source.

After the completion of the Koshien Hotel, Endo moved to Manchuria “to pursue opportunities there. He was stuck in China awaiting repatriation after the war and fell dangerously ill” (8). As Wright did with many of his friends in need, Wright helped Endo finacially during this difficult period. (8)

Arata Endo eventually returned to Japan and worked on several projects “with his sons Raku and Tou” (8). Arata worked up until his death in 1951. His final building was Mejirogaoka Church (1950) in Mejiro, Tokyo, Japan (3) which is still used as a Protestant church and is a registered Tangible Cultural Property.

Arata Endo, Yodokō Guest House (1924), Hyogo Prefecture. Image source.

Although Arata Endo’s work received much criticism as being too imitative of Frank Lloyd Wright, in Japan, there is a growing appreciation for Endo’s work. The Jiyu Gakuen schools outgrew the building and moved to a new location in 1934. The building was left empty and subsequently deteriorated. After its architectural significance was recognized the structure “underwent a two-year renovation in 1999” (9). The building is now designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. (9) In 2014, one of Endo’s significant private homes Kaji Villa in Hayama (1928) was temporarily open to the public for the first time, (1) and now is available as a vacation rental. (10)

Arata Endo’s legacy will always be connected with Frank Lloyd Wright, but without Arata’s efforts on Wright’s behalf, Wright may have not been able to successfully leave his mark on a country whose art and architecture had great influence over him and his work.

References

Johnny, (2 October, 2014). Arata Endo: the architect who carried on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Legacy in Japan. Retrieved from Spoon and Tamago website: https://www.spoon-tamago.com/arata-endo-the-architect-who-carried-on-frank-lloyd-wrights-legacy-in-japan/

Xie, J. (6 October, 2014). Here's the Guy Who Made Frank Lloyd Wright Famous in Japan. Retrieved from: https://archive.curbed.com/2014/10/6/10039228/frank-lloyd-wright-legacy-japan-arata-endo

Wikipedia.com, (16 January, 2022) Arata Endo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arata_Endo

National Diet Library of Japan (2004). Tatsuno Kingo. https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/289/

Capokova, H. (2012). Antonin Raymond's “Glocal” Modern Architecture (1921–1976), downloaded from: https://www.academia.edu/51131953/ANTONIN_RAYMOND_S_GLOCAL_MODERN_ARCHITECTURE_1921_1976_

Kruger, N. (2 April, 2014). A Modern Marriage: Kameki and Nobuko Tsuchiura at Tatemono-en. https://artscape.jp/artscape/eng/focus/1404_02.html

Sakahara, J. (2012). “Embodiment of Arata Endo's Philosophy on Architectural Beauty at the Former Koshien Hotel”, Intercultural Understanding, 2012, volume 2, pages 45-52, downloaded from: https://itcs.mukogawa-u.ac.jp/publications/IU_vol2/pdf/1-5_article.pdf

Severns and Mori, (2014). Apprentices: Arata Endo. Retrieved from: Window on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Legacy in Japan website: http://wrightinjapan.org/eng_wij/e_appentices/endoarata_e.html

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, (n.d.). Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan. https://franklloydwright.org/site/jiyu-gakuen-myonichikan/

Japan Property Central (28 September 2020). Historic Villa in Hayama to open as Holiday Rental. https://japanpropertycentral.com/2020/09/historic-villa-in-hayama-to-open-as-holiday-rental/

#architecture #Arata Endo #frank lloyd wright

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morganbelarus · 8 years ago

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Frank Lloyd Wright: What his 5 best buildings tell us about his life and work

(CNN)Frank Lloyd Wright, considered by many to be the greatest American architect of all time, was born 150 years ago today. The mastermind behind more than 500 projects realized around the world over seven decades, he's remembered for elegantly blending nature with the built environment.

1910: Robie House (Chicago, Illinois)

In 1909, Frank Lloyd Wright left his wife and six children. In Europe, he met his lover, Martha "Mama" Cheney, who had left her American husband to join him.

In Germany, Wright arranged publication of the Wasmuth Portfolio, 100 lithographs of his work to date. This was a revelation to the first generation of European modern architects. Work is said to have stopped for a day in the Berlin office of Peter Behrens, where the architect's young assistants, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier, pored over a first edition.

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With their open plan floors, low roofs, ribbon windows and long horizontal lines, Wright's Prairie Houses were distinctive and modern. Before Wright and Mama returned to the States, the most impressive of these was completed by Marion Mahony, Wright's first assistant, and interior designer George Mann Niedecken for Frederick C. Robie, a 28-year old Chicago businessman.

With its steel frame and brick skin, the construction of the house was considered highly advanced. Named a US National Historic Landmark in 1963, it has been under threat of demolition twice: in 1941 and again in 1957, both times by the Chicago Theological Seminary, its owner since 1926.

"It all goes to show," said Wright, "the danger of entrusting anything spiritual to the clergy."

Currently being returned to its original condition, the Robie House epitomizes the spirit of what was an original and wholly American architecture independent of European influence.

1923: Imperial Hotel (Tokyo, Japan)

The scandal over his flight to Europe ensured Wright was without new commissions for several years. Worse still, in 1914 a male servant set fire to Taliesin, the Wisconsin house he had built for Mama, and chopped her, her children and several members of staff to death with an axe as they fled.

The commission to design the new Imperial Hotel in Tokyo came as the architect's salvation. A lifelong collector of Japanese prints, Wright visited the city three times, creating a temple-like courtyard building fusing Eastern and Western themes, the latter expressed through his growing fascination with Mayan design.

Completed in 1923 by his Tokyo assistant Arata Endo, this quixotic hotel was, according to Wright, "a system of gardens and sunken gardens and terraced gardens, of balconies that are gardens and loggias that are also gardens and roofs that are gardens."

Kameki and Nobuko Tsuchiura, two young Japanese architects who had worked on the project, joined Wright's team in Wisconsin. Nobuko was the first Japanese woman architect.

Although alluring in many ways, the Imperial floated on a mud plain. In May 1945 it had been partly destroyed by USAAF incendiary bombs, and it was occupied by American forces from 1945 to 1952. By the 1960s it had sunk by up to 43 inches, and in 1967 it was demolished.

If it existed today, this would surely be one of the world's cult hotels.

1939: Fallingwater (Fayette County, Pennsylvania)

With the effects of the Great Depression and the growing influence of a younger generation of Bauhaus-influenced Modern architects, Wright's career stalled.

In 1934, Edgar J. Kaufmann, a wealthy Pittsburgh department store proprietor, commissioned the 67-year-old architect to design a weekend mountain retreat overlooking the waterfall at Bear Run in the Laurel Highlands 65 miles southeast of the city.

Wright wrote Kaufmann and his wife, Liliane: "I want you to live with the waterfall, not just to look at it."

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The result was a highly original and beautiful house set directly over falling water that, while overtly modern, belonged to the landscape. A daring structure, its cantilevered riverfront sagged the moment the concrete formwork was removed, while damp seeping up from the waterfall -- accessible by stair from the living room--- caused mold as roof-lights leaked.

It was hard, though not to fall in love with Fallingwater, its very name barely concealing that of "FLW". Together with its caped architect (Wright was always a showman), it made the cover of Time. The influential magazine described the exquisite house as the architect's "most beautiful job."

Wright's star was in the reascendant. A museum since 1964 and in danger of collapse by the end of the century, Fallingwater has been beautifully restored to enchant and inspire future generations.

A rhyme in a caf on nearby Route 381 said "Frank Lloyd Wright built a house over falling water/which he really shouldn't have oughta." Most of us are glad he did.

1959: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York)

Dreamed up in the mid-1940s, Wright's designs for the Guggenheim -- his only museum -- were very much against the grain of the rectilinear modern European architecture that dominated New York and cities worldwide from the end of the Second World War.

A spiraling organic structure, rather like a Nautilus shell, the completed Guggenheim was a highly personal architectural statement rather than some rational analysis of function expressed in a grid of 90-degree angles.

Read: Innovative designs for communal living

From its opening six months after Wright's death at the age of 91 (he had never stopped working), the Guggenheim was loved and loathed. Those who loved it reveled in its sense of freedom and daring, its radical architectural breaking from that of conventional museums and galleries. Those who loathed it took against its contrary design.

How could curators be expected to hang paintings, or visitors to contemplate them, along the walls of a continuously ascending, or descending, spiral? When curators questioned the low ceilings, Wright told them to "cut the paintings in half."

However controversial, the Guggenheim endeared Wright to New York's media. In June 1956, he even appeared on the popular TV quiz show "What's My Line?"

The following September, he was the subject not once but twice, of "The Mike Wallace Interview," sponsored by Philip Morris and conducted in clouds of cigarette smoke, covering subjects from religion and sex to fame and architecture. Wright had become an American legend. He remained, though, a fierce individualist, refusing to ever join the American Institute of Architects.

1956: The Illinois (unrealized)

In October 1956, Wright unveiled his design for The Illinois, a sensational mile-high skyscraper, at a press conference at Chicago's gargantuan Hotel Sherman. The tallest of all skyscrapers, The Illinois was to have risen from the prodigious green acres of Chicago parkland.

Counterintuitively, or so it must have seemed, The Illinois was the 88-year old architect's riposte to the very idea of the city in general. As he told Mike Wallace on television when pressed on his religious beliefs, Wright said he spelled God with an "n" rather than a "g." "N" was for nature.

Read: Why we're obsessed with building tall

Designed for 130,000 tenants, The Illinois was Wright's way of keeping the sheer horizontal sprawl of the American city in check. The 528-floor tower, with its twin helipads and 56 atomic-powered elevators, however, remained a dream, although it proved that Wright had become ever more radical with age, and that he was, as he had been since he first promoted his Prairie Houses, still a highly talented publicist.

Wright has been described, time and again, as narcissistic and egotistical. He was, though, an exceptionally talented architect, and never doubted this, even in the face of personal loss and downright tragedy.

Asked for his occupation in a court of law, Wright replied "The world's greatest architect." His (third) wife remonstrated him.

"I had no choice, Olgivanna," he told her. "I was under oath."

"Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive" is on June 12 to Oct. 1, 2017 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.