Kenzo Tange

Founder: I Am An Architect

Kenzo Tange was born September 4, 1913 in Osaka, Japan. After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1938 and working for Kunio Mayekawa, a student of Le Corbusier, Kenzo Tange won the competition for the Hiroshima Peace Center in 1949. His architectual work includes the Shizoka Press and Broadcasting Centre (1966–7), the National Gymnasium for the 1964 Olympic Games, and the theme pavilion for the 1970 Osaka Exposition. His ‘Plan for Tokyo’ received attention for its new concepts of extending the growth of the city out over the bay, using bridges, man-made islands, floating parking, and megastructures. His highly influential published works include A Plan for Tokyo (1960) and Toward a Structural Reorganization (1960). He was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1987.