Bauhaus Influence on Japanese Modernist Design – Photomontage

Kawakita, Renshichiro & Katsuo Takei

Kosei Kyoiku Taikei. [Manual for Teaching Through Construction.]

Tokyo: Gakko Bijutsu Kyokai Shuppanbu, Showa 9 (1934)

518 pp. profusely illustrated with 344 illustrated plates and additional text illustrations, including several plates in colors.

Color block boards, housed in matching cardboard slipcase.

sold

Renshichiro Kawakita (1902-1975) was an important Japanese Modernist architect who studied the works of the Viennese Secession architects and the Bauhaus. Early in his career he worked on urban planning proposals and designed theaters, outdoor cinemas, and other public spaces. He was a founding member of the Shinko Kenchiku Renmei (League for New Architects) in 1930, and that same year was one of the group of international architects invited to submit a proposal for the design of the new Ukrainian National Theatre.  In 1931, he cofounded the Seikatsu Kosei Kenkyusho (Research Institute of Construction), together with Ken Ichiura, Takehiko Mizutani, Masuji Hamada, Sadanosuke Nakada, Takao Itagaki, and Isaku Ishimura. The institute was founded primarily to hold exhibitions and give lectures, and in November of that year began publication of the journal „Kenchiku Kogei. I See All“. The same group together opened a school the following year, the Shikenchiku Kogei Gakuin (School of New Architecture and Design), with the goal of providing „theoretical and technical education for designers with excellent abilities in architecture and crafts for the new age.“ Here Kawakita developed a „kōsei“ curriculum based on the Bauhaus curriculum. In 1934, Kawakita published Kosei Kyoiku Taikei together with elementary school teacher Katsuo Takei.

The influence of the Bauhaus is clearly seen in the compositions of materials, colors, forms, photomontages, and even a copy of the interior design of Walter Gropius‘ office. Kawakita himself defined Kosei Kyoiku as, „the way of knowing and touching materials or substances that have shapes and colors and then of treating them in various ways.“ This volume covers areas such as sculpture, photomontage, architecture, painting, drawing, and page layout. It became very popular with art teachers at the time.