Business
& Labor
Japanese Architect Kazuo Shinohara Dies at 81
(archrecord.construction.com - 09/19/2006)
By Naomi
Pollock
After a 10-year illness, Tokyo architect
Kazuo Shinohara passed away on July 15 at a Kawasaki City
hospital. Shinohara will be remembered for his significant
contributions as both a practitioner and an educator. After
graduating in 1953 from the Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Shinohara launched his teaching career at his alma mater.
A number of Japan’s most influential architects, such
as Toyo Ito, Itsuko Hasegawa and Kazunari Sakamoto, studied
closely with Shinohara during his 33-year academic tenure.
Concurrently Shinohara began his practice
by designing houses that were contemporary explorations of
traditional Japanese architecture, such as the House in Kugayama
and the Umbrella House completed in 1954 and 1961 respectively.
Shinohara was one of the first designers to embrace Tokyo’s
chaotic urban condition as a design theme. For example, Tokyo
Institute of Technology’s Centennial Hall, Shinohara’s
1987 masterpiece, is an assemblage of forms that pays homage
to the city.
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