Station 1 | Architecture in Tokyo

February 19, 2019 / March 17, 2019

Kanto | Taito Ward (National Museum of Western Art)

On Tour!

An exhibition on Le Corbusier at Ueno’s National Museum of Western Art and a series of events with Christ & Gantenbein put the Swiss design tradition under the spotlight in Tokyo and Kyoto.

The opening of the Exhibition “Le Corbusier and the Age of Purism” at the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno, Tokyo, on February 19, 2019, marked the first station of the Grand Tour of Switzerland in Japan. Focusing on the Swiss architect's first decade of activities in Paris in the 1920’s, the exhibition was held in celebration of the museum’s 60th anniversary. Ambassador Jean-François Paroz gave his remarks on the opening day, mentioning the importance for the bilateral relations of this UNESCO-classified building by the legendary Swiss architect.

A few weeks later, on March 17th, contemporary Swiss architects Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein gave a lecture about the legacy of Le Corbusier at the auditorium of the National Museum of Western Art, as a side event to “The Age of Purism”. Christ & Gantenbein also inaugurated their first Japan exhibition in Japan, titled “The Last Act of Design”, at Daikanyama Hillside Forum. This exhibition was co-produced by the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan and the Japan Swiss Architectural Association in the framework of the Doors to Switzerland program. The show further traveled to Kyoto Institute of Technology, and was accompanied by several lectures at Kyoto Institute of Technology and the Architectural institute of Japan.