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Corbusier’s Japanese Disciple: The Modernist Relay from Paris to Tokyo
Kunio Maekawa was born in Niigata in 1905 and, after graduating from Tokyo Imperial University’s architecture department in 1928, traveled to Paris to become Le Corbusier’s first Japanese apprentice. He worked in Corbusier’s office for two years (1928–1930), participating in parts of classic projects such as the Villa Savoye. This experience decisively shaped his life — he not only learned the “language” of modern architecture but grasped the entire intellectual system behind it concerning society, technology, and the city.
After returning to Japan in 1930, Maekawa worked in Antonin Raymond’s office before establishing his own practice in 1935. Early works — such as the Maekawa House (1942) — attempted to combine Corbusier’s modernist grammar with traditional Japanese spatial concepts. During the war, architectural activity in Japan largely halted, but this paradoxically gave Maekawa and his generation a period for reflection and absorption. After the defeat of 1945, Japan entered an era of reconstruction, and Maekawa’s golden period began.
Maekawa was not only an outstanding architect himself but a key node in the genealogy of Japanese modern architecture. Kenzo Tange attended Maekawa’s return lecture at Tokyo Imperial University and later worked in Maekawa’s office for four years (1938–1941). One could say the line Corbusier → Maekawa → Tange → Isozaki/Maki constitutes one of postwar Japanese architecture’s most important lineages of transmission. Maekawa’s role was the first “Japanization” link in this chain.
