Architect Kenzo Tange was born on September 4, 1913, in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. He passed away on March 22, 2005. His father, a banker, was transferred to China shortly after his birth. He returned to Japan at the age of seven, spent his elementary and junior high school years in Ehime Prefecture, and then went on to Hiroshima High School. There, Tange encountered a book that would determine his future. Upon seeing the plans for the Palace of Soviets by world-renowned architect Le Corbusier, he decided to pursue a career as an architect. In 1935, he enrolled in the Department of Architecture at the Faculty of Engineering of Tokyo Imperial University, where his talent blossomed early, winning the department's top prize, the Tatsuno Prize. After graduating, he joined the Maekawa Kunio Architects. However, with the outbreak of war soon approaching, the firm's work plummeted, so Tange returned to university and studied urban design at graduate school. In 1942, he won first prize in a competition for the "Greater East Asia Construction Memorial Building Plan." In 1943, he was also selected for the competition for the "Japan Cultural Center in Bankaya," and Tange's name quickly became known throughout the industry.
After the war, Tange began working on the reconstruction of Hiroshima, which had been reduced to ashes by the atomic bomb. In 1949, he won first place in the competition for the Memorial Cathedral for World Peace, and went on to build Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima City Children's Library, and other projects. At the same time, he worked on urban planning projects throughout Japan, including participating in the War Damage Reconstruction Agency's war-damage reconstruction urban planning program from 1947. In 1962, he won first place in the competition to rebuild St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo, which had been destroyed in the war. Tange's funeral, as a Catholic, was also held here.
By the time postwar reconstruction came to a close, Tange had become a leading architect of modern Japanese architecture. It was the construction of the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in 1964 that made his name known worldwide. Constructed for the Tokyo Olympics, Tange used a suspended structure without columns inside. Tange's work received high praise both at home and abroad, including a special award from the International Olympic Committee. For the Osaka Expo in 1970, he designed the large roof, and the Tower of the Sun, which seemed to pierce it, astounded visitors.
After that, he primarily worked on urban planning overseas, but in 1986, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government selected Tange's design for a competition. The completed building became a landmark in Shinjuku, demonstrating Tange's continued strength throughout Japan.
In recognition of these efforts, he received the Praemium Imperiale in 1993 in the Architecture category. He has also received numerous other architectural awards, and in 2006, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum became the first postwar building to be designated an Important Cultural Property.
He died of heart failure on March 22, 2005, at the age of 91. His funeral was held at St. Mary's Cathedral in Mejiro, Tokyo, which he designed himself.
