A book ‘Kingo Tatsuno: Towards Art-Architecture, Minerva ,2017’ written by Professor Shigeatsu Shimizu in KIT and Associate Professor Mari Kawakami in Kyoto University of Art and Design won the prize of Architectural Institute of Japan for book, 2017.

Book Cover

 This book is a critical biography of an architect Kingo Tatsuno, who is famous as the architect of Tokyo station, from crossing point of view of art and architectural history.
 Most part of the life of Tatsuno has already been clarified, but the detail of the studying in Europe after the graduation from Imperial College of Engineering has been known limitedly. This book makes the detail clear through newly discovered documents such as Field Notes of Kingo Tatsuno in Europe, and with revisiting to the places where Tatsuno visited. Through this research it is clarified that Tatsuno was strongly influenced by British architect William Burges and he had tried to transfer the concept ‘Art-Architecture’ which means that architecture could not get integrity without artistic handmade decorations.
 Art-Architecture might be a critical concept on problems such as subdivision of architectural field or relationship between art and architecture. This book must be helpful for thinking on problems around art and architecture in these days and the position of modern Japanese architecture in the world context.
A comment and Summary of the book can be read in the following page;
https://www.aij.or.jp/2017/2017prize.html

Prof. SHIMIZU Shigeatsu

Career
2012/09-, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Associate Professor
2017/01-, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Professor

Classes
Bachelor: Urbanscape of Kyoto, Study on Cultural Property, History of Japanese Architecture, Studio in Traditional Japanese Architecture, Theory of Urban and Architectural Heritage
Master: Design Technology of Reinforcement and Renovation, Architectural History
Doctor: Theory of Traditional Architecture