THE ARCHITECTURAL VIEW OF 'THE ARCHITECTURAL CRITIC' TAKAO ITAGAKI

Abstract

The art historian Takao Itagaki began to review architecture in 1929. He became one of the first architectural critics in Japan. He noticed a new trend in 'modern art' after World War I. He thought that 'machine civilization' as 'the spirit of the time' prevailed throughout 'modern art' and that architecture was one of the most characteristic arts of 'machine civilization,' which led him to review architecture. He had reviewed architecture in the 1930s and in the early 1940s, when modern architecture was introduced and practiced by the young architects in Japan. He convinced the new architecture should have been based on rationalism. He made much of practicing rationalism rigidly; he hated its skin-deep understanding and its vulgarization. But for him practicing rationalism was not the aim but the precondition for the new architecture. He thought practicing rationalism did not necessarily promise the realization of a new beauty which could express 'modern age.' It was the beauty that he really wanted the architects to realize. He pointed out some factors of architectural beauty; dimension, color, light effect and texture of materials. His reviews on the new buildings at that time showed coincidence with his architectural idea. He praised some buildings which were based on good understanding of rationalism and were exquisitely designed such as the Tokyo Central Post Office (1931; extant), the Tokyo Hospital for the Postal Staff (1937; demolished) and the Minsitry of Railroad Main Office (1937; extant).