by ArchitectureWeek

In March, 2005, the world of architecture lost two 20th century masters: Ralph Erskine of the United Kingdom and Kenzo Tange of Japan. Each died at the age of 91 after a long and influential career. Tange is remembered for building Japan out of the ashes of World War II with structural dynamism. Erskine became well known for his humanist town planning in Britain and Sweden.

Kenzo Tange was born in Osaka, Japan in 1913. He studied city planning and engineering at the University of Tokyo. In 1961, he established Kenzo Tange + Urtec, which later became Kenzo Tange Associates, and taught urban engineering at the University of Tokyo until his retirement in 1974.

Influential both as a teacher of modern architecture and as a role model for architects worldwide, Tange received the the 1987 Pritzker Architecture Prize and gold medals from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the French Academy of Architecture.   >>>

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St. Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo, 1963, by the late Kenzo Tange. Photo: © Mahoko Hoffmann, available from Artifice Images Inside St. Mary's Cathedral, by Kenzo Tange. Photo: Daisuke Tanaka   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.