CHENNAI: Next to a set of futuristic steel-and-glass skyscrapers is framed a warm wooden contemporary low-rise building against a sunset, beside which appear technology-driven buildings housing Prada and Louis Vuitton. Japanese architecture, with its combination of new and traditional, is reflective of the changing ethos of the cities of our times.
‘Parallel Nippon’, an exhibition put together by the Japan Foundation and the Consulate-General of Japan in collaboration with the School of Architecture and Planning at Anna University features the evolution of Japanese architecture in the decade between 1996 and 2006, with prominent names of the profession like Tadao Ando, Kenzo Tange, Toyo Ito and SANAA. Ranging from airport terminals and transport hubs to schools and even small minimalistic private residences, the exhibition was put together with the idea that architecture is a composite activity that straddles culture, technology and economics.
“We have not forgotten our past. In architecture too, even though there is modernity, we try to have as less confrontation with the elements and establish harmony,” says Masanori Nakano, the Consul General.
Japanese architects are strongly appreciated all over the world, and the Pritzker Prize for architecture, the most prestigious prize in architecture has been won by several architects, the latest being Shigeru Ban in 2014. Ban’s architecture was not just about geometry and aesthetics but was all the more relevant in India as his work encompassed social housing and disaster-relief projects.
The organisers hope to spread knowledge about Japan’s buildings against its social and cultural background through the exhibition, which is open to the public and will be on till November 1 at the School of Architecture, Anna University.