Negotiating Comfort in the Metropolis: Peter Cook, Toyō Itō, and the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, 1977 and 1988

This investigation approaches the annual Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition (1965-2020) as a productive cross-cultural medium of exchange that generates new architectural knowledge. It situates this international competition of ideas in a long history of transnational encounters, to identif...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cathelijne Nuijsink
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art
Series:ABE Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/abe/10444
_version_ 1797305666375778304
author Cathelijne Nuijsink
author_facet Cathelijne Nuijsink
author_sort Cathelijne Nuijsink
collection DOAJ
description This investigation approaches the annual Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition (1965-2020) as a productive cross-cultural medium of exchange that generates new architectural knowledge. It situates this international competition of ideas in a long history of transnational encounters, to identify the contours of the ideological shift from the consolidation of modernist ideals to their critique. The paper highlights the iteration of the lack of “comfort” of modernist architecture, tracing the origins of this critique by referencing the 1977 and 1988 competitions, during which the respective judges Peter Cook and Toyō Itō challenged architects to devise innovative housing proposals to attain “comfort in the metropolis.” It initially employs a synchronic approach to investigate the origins of Cook’s competition theme, the multiple winning entries, the judges’ final remarks, and the after-effects of the competitions to apprehend how discrete geographies negotiated the notion of comfort. Next, the paper juxtaposes the outcomes of both years of the competition to offer a diachronic analysis of how architects have conceived the house and the city differently through time. This investigation reveals that the mechanism of this longstanding, idea-based competition confronts two judges’ positions to understand their cultural and architectural differences.
first_indexed 2024-03-08T00:29:15Z
format Article
id doaj.art-f7383f6db38147c98426419805b9744a
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2275-6639
language deu
last_indexed 2024-03-08T00:29:15Z
publisher Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art
record_format Article
series ABE Journal
spelling doaj.art-f7383f6db38147c98426419805b9744a2024-02-15T14:00:29ZdeuInstitut National d'Histoire de l'ArtABE Journal2275-66391810.4000/abe.10444Negotiating Comfort in the Metropolis: Peter Cook, Toyō Itō, and the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, 1977 and 1988Cathelijne NuijsinkThis investigation approaches the annual Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition (1965-2020) as a productive cross-cultural medium of exchange that generates new architectural knowledge. It situates this international competition of ideas in a long history of transnational encounters, to identify the contours of the ideological shift from the consolidation of modernist ideals to their critique. The paper highlights the iteration of the lack of “comfort” of modernist architecture, tracing the origins of this critique by referencing the 1977 and 1988 competitions, during which the respective judges Peter Cook and Toyō Itō challenged architects to devise innovative housing proposals to attain “comfort in the metropolis.” It initially employs a synchronic approach to investigate the origins of Cook’s competition theme, the multiple winning entries, the judges’ final remarks, and the after-effects of the competitions to apprehend how discrete geographies negotiated the notion of comfort. Next, the paper juxtaposes the outcomes of both years of the competition to offer a diachronic analysis of how architects have conceived the house and the city differently through time. This investigation reveals that the mechanism of this longstanding, idea-based competition confronts two judges’ positions to understand their cultural and architectural differences.https://journals.openedition.org/abe/10444cross-cultural exchangecomfortmetropolisShinkenchiku Residential Design Competition
spellingShingle Cathelijne Nuijsink
Negotiating Comfort in the Metropolis: Peter Cook, Toyō Itō, and the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, 1977 and 1988
ABE Journal
cross-cultural exchange
comfort
metropolis
Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition
title Negotiating Comfort in the Metropolis: Peter Cook, Toyō Itō, and the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, 1977 and 1988
title_full Negotiating Comfort in the Metropolis: Peter Cook, Toyō Itō, and the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, 1977 and 1988
title_fullStr Negotiating Comfort in the Metropolis: Peter Cook, Toyō Itō, and the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, 1977 and 1988
title_full_unstemmed Negotiating Comfort in the Metropolis: Peter Cook, Toyō Itō, and the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, 1977 and 1988
title_short Negotiating Comfort in the Metropolis: Peter Cook, Toyō Itō, and the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, 1977 and 1988
title_sort negotiating comfort in the metropolis peter cook toyo ito and the shinkenchiku residential design competition 1977 and 1988
topic cross-cultural exchange
comfort
metropolis
Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition
url https://journals.openedition.org/abe/10444
work_keys_str_mv AT cathelijnenuijsink negotiatingcomfortinthemetropolispetercooktoyoitoandtheshinkenchikuresidentialdesigncompetition1977and1988