Abstract
The Kanagawa Prefectural Office Building was designed by the local government official engineers and completed in 1928. And this design was based on the plan which Karo Obi got the first prize of design competition held in 1926.
1 So far, this building has been often mentioned as the first Imperial Crown Style (TEIKAN-YOSHIKI) which expresses Japanese nationalism.
2 By the comparative study between Obi's application plan to the competition and the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright's works, there exist several undeniable commons.
3 Karo Obi graduated architecture course of the Nagoya Technical College in 1921, and his graduate qualifying design obviously imitated one of Wright's masterpieces, the Midway Gardens in Chicago.
4 Owing to my study about design of the Kanagawa Prefectural Office Building, composition, shape of tower roof, statue of Buddha on the tower, decorative cantilevers, and other decorations, they show a strong influence of Frank Lloyd Wright's works, especially the Midway Gardens and the Imperial Hotel.
5 As a result, the Kanagawa Prefectural Office Building never stands for any ideologies such as nationalism, but simple homage architecture for Frank Lloyd Wright.
