Expo '70: The Model City of an Information Society Hyunjung Cho In 1970, Japan hosted the first world’s exposition to be held in an Asian country in Osaka. Together with the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Expo '70 was the culmination of Japan's remarkable recovery from the ashes of World War Two. Expo °70 provided Japan's leading architects, including Tange Kenz6, Nishiyama Uz6, lsozaki Arata, and the Metabolists—a Japanese experimental architecture group established in preparation for the 1960 World Design Conference—with an unprecedented chance to realize the visionary designs that they had developed throughout the 1960s.’ These architects drew a master plan forthe expo site and designed eye-popping pavilions, automatized monorails, and moving walkways that shaped the techno-futuristic spectacle. Previous studies tend to view Expo "70 as the “spectacular swan song” of the modem movement in Japanese architecture.” The modern movement was introduced into Japan in the 1920s, when modernist avant-garde groups such as the Japanese Secession Group (Bunri-ha kenchikukai) and the Creation of the Universe Society (Sdusha) were first established. Japanese architects have often equated the modern movement with the international style, a specific style that was characterized by a lack of decorative motifs and historical allusions, and new materials and technologies.” Yet, the modern movement ‘was not simply a style but more of an attitude, an optimism about social progress and technological advancement. Modernist practices were temporarily threatened by the wartime dominance of Japanese tradition, commonly known as “Japanese taste” (Nihon shumi), but regained its hegemony after the war and provided a perfect vehicle for rebuilding the war-trodden country.’ However, in the 1970s, modernism and its utopian premise began to be superseded by the new trend called postmodernism, which placed its emphasis on such elements as historical style, ornamentation, and popular and playful expressions, Postmodernism was often disparaged as an apolitical game with freestanding signs that served the very machinations of an ever more totalizing system eceanen 2018 mestcatuet amonecery SFHyunjung Cho Futurology Seizes the Moment in Japanese Architecture The future city actualized at Expo *70 was based less on a random choice of any future than a coherent picture of a postindustrial information society. The 1960s witnessed an intensive discussion of the coming society, which was variously described as information.” and “consumer” society, Japanese intellectuals wasted no time in participating in the international futurology boom. The key literature on future studies, such as works by Daniel Bell and Marshall McLuhan, was quickly translated into Japanese."' Beginning in the late 1960s, a number of government proposals and government-sponsored think tank reports outlined the technocratic vision of the “inform: jon” (jhdka) of society. As the historian Tessa Morris-Suzuki has pointed out, the increasing emphasis on the information society was not a natural outcome determined by a sort of inherent teleology of technology itself, but a planned policy response designed to restructure Japanese industry in favor of the interests of politically and economically privileged groups.'? However, before the ideological dimensions of the postindustrial society were fully perceived, the potentiality of the new society gained credibility in various disciplines, This forward-looking trend reached its peak with the opening of Expo ‘70. Newspapers and magazines ran special features on futuristic themes and promoted the image of a utopian future in which less taxing labor, more abundant leisure, and access to all goods could enhance the quality of life. In April 1970, a month after the opening of Expo '70, the Japan Association for Future Studies (Nihon Mirai Gakkai) hosted an international conference on the future in Kyoto with more than two hundred participants from around the world.” At this conference, Japanese participants presented the concept of a “multi-channel society,” an elastic and affluent society that would be enabled by innovative information technology. ‘What draws our attention in regard to the Kyoto conference is the attendance of architects Kurokawa Kisho and Kikutake Kiyonori, two key members of the Metaboli: group who were deeply engaged in the Expo "70 project. These architects were keenly aware of the radical social transformation taking place and tried to develop a new form of architecture and city that would be suitable for the flexible and fluid movement of people and information, At the conference, Kurokawa presented a paper titled “Homo- Movense and Metabolism in the Multi-Channel Society,” in which he stressed mobility as a new value for humanity in an information-oriented multi-channel society." Kurokawa’s idea of homo-movens (homo-mobensw). of “man on the move” provided a theoretical background for his capsule design that was actually built at the expo, details ‘of which | will discuss later in this essay.'* Kikutake, in his paper “The General Concept of a Multi-Channel Society,” introduced the idea of a “multi-channel environment” or “soft environment” in which individual freedom, mobility, and spontaneity would be maximized within a redefined concept of order.'* Kikutake's attempt to find a new relation ereaunen nes 80 59Hyunjung Cho between the human and its environment in a coming world was widely shared by architects and designers who participated in Expo °70. Two Master Planners: Tange Kenzo vs. Nishiyama Uzi In December 1965, the Expo Preparation Committee assigned Tange Kenz0, a professor in the Department of Urban Engineering at the University of Tokyo. and Nishiyama Uzs, a professor of architecture at Kyoto University, to be in charge of drafting the expo’s master plan. If Tange was considered by many to be the official state architect who designed iconic monuments that represented the nation, such as Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (1949-54), Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office (1952-57), and Yoyogi Olympic Stadium (1962-64), Nishiyama was a leftist architect who was ted in issues of public housing and the living conditions of the working ama had published a series of analytical texts on postwar Japan's housing problems, including Today's Dwelling: A Story of Living Style (Kore kara no sumai: j0yoshiki no hanashi, 1947) and Japanese Housing Issues (Nihon no jitaku mond: 1952), and proposed visionary projects in 1963 for restructuring Nara and Kyoto, two old cities in the Kansai area '” The double appointment of Tange from the University of Tokyo and Nishiyama from Kyoto University can be regarded as a compromise between the competing interests of the Kant and Kansai architectural circles.'* It is generally accepted that Tange was exclusively responsible for the overall plan and central facilities of the expo. And yet it was Nishiyama who played a crucial role in laying the foundation of the master plan. Based on preliminary research on the site conducted by Kyoto University, Nishiyama completed the initial drafts of the master plan. As a basic design guideline, he proposed the concept of the “madel core of a ity.” suggesting that the expo’s facility could be used as a nexus of infrastructure i area after the end of the event.” Nishiyama’s plan featured the Symbol Zone, running from north to south, as the central axis of the grounds. Perpendicularly intersected by a newly built railway line, the Symbol Zone was designed to serve as a traffic hub to receive and send visitors to different zones through various traffic systems with different velocities. ‘The centerpiece of the Symbol Zone was the giant plaza intended to accommodate “face-to-face interactions” among the projected 150,000 visitors.’ Nishiyama himself coined its name as the Festival Plaza, or omatsuri hiroba. For Nishiyama, the traditional maisuri (festival) in which, he believed, everyone would become an active part of the various events, provided an antidote to the cultural spectacle under capitalism in which people are merely reduced to passive consumers.”! He even questioned the entrance fee to Expo °70, arguing that people should have free access to the expo because it was a public event, ite his crucial contribution in creating the master plan, however, Nishiyama resigned from the position of chief-designer and Tange and his staff took over the entire 60 sernw or arwurse jeecennen rotsHyunjung Cho of capitalism. Within such a framework, Expo “70 has been understood as a symptom of the breakdown of modernism and its progressive social vision. Bemoaning the dominance of commercialism and entertainment spectacle, critics have often described the designs for Expo °70 as overly superficial and merely eye-catching kitsch, prefiguring the rise of postmodernism.’ The critique of Expo °70 as the demise of the utopian premise of the modern movement was further reinforced by the tendency to view it as the grand tomb of the avant-garde movement.’ Expo '70 divided the Japanese art community into those who supported it and those who opposed it. While a majority of Japan's leading artists participated in this national event, some radical artists criticized it for its deceptive nature, calling Expo ‘70 a form of state propaganda and refusing to take part in it. For instance, Isozaki Arata. who played a crucial role in creating a futuristic spectacle at the expo expressed regret over his participation, admitting, “I felt as though I had participated in executing a war,”’ Indeed, the analogy between Expo "70 and World War Two had already appeared in the anti-expo camp since the late 1960s." In this vein, critic Sawaragi Noi, in his book World Wars and World Fairs (Banpaku to sens6, 2006), employs the charged term “mobilization” to characterize the massive participation of vanguard artists and architects in Expo °70, inevitably echoing the war mobilization of the nation’ recent past.” Central to Sawaragi's argument is that Expo "70 reiterated the nationalistic rhetoric of the war, and artists” radical experiments degenerated into official Expo Art. Interestingly, sociologist and media scholar Yoshimi Shun’ya also adopted the term “mobilization,” not only to describe the drafting of intellectuals and artists, but also to emphasize the participation of the masses in this national spectacle." ‘The widely circulated view of Expo "70 as both the swan song of the modern movement and the defeat of architectural avant-gardism is an overly simplified narrative that obscures the architects’ experiments with new technology. Historically, world expositions provided architects with a laboratory for new urban concepts and construction technologies. This essay considers the architects participating in Expo '70 less as members of the tragic avant-garde who were mobilized and taken advantage by state authorities or big business, than as active agents who took full advantage of this state event in order to propose a new model of architecture and city for the coming society. It situates Expo '70 within the specific futurological discourse of the time, and examines the architects Tange, lsozaki, and Kurokawa Kisho and their efforts to build a city for an information-oriented future. focusing on the possibilities and constraints of their designs. The ultimate goal of this essay is to le an alternative genealogy of the postmodern turn in Japanese architecture by ance of Expo ‘70 in the trajectory of 5B srwrn or wnuerse cuvnunr su S200) eRGEMMNR 2088Hyunjung Che responsibility of the expo’s construction, Commentators tend to argue that Nishiyama’s. resignation was forced by the bureaucrats and industrialists who preferred Tange’s technocratic stance to Nishiyama's socialist one.* It is net clear whether Nishiyama. lost his leadership role in this project due to political pressure, but it seems obvious that there was a clear rivalry and even conflict between Nishiyama’s and Tange’s teams. In spite of their different architectural and political orientations, Nishiyama’s. draft plan remained mostly intact in Tange’s final version, although Tange revised and developed the master plan in compliance with updated statistics on the anticipated. numbers of visitors and traffic flow. In accordance with Nishiyama’s draft plan, Tange’s plan features the north-south central area of the Symbol Zone and an alignment of the expo's main pavilions and facilities—the Expo Tower, the Main Gate, the Grand Roof, the Festival Plaza. the Museum of Fine Art, the Expo Hall, and the Rose Garden. Tange employed a tree analogy to articulate the basic layout of the expo site. The Symbol Zone, located at the core of the expo grounds, was compared to a “trunk,” a central nervous system of facilities that transmits energy and water to various parts of an organism, The moving walkways extending to sub-plazas from the Symbol Zone were equated with the branches of a tree, and various pavilions were likened to colorful flowers blooming on the tree, Tange conceived Expo "70 as a living organism in which the constant but dynamic equilibrium of the space was coordinated by a vast central management and control system. ‘What makes Tange’s design unique is his interest in the non-human system, in distinction to Nishiyama's inclination to have human interactions take place in a physical space. Unlike Nishiyama, who tried to restore the traditional values of direct human interaction amid the waves of information and network flow, Tange embraced the relentless tendency toward the informatization and systematization of society. Tange’s vision of a future city was drawn on the specific discussion of the information society that occurred in the 1960s, As early as 1960, Tange tried to graft the latest futurological studies into his design methods. In his groundbreaking urban proposal titled “A Plan for Tokyo-1960" (1961), Tange outlined a shift from secondary to tertiary industry as a basic condition for the emergence of a “pivotal city,” a city determined by its capacity for organizing and controlling information and transportation networks,” In order to cope with the urban sprawl of the emerging pivotal city, he imposed an extendable linear axis over Tokyo Bay that was conflated with the transportation system. During the second half of the 1960s, the architect expanded the scope of the Tokyo Bay project throughout the entire archipelago and presented the concept of the Tokaido Megalopolis, a chain of metropolitan areas connected by an advanced transportation and information network. For Tange, the Tokaidd Megalopolis represented a feasible urban model that was best 2 (ed 10 the tendency toward the “informatization” of society. ara ine acces 1Hyunjung Cho Tange Kenz6’s Space Frame Asthe expo's chief designer, Tange considered Expo ‘70 a rare chance to experiment with anew model for the built environment in response to the rapid informatization process, such as growing mobility and the fluidity of society. To this end, Tange made it clear that the purpose of Expo '70 was to “display an environment connected with software, rather than display purely physical hardware.”2 For him, a software-like environment would stimulate the spontaneous and fluid movement of people and information and thus allow for maximum possibilities in terms of urban growth and individual liberty It is worth pointing out that Tange’s software model was far from unique. In 1969, for instance, Hayashi YOjiro—a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and adviser to the Economic Planning Agency who was arguably credited with coining the term “information society” —published a book titled The informatized Society. From Hard Society to Soft Society (JohOka shakai: hado na shakai kara sofuto na shakai c, 1969). In this highly influential book, Hayashi also used the term “soft” to describe this new kind of information and communications technology. Hayashi argued that the move toward an information-based technology would bring about a more flexible society in which people would have more choices and free time.”” In line with the growing discourse of softness, Tange attempted to actualize the idea of a software-like environment. Although he ultimately aimed at producing “a space without a fixed form,” Tange claimed that one of the most pressing issues for Expo "70 was to give a “concrete physical form” to this new environment. Hoping to erect “something resem- bling clouds,” he produced the Space Frame, the centerpiece of the Symbol Zone, as a visualization of a software environment (pl. 1). The triangulated space frame structure, which consisted of prefabricated steel pipes and ball joints, was an extremely lightweight and ever-extendable flexible structure. The upper part of the Space Frame was covered with a pneumatic polyester film panel, providing an artificially controlled climate that was free of the unpleasantness of rain and snow. ‘The idea of space frames can be traced back to Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace, the prefabricated cast-iron open structure built for the first world exposition held in London in 1851. This prefabricated geometric structure evolved with the development of construction technology and new materials, and its long-span roof trusses were popular in creating dramatic and expressive space in commercial and industrial buildings. The fifties and sixties saw a great proliferation of interest in the triangulated space frame stractures, propelled by the structural experiments by Buckminster Faller and Konrad Wachsmann, Like many of his contemporaries, Tange was fascinated by the truss-like frame structure, which evoked the endless flow of networks. Architectural historian Mark Wigley has pointed out that the worldwide popularity of this geometric pattern represented an “attempt to make poetic images of invisible communication infrastructure." Wigley shows in particular how the growing dominance of networks was mimetically inscribed in this web-shaped space structure. In the frontispiece to his monograph Kenzo Tange 62 cr 6) eranche CuL*eHE ane SOEiE'Y — RoEAEN gareHyunjong Cho 1946-1969: Architecture and Urban Design (1970), Tange strategically poses in a formal suit against a dense weave of triangulated scaffolding as if this temporary frame structure were his signature design.” Tange’s understanding of space frames was particularly indebted to Konrad Wachsmann, a German-born American architect who believed that the technological and spatial concepts of space frames represented the paradigmatic “turning point of building” for all architecture? Wachsmann was highly influential in Japanese architectural circles through his extended visit to Japan in 1955. Under the sponsorship of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, he offered a two-month seminar where he shared the advanced techniques of prefabrication and the triangulated space frame with Japanese architects,” iven that Tange was among the regular visitors to this seminar, it is likely that Tange’s design of the Space Frame was directly influenced by Wachsmann’s articulation of the prefabricated space structure. ‘Tange’s efforts to give concrete form to an invisible software-like environment, entailed an irreconcilable tension between solid form and dematerialized flow, and as Tange himself once admitted. the Space Frame failed to satisfy the need for sofiness and flexibility that he had hoped it would." The predicament Tange faced could not be solved by utilizing alternate architectural forms since the problem was inherent in the very task of rendering the invisible visible. Isozaki Arata might have been well aware of the dilemma that Tange faced, for Isozaki’s design of the Festival Plaza proposed a different approach to the architectural incorporation of the idea of a software environment by abandoning any attempt at rendering the invisible visible. Isozaki Arata’s Festival Plaza While Tange fabricated a material and recognizable form to represent the concept of the software environment, Isozaki instead made a radical turn to the immaterial systems of communications and networks, which he termed the “invisible city. 1966 essay “Invisible City” (Mienai toshi), [sozaki proposed the semiotic stage, a new model of architecture and city, which incorporated invisible elements happening outside physical buildings."S The semiotic stage, or “invisible city,” suggests a paradigm shift from the generally accepted concept of the city as characterized by a certain tension governing physical urban compositions toa virtual realm of information and communications. Isozaki’s interest in immaterial and invisible urban elements was formulated in no small part by his participation in the collective investigation of traditional Japanese cities. Beginning in 1961, Isozaki was involved in the research project initiated by the City Design Research Group (Toshi Dezain Kenky@-tai) under the leadership of Tange and architecture critic [t6 Teiji. The results of this project were published in a volume called Japanese Urban Space (Nihon no toshi kdkan) in 1968.° Through this research, Isozaki learned that the Japanese city was dominated by the invisible ambiance of lively pecanmman zens aivitn oF sapanise consume ano sooty 68Hyuajung Cho neighborhoods called kaiwai. The observation of kaiwai led him to revisit the notions of contingency and eventfulness that occur in traditional marsuri.”” Drawing upon his study of traditional Japanese cities, Isozaki took the notion of urban space as a fixed, permanent built-environment, which he thought of as the dominant feature of Western cities. and redefined it as an ever-changing network of unexpected movements and spontaneous activities of the residents Upon the request of Tange, Isezaki took charge of the technical production of the Festival Plaza, an open stage sheltered by the Space Frame (fig. 5.1). The Festival Plaza was less a conventional building than an immaterial ambiance in which visitors could be immersed in a vast field of perceptual space of light, color, sound, and dynamic movement, The main attraction of the Festival Plaza was the two giant robots nicknamed “Deme" and “Deku,” designed by Isozaki with the help of robot engineers. Each stood fourteen meters tall and was equipped with ultra-modern mechanisms. The heads of these anthropomorphized robots were centers of operations that sensed the surrounding sound and light, and sent these sensations back to the main control computer. On the ceiling, seven moving trolleys hung under the Space Frame of the Grand Roof. These remote-controlled trolleys amplified the stage effects by providing additional lighting and sound. The mechanism of the Festival Plaza can be best illustrated in terms of cybernet- ics (fig. 5.2). One of the key concepts of cybernetics is the principle of feedback. the process by which continual adjustments are made based on past processes. The operation of the Festival Plaza was based on computer-controlled feedback mecha- nisms, By means of magnetic tapes bearing preset programs fed into a computer, a six- channel tape recorder was able to control all kinds of activities occurring in the Festival Plaza, Cybernetics was derived from the American mathematician Norbert ‘Wiener’s research on electromechanical systems during World War Two.” Wiener proposed the anti-aircraft predictor, a device capable of obtaining information ‘on the position and velocity of an aircraft and making the necessary calculations regarding its trajectory as well as antici- pating and factoring in the pilot’s future behavior.” This wartime research on feedback-based weaponry developed into 3 Icozaki Arata, General view of the Festival Plaza . 1967 1970, Courtesy Shinkenchiku-sha Co., LidHyunjung Cho 52 Isai Arata, Conceptual diagram for the Festival Plazas control system, 1967-1970. Courtesy Arata Esoraki.& Associates. cybernetics, the science of communications and control in the postwar years. In the aforementioned essay “Invisible City,” Isozaki refers to Wiener’s cybernetic model to articulate new urban planning methods. He compares the designer of a contemporary city with a pilot in war, stating, “The designer acts as a pilot and must not be swayed by his own fixed, preconceived concepts, since he is dealing with the constant mutual response between reality and hypothesis,"® ‘The Festival Plaza represented a cybernetic urban model that evolved incrementally through a bottom-up process of trial and error instead of being controlled by a master planner from the outset, The multi-sensory psychedelic environment into which both performers and viewers were plunged echoed Marshall McLuhan's concept of a “total and saturating environment” in an electronic age, a concept with which Isozaki was familiar at the time.’ McLuhan’s 1967 essay “The Invisible Environment: The Future of an Erosion” describes the media-saturated invisible environment as a place in which the limits of our sensibility are expanded and the boundary’ between performers and viewers is blurred. The idea of “environment” as an expanded field of architecture that included light, color, sound, and dynamic interactions with viewers was widely shared by Japanese experimental artists with whom Isozaki closely interacted throughout the 1960s. In 1966, the interdisciplinary avant-garde group Environment Society (Kanky6 no kai) organized From Space to Environment (KOkan kara kankyé e), a multimedia and interactive exhibition at the Matsuya Department Store with a related event held at the Sdgets-u Art Center.” In the special issue of the art magazine Bijussu techd, Environment Society specifies that “environment” denotes a more dynamic and inseparable relationship between a person and his or her surroundings than a“‘space.""* Isozaki, who became involved in the exhibition by displaying his relief model of the Oita branch of Fukuoka City Bank (1966-68) and designing the exhibition space, claimed that this exhibition offered an innovative model for the contemporary city as a “virtual environment” that incorporated invisible and immaterial elements.“ This mecenmen-zo1 —nciigx oF pantse Curtume amp sacs — 65Hywnjung-Cho 1966 exhibit was widely considered to be a conceptual precursor to the idea of the Festival Plaza as an interactive site. However. the Festival Plaza was not as liberating and spontaneous a space as it was intended to be. Given that human beings were treated as quantitative data, it could be argued that the Festival Plaza functioned as a vast control system. The boundary between designers and users. and performers and viewers, still remained. and uncontrolled movements and unexpected spontaneity were minimized. The architect appeared as a “programmer,” a new type of bureaucrat who channeled users” acti’ the service of the fair authorities.“ Contemporary commentators against the bureaucratic operation of the Festival Plaza. In August 1970, artist Yoshimura Masunobu, who was engaged in the plaza’s event production, pejoratively called the Festival Plaza a “managed plaza” (kanri kaa), a highly controlled space whose primary emphasis was given to safety."* In this regard, Isozaki’s Festival Plaza seems to predict the emergence of a new kind of space associated with the rise of a “managed society” (Kanri shakai). a form of mass society dominated by the totalizing system of bureaucracy and capital. Concern over the prospect of an omnipresent control system in an information society fueled renewed interest in private domestic space, which could ostensibly protect its residents from network intrusion. The following section will examine the Metabolist Kurokawa Kisho, who was interested in reconceptualizing the relationship between urban andl domestic spaces in an information-oriented future. The Metabolists’ Capsule The Metabolists were a group of experimental architects, designers, and a critic, who made a stunning debut at the 1960 World Design Conference held in Tokyo. Using the biological term “metabolism” (shinchintaisha), which evoked growth and change in living organisms, the Metabolists proposed the idea of flexibility and renewability in architecture and urban design as a reaction against rigid rationalism.” Responding to the differences in the life-span or “metabolic cycle,” the Metabolists divided the built environment into permanent infrastructure and transient individual cells. During the 1960s, the Metabolists" attention shifted from gigantic megastructures as a way of “framing” to the individual capsule, an exchangeable living unit that maximized dwellers’ freedom, mobility, and leisure activities. Expo "70 witnessed the culmination of the development of capsule architecture as seen in the various expo pavilions designed by the Metabolists, such as the Expo Tower, the Takara Beautilion, and the Capsule House. Kurokawa was most enthusiastic about formulating the agenda of the capsule. In a 1969 essay titled “Capsule Declaration” (Kapuseru sengen), Kurokawa pointed out that the concept of “eapsule” represented a “qualitative change in the meaning of a building” by calling into question the very nature of dwelling.** He claimed that the capsule was a new home for “somo-movens,” aterm coined by Kurokawa himself to 66 wntw oF wrwnest cutiuet ane a0cie'y — eeeaaameR eeHyunjung Cho express the importance of mobility as the distinguishing charactetistic of contemporary humankind” The mobility, flexibility, and interchangeability of the capsule would satisfy the growing need for diversity and fluidity in the coming society. In the same essay, Kurokawa claimed that the essential nature of the capsule was that of a shelter, to protect its residents from unnecessary and harmful information traffic: Just as an astronaut is protected by a perfect shelter from solar winds and cosmic rays, individuals should be protected by capsules in which they can reject information they do not need and in which they are sheltered from information they do not want, thereby allowing an individual to recover his subjectivity and independence.** Kurokawa regarded Japan's rapid social transformation into an information society in the 1960s both as a blessing in its ability to foster individual liberation and a curse for its dehumanizing and surveillance aspects. Under such circumstances, he presented the capsule as a “weapon” or “individual shelter” with which individuals could assert their privacy and freedom in a postindustrial society." The capsule could filter unwanted information while accelerating the influx of desired information. Just as a space capsule provides physical security for astronauts in the dangerous environment of outer space. so the capsule defends the privacy and individuality of its residents against the flood of information from the outside world. Kurokawa presented a full-size model of a capsule as the focal point of the Mid- Air Exhibition held thirty meters above the Festival Plaza (pl. 2). The Capsule House, painted in orange, was composed of several detachable functional units, such as a bed- room, bathroom, and kitchen. Each unit of the capsule was manufactured at a factory and transported to the expo site, It was then plugged into the Space Frame with the help of engineer Kamiya Koji, who had constructed the Space Frame. Hung under the giant steel frame, the Capsule House was a closed space, a protective shelter that was sealed off from external peril and conflict. In Kurokawa’s formulation, the capsule was far from an isolated space, and was connected to a metropolitan city that functioned as an “information center” through feedback mechanisms.” The control reom located at the core of the Capsule House was equipped with multiple monitors that connected its resi- dents to the outside world. Furthermore, the Capsule House, which was plugged tightly into the larger structure of the Space Frame, seemed to visually represent the idea of the “docking” of individual units into a communi s and information infrastructure.** The Capsule House was not only a survival mechanism but also a house on exhibit or an exhibitionist house (pl. 3). Like a spaceship or submarine, it was a hyper-interiorized space, and its interior furnished with a sleek plastic wall, an orange- colored shaggy carpet, and bright lighting produced a futuristic atmosphere evocative of Stanley Kubrick's The Capsule House was a showcase for all sorts DHCHMNONR tony AGL OF mPonLat Custind mnB Somete 67Hyunjung Cho ‘of home appliances and modern furnishings. As the cultural anthropologist Marilyn Ivy has pointed out, postwar home appliances symbolized the “object of desire, the sign of middle-class inclusion, and the unparalicled commodity fetish” for Japanese society in an cra of economic growth.” It can be thus argued that the Capsule House, a colorful and sensuous space in stark contrast to the standard dull and box-shaped mass housing unit, seemed to promote the dream of “my home,” a modular confine for the nuclear family that was prevalent in Japanese society af the 1960s and 1970s. In this sense, Kurokawa’s capsule design not only envisioned a new dwelling mode ‘of the coming society, but also mirrored the rampant atomization and consumerism cof present day Japan ‘The Legacy of Expo ’70 As soon as Expo'70 ended, Japanese society was significantly affected by a series of unfavorable events such as the oil shock, the environmental crisis, and an economic recession. Architectural experiments were largely overshadowed by the nation’s ‘economic decline and the withdrawal of architects into stylistic idioms and the capitalist market within the postmodern context of the 1970s and 1980s, As national-scale urban projects rapidly decreased in number, young architects were no longer expected to launch their careers under the aegis of national-scale events. The only option left for the new generation of Japanese architects was to work for commercial enterprises. or adapt their methods to small-scale design and private houses. Nevertheless, endeavors by architects to delve into the issues of architecture and the information society continued, albeit for a limited period in the 1970s. Tange became involved in the design of the Kuwait International Air Terminal (1967-79), a mega-scale built environment shaped by the continuous flow of flights, passengers, and information. Isozaki’s interest in the computer-supported space of the Festival Plaza led to his proposal for the Computer-Aided City (1972), a cabled city animated by information exchange. Kurokawa went on to design a new residential unit for urban nomads as seen in his Nakagin Capsule Tower (1972), the first capsule structure put into actual use in an urban setting.** Expo '70 laid the groundwork for architecture's complex encounters with new technologies and a postindustrial society. This essay has attempted to examine the contribution of Expo °70 in proposing a new paradigm of architecture and city as a response to radical developments in information and communications technology. If Tange presented the concept of the software environment and tried to give it a physical form, Isozaki made a radical turn to the immaterial and invisible systems of communications and networks. In contrast to Tange and Isozaki, whose interests were tied to urban issues, Kurokawa presented a basic living unit and a new mode of domestic life for an information society. No matter how buried by the dominant narrative of postmodernism and how incidental or short-lived their work might seem, the struggle by architects to define the eecennen 2017Hyuajung Cho future world and harness its liberating potential should occupy a more prominent space in the discussion of postwar Japanese architecture. Notes 1 The Metabolists consisted of Ku rokawa Kisho, Kikutake Kiyonori, Maki Pamihiko, Otaka Masato, Ekwan Kenji, Awazu Kiyoshi, and Kawazor Noboni In May 1960the Metaboalists made a stunning debut at the Work Design Conference held in Tokyoby presenting its manifesto Metaboliome 1960: Prapesats fara New ris, Kawaroe Noboru, ed., Meiubelisie 1960: Proposals for aNew Urbanisa (Tokyo: Bijutsu Shuppancha, 1960) This scholarship includes: Hajime Yatooka, “Architecture in the Urban. Desert: A Critical Introduction 1 Japanese Architecture after Modern sm.” Oppositions, no, 23 (Winter 1981}: Zhongjie Lin. Kenzo Tange and she Metabolix Movement. Urban Uropias of Modern Japan (London and New York: Routledge: 201M), 224-29; Fumo Shi, Serige Kenchiku no shien (The Death of Postwar Architecture) (Tokyo: Ranga Shobo Shinsha, 1995), 227 4S. Althinigh Vatstka Was skeptical about the lasting impact af Expo 70 on Japanese madera architecture. study of his tries to shed light on architectural experiments With information technology taking place at Osaka See Varsuka Hajime. Meraboricumy nekusus (Netabo- lism Nexws}{Tokyo: Orusha, 201 384-410, 1am grateful to Professor Yatsuka for sharing the unpublished ‘manuscript of this book cs The intemational style wus codified by the 1932 MoMA exhibition tiled “Modern Architecture: An Interna tional Exhibition.” curated by Philip Johnson in collaboration with Henry Russell Hitehcoek, 4 For the “Japanese taste” (Nihon chum) im architectural design preva Jent during the war, see Jacqueline Kestenbaum, “Modemism and Tra dition in Japanese Architectural Ideology, 1913-1955" (Ph.D. ‘Columbia University, 1996); Jonathan Reynolis, Maekawa Kunio and the Emergence of Japanese Modernist Archinecrure (Berkeley. Los Angeles, and London: University of Califori Press, 2001), 74-134, & J. M. Richards, “Architecture at Expo ‘70." in Sihor buntokubak Kenchibie 10 coke: (Expo'70. Archi ‘ecture and Form), eds, Tange Kenzs, ‘Okamoto Tard, and Kurokawa Kishi «Tokyo: Kobunsha, 1971): Funo, Sengo kenchibu no shen, 227-48. 6 Sawaragi Noi. Sensd to hanpakul World Warsaand World Fairs Tokye. Bijutsa Shuppansia, 2005), 60. + Isozaki Arata, Kakan-e [Toward Space] (Tokyo: Bijuisu Shuppansta. 1971), 5H ® For more discussion on the use of war analogy within the antivexpo movement, see Midori Yoshimato"s Intrxduction” 10 this issue % Sawarngi, Sersd te hanprabir, 46-52: Sawaragi Noi. “Sensé to banpaku: ma hitotsu no senso bijureo o megutte™ [World Warsand World Fairs-On An ‘other War An], 10+4, no. 36 (Tokyo: INAX Stuppansha, 2006): 62. 10. Yoshimi Shun'ya, Banpakie gensa sengo seiji no jubaku [The Phantasm oof Expasitons: The Spell of Postwar Polties} (Tokyo: Chikuma Shinsibo, 200 uw Marshall MeLuhan. Guienberusic no Ringutei (The Gutenberg Galaxy]. teans. Takaki Susumu (Tokyo: Takeuchi Shoten, 1968); Marshall MeLuhan, Ningen kakuchd no genri [Understanding Media: The Exten sion oof Man], ans, Gord Kazuhiko and Takagi Susuma (Tokyo: Takcuch Shoten. 1967); Marshall McLahan, ‘Media wamessejide aru (The Medium Is the Message), trans, Minami Hiroshi (Tokyo: Kuwage Sheba, 1968): Danie! Bell, deer shen [The End of Ideology, trans. Okada Naoyuki (Tokyo: Gendai Shakai Kakakw Sosho, 1969), Danie! Bel Datsue kok) shakai no trai [The Coming of Post-ndusirial Society, fans. Uchida Tadao (Tokyo: Daiyae mondosha, 1975), 1 ‘Tensa Morris-Sucuki, Bevond Com (puropia: Information. Automation sand Democracy ia Japan (London sand New York: Kegan Paul Interna. tora. 1988. 13 In 1968, the Japan Association for ‘Future Studies was established based ‘onthe Future Siuies Research Group founded in 1966 by critic Kuwaeoe Noboru, SF author Komatsu Saky@, sociologist Kato Hidetoshi anthropol- ‘ogist Umesao Tadao, und economist Hayashi Yojied. This organization has ‘continued its research and educational activities through the preseat day. See the website hriprmww aftech.or jp! meni! Is Kurokawa Kisho. “Homo-Movense sand Metabolism in the Multi-Channel Society.” in Challenges from the Faiure, woh A. ed. Japan Sosiety of 1 80-90, wenuRe wna soci 68Hyunjeng Cho. Fururology (Tokyo: Kédansha, 1970), 459-70 18 The term ~home-mobensu” was coined by Kurokawa in 969. Kuro~ awa Kish0. Homo-Mobensu: tosh ‘w ningen no mira [Homo-Mavens: A Future of Humankind and Cities) (Tokyar Choa Koronsha, 1969). This newly coined term “komo-iabersu™ ‘Was spelled as either hamo-mevense or home-movens. Th widely used term in English literature 16, Kikutake Kiyenori, “The General Conceptof.a Multi-Chanael Environ- ‘ment in Challenges from the Future vol. 2,ed. Japan Society of Foturology (Tokyo: Kadancha, 1970), 353.62 ¥ Nishiyama Uzi, Koredara no smal dyéshiti no hanashi [Today's Bowell A Story of Life Style] (Tokyo: Sagami Shobs, 1947y; Nishiyama Ur0, Nikon no jataku mondai Uapanese Housing Issues] (Tokyo: Iwanamai Shinsho, 1982), Nishiyama Uzo, “A Plan for Kyoto." Japan Architect (February 1965): 61-80; 4 discussion of Nishiyama’s "Ne Plan” (1965) is inchidled in Andres Yuri Flores Urunhima, "Genesis and Culmination of Ux Nishiyam Proposal of a “Model Core of a Future City” for the Expo” 70 Site (1960-1972),” Planning Perspec tives 22 (October 207); dO a08, 18 Unishima, “Genesis and Culmination of Ue Nishiyama’s Proposal of a ‘Mode! Care of a Funute City” forthe Expo 70 Site (1960-1973)." 396-98. 9 Nishiyama Ub, “Bankokuhak kaijo keikaku: ehosa kara kékoky e” [Expo “70, From Research to Planning}, enchite zasshi (March 1970%; 197. 20. Tid 2 tid, 198, FO sty oF pant cuatet ont 886 2 Unushima, “Genesis and Culminagion ‘of Uzi Nishiyama's Proposal,” 396; Lin, Kenzo Tange and the Metabolist Movement, 214 a ‘Tange Kenso, “Tokyo keikaku-1960, somo k6z0 kaikaku no teian” [Tokyo Plan-1960, A. Proposal af Its Struc tural Plan|. Shinkemehikue (March 1961): 79.120. m4. 2i-seiki no Nihon Kenkyaks, ed, 2/-seiKi na Nikon: somo kokudo te Kokam seikatsw no miraica Japan in the 21st Century: The Future Vision of ts Land nd People’s Lite} (Tokyo Shinkenchikusha, 1972), 62-107. 25, Tange Kena and Kawazce Noboru, ‘Some Thoughts About Expo "70" Japan Architect (MaylTane [970% 20.34. ‘na: shakai kara sofaro na shake « [The Informatized Society: From Hard Society to Soft Society] (Takya: Kodansha, 1968), 2B. ‘Tange and Kawazoe. “Some Thoughts ‘About Expo "70," 32, 2», Tid. wm Mark Wigley. "Network Fever." Grey Room (Sumamer 2001): 111 a. Udo Kultermann, ed. Kense Tange 1946-1969: Architecture and Urban Design (London: Pall Mall Press, 1970). a Konrad Wachstmaan, Tike Turning Point of Building (New York: Rein old. E961) 38 ‘Wachsmann’s seminar in Japan was reported the journal Kena ik zsohi, ol. 71, no, 323 (Mech 1956): 13-23, ecannen sors Me “Tange and Kawavoe, “Some Thoughts About Expo "70." 31, 3 [horaki Arata, *Micnai tosh | ible City im Riskun-e, 380-408 36. ‘Toshi Deaain KenkyBtai, ed, Nihon no (ashi kakea Uapanese Urban Space] (Tokyo: Shikokusha, 1968). 37, Tsoraki Arata, Japan-ness in Archirec« ture (Cambridge and Massachusets: ‘The MIT Press, 2006), 71-72, 8 Norhert Wiener, Cyhernetics: Or Conirol and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (New York: 2. Wiley, 194%), » Peter Galison, “The Ontology of the Enemy: Norbert Wi Cybermetic Vision." Critical inpuiry 21.0.1 (Autumn 1994), 228-66. . Isozaki, “Micnai tosh" 42 a. Marshall McLuhan, “The lavisible Environment; The Furure of an Fro sion,” Perspecta, vol. 11 (1967): 163. Isovaki’s article “Menai esti” intr duced McLuhan’s idea if armuti-medtia environment. See Isozaki, “Mienai toshi> 400. a2, For more on this exhibition, see Midori Yoshimoto, “From Space ta Environment: The Origin of Kankya ‘and the Emergence of Intermedia Art in Japan,” Art Journal, val, 67,90. 3 (Fall 2008); 25-48, 43. Kankyés no Kai. ed. “Kokan Kara Kanky® © ten shashi™ [The Concepe From Space to Environment Beats teed, Wo. 278 {November 1966) 118. pry Tid. 105. as, Architectural historian Alan Colquhoun Introduced the idea of a new type ofbureaucrat ~the programmer —in his critical analysis of the Pompidou ‘Center. Se Alan Colquhoun, Exsays in Architectural Criticism: Modern Architecture und Historical Change (Cambridge and Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1981), 117-18, 46, Yoshimura Masunobu, “Omatsuri hiroba Ka kan inate ka: Ramryoteki heashitsw no gisci” [The Festival Plaza or the Controlled Plaza?: A ‘Victim ofthe Beaurocatic Tendency] Awdhi Shimbun (11 August 1970). | thank Midori Yoshimoto for panting to this newspaper eticle a. Kswazoe ed. Merabotism 960: Propasals Jor a New Urbanisn, 45, 48, Kurokawa Kisho, Merobotism ia Architecture (Boulder: West Press, 1977). 83 8, Ii. 76-80. 0 Thi. 82 si. Thi, 79.84. sh Ibi. sh Ii, 30. s Marilyn Ivy. “Formations of Mass Culture," in Poster Japan ax His id. Andrew Gordon (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993), 249 ss. Hiroyuki Suzuki, “Contemporary Architecture of Japan,” im Comiem: porary Architecture of Japan 1968 1984, eds. Hiroyuki Suzuki, Reyner tors Hyunjung Cho Banham, Katsuhiro Kobayashi(New ‘York: Rizaoli, 1983), 10-11, 5 [Nakisgin Capsile Tower is stil in use 1s of 2011 but itis scheduled to be demolished due tothe tack of main tenance, the residents concem over the building's earthquake resistance land economic reasons. Many archi tects and critics both domestically and from abroad have supported the preservation of this historic building. But after Kurokawa's death in 2007 the campaign lost some momentum. For avore on the debate over the fate ‘of Nakagin Capsiile Tower. see Yuki Solomon. “Ki Record 195, w0, 6 (June 2007); 34; Lin, Kenze Tange aind the Metabolist Mowemens. 293442. weno vou THFrontispicee (sce p. 127) Yokoo Tadanon, poster for the Teatiles Pavilion, 1969, Photo courtesy of the artist. Plate | (see p. 62) Tange Kenzd and URTEC, Space Frame, 1966-1970. Photo: Tamio Ohashi. Courtesy Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates. Plate 2 (see p. 67) Kurokawa Kisho, Capsule Hoase, | 68-1970, Photo: Tomic Ohashi. Courtesy Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates. Plate 3 (see p. 67) Kurokawa Kisho, Capsule House, 168-1970. Photo: Tomio Ohashi. Courtesy Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates.