Antonin Raymond (or cs, Antonín Raymond), born as Antonín Reimann (10 May 1888 – 25 October 1976)
["Deaths Elsewhere", ''Miami Herald'', 30 October 1976, p. 10] was a
Czech American
Czech Americans ( cz, Čechoameričané), known in the 19th and early 20th century as Bohemian Americans, are citizens of the United States whose ancestry is wholly or partly originate from the Czech lands, a term which refers to the majority o ...
architect. Raymond was born and studied in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), working later in the United States and Japan. Raymond was also the
Consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
of
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
to Japan from 1926 to 1939, in which year the Czech diplomacy was closed down after the occupation of the European country by Nazi Germany.
Raymond's initial work with American architects
Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and We ...
and
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
gave him an insight into the use of concrete for texture and structure that he would refine throughout his six-decade career. At studio practices in
New Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,612 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. New Hope is located approximately north of Philadelphia, and lies on the west bank of the Delaw ...
and Tokyo, he explored traditional Japanese building techniques combined with the latest In American building innovations. Raymond applied these principles to a wide range of residential, commercial, religious, and institutional projects in Japan, America, India, and the Philippines.
Along with British architect
Josiah Conder, Raymond is recognized as one of the fathers of modern
architecture in Japan
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
.
Biography
Raymond was born on 10 May 1888, in Kladno, Central
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
(now the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
) to Alois Reimann, a Jew of German descent, and his wife Růžena, a Catholic. Following the death of his mother and the bankruptcy of his father's shop the family moved to
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
in 1905. Raymond started at the Reálné gymnasium (secondary school aimed at more technical/practical sciences) in Kladno, then continued at a similar school in Prague.
In 1906 Raymond entered Vysoká Škola Technická, the
Czech Polytechnic Institute, studying under Josef Schultz and Jan Koula.
He completed his studies in
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
in 1910 before leaving for
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
There, he began a three-year employment with Cass Gilbert, working on a number of projects including external architectural details for the
Woolworth Building
The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...
and the
Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. His experience on the latter of these gave him an insight into the structural and textural properties of concrete.
He began studying painting at the Independent School of Art in the Lincoln Square Arcade Building in 1912, but was forced to curtail a painting trip to Italy and North Africa with the onset of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. On his trip back to New York, he met his future wife and business partner,
Noémi Pernessin, and they were wed on 15 December 1914. In early 1916 he became an American citizen, naturalizing his name, Antonín Reimann, to Antonin Raymond.
Employment with Frank Lloyd Wright
Raymond's initial encounter with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright came in 1908–1910 when he saw a small monograph and later (1910) a large portfolio of Wright's work published in Berlin. In his autobiography, Raymond recounts how deeply he and his fellow students were impressed by Wright's design: "Wright had restated the principles of building; he had overcome the cell, liberated the plan, made space flow, given buildings a human scale and blended them with nature, all in a romantic, sensual and original way that left us breathless."
Through the influence of a mutual friend, Frank Lloyd Wright agreed to employ Raymond in May 1916. Initially, Raymond and Noémi worked with Frank Lloyd Wright at
Taliesin
Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the '' Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts ...
in
Spring Green
Spring green is a color that was traditionally considered to be on the yellow side of green, but in modern computer systems based on the RGB color model is halfway between cyan and green on the color wheel.
The modern spring green, when plott ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. In 1917 he enlisted with the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, serving overseas with the
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...
. Upon his discharge from the army and his return to New York, Wright persuaded him to go to Tokyo with him to work on the
Imperial Hotel Imperial Hotel or Hotel Imperial may refer to:
Hotels Australia
* Imperial Hotel, Ravenswood, Queensland
* Imperial Hotel, York, Western Australia
Austria
* Hotel Imperial, Vienna
India
* The Imperial, New Delhi
Ireland
* Imperial Hotel, D ...
.
Although he remained as Wright's chief assistant for one year, Raymond soon became bored with the work. He became concerned that "the design had nothing in common with Japan, its climate, its traditions, its people and its culture". Also, whilst his work with Gilbert showed him the great possibilities of concrete, Wright did not see concrete in the same way, preferring to encase it with brickwork or carved
Oya Stone.
Although Raymond proposed continuing working for Wright, he was eventually dismissed in January 1921. In February of the same year, he set up the American Architectural and Engineering Company in Tokyo with Leon Whittaker Slack.
Japan and the Inter-war years
In the
Tokyo Woman's Christian College, commenced in 1924, Raymond's architecture can be seen to still be heavily influenced by Wright. Its low, hipped roof and overhanging eaves are reminiscent of Wright's
Prairie Houses
Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...
. This early work also demonstrates his interest in
Czech Cubism and the work of
Auguste Perret
Auguste Perret (12 February 1874 – 25 February 1954) was a French architect and a pioneer of the architectural use of reinforced concrete. His major works include the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the first Art Deco building in Paris; the C ...
.
![Raymond-reinanzaka-1924](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Raymond-reinanzaka-1924.jpg)
After their own house was destroyed in the
Great Kantō earthquake
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
, Raymond designed a new one, the Reinanzaka House, in
Azabu, Tokyo
is an area in Minato,Tokyo, Japan. Built on a marshy area of foothills south of central Tokyo, its coverage roughly corresponds to that of the former Azabu Ward, presently consisting of nine official districts: Azabu-Jūban, Azabudai, Azabu-N ...
. His desire to free himself from Wright's influence led him to explore spatial relationships between living, working and dining areas and how spaces could be closed off with folding screens.The house is built almost entirely of
in situ
''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...
concrete. Raymond's workforce were enthusiastic in their use of this new material, likening it to the walls of traditional ''
kura
Rúben de Almeida Barbeiro (born August 21, 1987 in Leiria), better known as KURA, is a Portuguese electro house music DJ and producer. Kura has released tracks through labels such as Hardwell's Revealed Recordings, Flashover Recordings, M ...
'' storehouses. The house itself had metal fenestration, tubular steel
trellises and traditional
rain chain
Rain chains ( ja, 鎖樋, or ', See rendaku for why multiple pronunciations. literally "chain-gutter") are alternatives to a downspout. They are widely used in Japan. Their purpose is largely decorative, to make a water feature out of the transp ...
s rather than rainwater downpipes. The interior too was well in advance of other houses of the
International Style with the use of cantilevered tubular steel furniture.
After a number of staff changes, the practice was renamed Antonin Raymond, Architect.
Czechoslovak Consul in Japan
![Peynet museum02s3872](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Peynet_museum02s3872.jpg)
Despite becoming a
naturalized
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
American citizen in 1916, Raymond became the honorary consul for the
Czechoslovak Republic
Czechoslovak Republic (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá republika, ČSR''), was the official name of Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1939 and between 1945 and 1960. See:
*First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938)
*Second Czechoslovak Republic ...
, representing the government of
T. G. Masaryk. This gave him influence outside those circles normally associated with an architect of his age. From 1928 to 1930, Raymond designed and remodelled the American, Soviet and French embassies. He also undertook work for the Rising Sun Petroleum Company, designing 17 earthquake-proof and fireproof employee houses, the general office building, the manager's residence and two prototype service stations, one in steel and the other in concrete. All were constructed in an
International Modern Style.
Corbusier inspiration
Since the Reinanzaka House, Raymond had been interested in the work of Swiss architect
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
. He acknowledged that further contribution of Corbusier's ideas to the practice came in 1930, when
Kunio Maekawa (who had just returned from two years working for Le Corbusier in his Paris Office) joined. He later applied Le Corbusier's ideas to vernacular
Japanese architecture
has been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors (''fusuma'') and other traditional partitions were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space to ...
. Based upon Le Corbusier's unbuilt residential scheme for Mr. Errazuris in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, he designed a summer house for himself in
Karuizawa, Nagano
is a resort town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 20,323 in 9897 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Karuizawa is one of the oldest and most ...
. Where Corbusier had used rough masonry and a tiled
butterfly roof
A butterfly roof (sometimes called a V roof) is a form of roof characterised by an inversion of a standard roof form, with two roof surfaces sloping down from opposing edges to a valley near the middle of the roof.Asaka, Saitama
260px, Pond at JGSDF Camp Asaka
260px, former IJA Officer Preparatory School at JGSDF Camp Asaka
is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 143,195 and a population density of 7800 persons per km² ...
in 1932, he was asked to design it. His links to golfer Shiro Akaboshi also led to several residential commissions.
In 1937 in Tokyo, Articles of Association forming a new firm, Reymondo Kenchiku Sekkei Jimusho, were signed by Antonin, Noémi and a number of Japanese architects, including
Junzō Yoshimura
was a Japanese architect.
Early career
Yoshimura dated his desire to become an architect to the day he first entered Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, shortly after the Kanto earthquake of 1923. "“It was the first time that I fel ...
.
Sri Aurobindo Ashram
![Golconde Ashram](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Golconde_Ashram.jpeg)
In January 1938, Raymond, Noémi, and their son left Tokyo bound for America. This six-month journey took them initially to the Indian subcontinent and then on to Europe, including a trip to
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
.
In 1935, Raymond's office had accepted a commission to design a dormitory for the
Sri Aurobindo Ashram in
Pondicherry
Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...
, part of French India in southeast India. A preliminary site visit was made by
George Nakashima
George Katsutoshi Nakashima ( ja, 中島勝寿 ''Nakashima Katsutoshi'', May 24, 1905 – June 15, 1990) was an American woodworker, architect, and furniture maker who was one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a fathe ...
and the schematic design was completed in 1936. Although Raymond had envisioned that the dormitory would be completed in six months, Sri Aurobindo was concerned that the noise of construction would disturb the ashram, so he decided that the building would be constructed by its residents.
Initially, Nakashima, Francois Sammer (a Czech architect who had worked for Le Corbusier in Russia), and Chandulal (a devotee who had trained as an engineer), built a full-scale model of the dormitory in order to test the feasibility of the design, and then used it as a laboratory to further refine the construction methods. Nakashima's duties included doing very explicit detail drawings showing, for example, the design of the concrete formwork. Devotees even donated brass utensils so that they could be melted down to make door handles and hinges.
Raymond sought to mitigate the effects of the Pondicherry climate and oriented the Golconde dormitory (as it became known), so that its main facades faced north and south to make use of the prevailing breeze. A combination of moveable louvres on the exterior skin and woven teak sliding doors permitted ventilation without compromising on privacy. The building is still in use as an ashram today. It was the first
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
building in India.
The New Hope experiment
In 1939, Raymond's architectural practice in the United States began with the purchase and conversion of his farm and studio in
New Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,612 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. New Hope is located approximately north of Philadelphia, and lies on the west bank of the Delaw ...
. He and his wife's goal was to "create a physical and intellectual environment that mirrored and supported their approach to modern design-one that synthesised International Style developments with lessons learned from Japan's craft tradition". They hoped that the lifestyle and design ethos that they would create, would be simpler and more in tune with nature, similar in set up to Frank Lloyd Wright's
Taliesin Fellowship
The School of Architecture is a private architecture school in Paradise Valley, Arizona. It was founded in 1986 as an accredited school by surviving members of the Taliesin Fellowship. The school offers a Master of Architecture program that focus ...
.
The Raymonds modified the house to create a more open plan feel, separated by Japanese ''
fusuma
In Japanese architecture, are vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side to redefine spaces within a room, or act as doors. They typically measure about wide by tall, the same size as a ''tatami'' mat, and are thick. The ...
'' partitions and ''
shōji
A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (oshiire/ ...
'' screens. The rooms were filled with objects of art, including rugs designed by Noémi and crockery by the
Mingei
The concept of , variously translated into English as "folk craft", "folk art" or "popular art", was developed from the mid-1920s in Japan by a philosopher and aesthete, Yanagi Sōetsu (1889–1961), together with a group of craftsmen, including ...
designer Minagawa Masu.
Raymond developed a prospectus for aspiring architects to come and live and study at New Hope and he attracted at least 20. In addition to teaching practical design solutions, the apprentices had hands-on work with various building trades. Farm work and hay making contributed a physical aspect. Students included
Junzō Yoshimura
was a Japanese architect.
Early career
Yoshimura dated his desire to become an architect to the day he first entered Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, shortly after the Kanto earthquake of 1923. "“It was the first time that I fel ...
and
Carl Graffunder, and the farm was visited by people like
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
and
Alvar Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...
.
Once the students had become settled, Raymond sought real-world projects for them to work upon, to put his theories into practice. Projects included an assortment of houses and extensions in New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island.
In May 1943, the Raymonds vouched for
George Nakashima
George Katsutoshi Nakashima ( ja, 中島勝寿 ''Nakashima Katsutoshi'', May 24, 1905 – June 15, 1990) was an American woodworker, architect, and furniture maker who was one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a fathe ...
and his family, releasing them from a
Japanese internment camp in Idaho, so that they could come and live at the New Hope farm.
The war years (1941–1945)
With the approach of the Second World War, Raymond moved back to New York, ending the New Hope experiment. He formed a partnership with civil engineer Arthur Tuttle, structural engineer Elwyn Seelye and mechanical engineer Clyde Place. With the country's emphasis on the war effort, the company focused on US army contracts. Their work included: prefabricated houses at
Camp Kilmer
Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...
, New Jersey (1942) and
Camp Shanks
Camp Shanks was a United States Army installation in the Orangetown, New York area. Named after Major General David C. Shanks, it was situated near the juncture of the Erie Railroad and the Hudson River. The camp was the largest U.S. Army embarka ...
, New York (1942–1943) and housing and an airport in
Fort Dix
Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force A ...
, New Jersey (1943). Controversially, in 1943, Raymond was asked to design a series of middle class Japanese style homes so that the Army could test the effectiveness of ordnance (specifically
incendiaries
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...
) intended for use in targeted air bombing raids on Tokyo and other Japanese cities. These houses were eventually erected on the
Dugway Proving Ground
Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) is a U.S. Army facility established in 1942 to test biological and chemical weapons, located about southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and south of the Utah Test and Training Range.
Location
Dugway P ...
, nicknamed "
Japanese Village". Raymond admitted in his autobiography that he was not proud of the work.
Practice with Ladislav Rado
After the war, Raymond's practice with Tuttle, Seelye and Place was dissolved. He formed a new company with Slovak architect, Ladislav Leland Rado (1909–1993), and named it Raymond & Rado. Although this company lasted until Raymond's death in 1976, they practised apart, with Rado in the New York office and Raymond in Tokyo. Whilst Raymond explored pottery and sculpture (making friends with
Tarō Okamoto
was a Japanese artist, art theorist, and writer. He is particularly well known for his avant-garde paintings and public sculptures and murals, and for his theorization of traditional Japanese culture and avant-garde artistic practices.
Biograph ...
and
Ade Bethune), Rado pursued an orthogonal rationalism that Raymond would eventually distance himself from.
Projects in the United States during the late 1940s allowed Raymond to gain a foothold in occupied Japan. This helped to restart the building boom in
occupied Japan
Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the
Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...
after the war. This was mainly achieved through contacts made in his previous practice and those that he and Rado made in New York.
Their single story
Great River Station
Great River is a railroad station on the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, at Connetquot Avenue and Hawthorne Avenue in Great River, New York. The station opened in 1897.
History
Prior to the establishment of passenger service, the s ...
on the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
, expressed Raymond's fondness for inexpensive, simple materials. It had
fieldstone
Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...
retaining walls and a flat roof supported in each corner with a redwood post. The wide expanse of glazing created a modernist pavilion.
In the
St. Joseph the Worker Chapel, Victorias, in the Philippines, Raymond worked with liturgical artist Ade Bethune, to produce mosaic murals and a
lacquerware
Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Befor ...
tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
inside the reinforced concrete church. The interior was adorned with colourful
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
es by
Alfonso Ossorio. The church acted as a social centre for employees of the Ossorio sugar cane refinery. The church is regarded as one of the first examples of modern sacred architecture in the country.
The practice were also responsible for a number of parks and recreation buildings across the United States in the late 1940s, built largely to commemorate victory in the war.
The Reader's Digest Building
In 1947, Raymond petitioned
General MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
for permission to enter occupied Japan in order to participate in the reconstruction process. His staff from Reymondo Kenchiku Sekkei Jimusho had looked after the drawings and documents of the office through the war and Raymond decided to reopen the office.
[Stewart (1987), p. 165]
Raymond received the commission for the
Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
Building from Mrs
DeWitt Wallace
William Roy DeWitt Wallace; (November 12, 1889 – March 30, 1981), publishing as DeWitt Wallace, was an American magazine publisher.
Wallace co-founded ''Reader's Digest'' with his wife Lila Bell Wallace, publishing the first issue in 1922.
Lif ...
on his return from Japan in 1949. She wanted a design that would show the best that America could offer. The site acquired for the building was opposite the Hirakawa Gate of the
Imperial Palace.
Its choice was treated with great resentment by the Japanese who felt that favouritism was shown by the Occupation authorities in allowing an American company to utilise a prominent site that would have served better as a park. Taking influence from Le Corbusier, Raymond responded to this criticism by masterplanning the site by using a
Ville Radieuse
Ville radieuse (, ''Radiant City'') was an unrealised urban design project designed by the French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier in 1930. It constitutes one of the most influential and controversial urban design doctrines of European modernism.
Al ...
inspired layout with the building set in gardens with sculptures by the Japanese American sculptor,
Isamu Noguchi
was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several ...
.
The long, rectilinear, two-storey building, had a double cantilevered frame supported on a single row of concrete columns. These columns tilted outwards from a vertical position. Floor to ceiling glazing on the second storey opened out onto a balcony running the length of the building. It included technical innovations from America including acoustic ceiling tiles, underfloor electricity ducts and fluorescent lighting.
It is considered the first large building in which Raymond managed to use his principles of simplicity, economy of materials, elegance and lightness learned from his residential works. Raymond cited the design of the
Hiroshima Peace Museum by
Kenzo Tange
is a common masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*賢三, "wise, three"
*健三, "healthy, three"
*謙三, "humble, three"
*健想, "healthy, concept"
*建造, "bu ...
as being an external imitation of the Reader's Digest Building.
Despite winning awards when first completed, the Reader's Digest Building was demolished in 1963 to be replaced by the nine-floor Palaceside Building, a mixed used office building designed by
Shōji Hayashi that for many years has served as the headquarters of the
Mainichi Newspaper.
Experimentation in Tokyo
![Nanzan b](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Nanzan_b.jpg)
Raymond purchased land in the
Nishi Azabu district of Tokyo to build his new office and living quarters. The office was built using the traditional Japanese
post and lintel
In architecture, post and lintel (also called prop and lintel or a trabeated system) is a building system where strong horizontal elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large spaces between them. This is usually used to hold up ...
type construction using unplaned timber logs. The office served as a proving ground for the latest American building innovations including veneered plywood and suspended metal ductwork for forced air heating. Taking influence from Le Corbusier's
modulor
The Modulor is an anthropometric scale of proportions devised by the Swiss-born French architect Le Corbusier (1887–1965).
It was developed as a visual bridge between two incompatible scales, the Imperial and the metric systems. It is based ...
, Raymond used the traditional Japanese module of the
ken
Ken or KEN may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer.
* ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film.
* ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine.
* Ken Masters, a main character in ...
(based upon the size of
tatami
A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for traini ...
mats) as a unit of measure to set out the building's structure. Again he used fusuma partitions and shoji screens, but in a modern way to divide up the spaces.
Raymond sought to use the design and construction of the office as a platform to inform prototype dwellings for the post war reconstruction of Japan.
In 1955, Raymond began a commission in
Takasaki, Gunma
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as t ...
Prefecture for a Music Centre to house the Gunma Symphony Orchestra. Out of respect for the historic site and the budget constraints, he designed a building built on three premises: it would have an economical structural system, there would be equality of sight lines and acoustics for each seat, and the building would have a low profile without a
fly tower
A fly system, or theatrical rigging system, is a system of rope lines, blocks (pulleys), counterweights and related devices within a theater (structure), theater that enables a stage crew to fly (hoist) quickly, quietly and safely components suc ...
. Raymond achieved these aims by using a series of thick, reinforced concrete ribs connected together like an accordion and spanning .
In 1961, he was commissioned to design the Catholic-based
Nanzan University
is a private, Catholic and coeducational higher education institution run by the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in the Shōwa Ward of Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious private universiti ...
in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
. It was one of the largest projects that he would undertake. The campus was orientated on a north–south axis across rolling hills and the eight buildings were arranged to suit the topography and harmonise with the landscape. In-situ concrete is used throughout the scheme and each building has its own concrete form, some with
pilotis
Pilotis, or piers, are supports such as columns, pillars, or stilts that lift a building above ground or water. They are traditionally found in stilt and pole dwellings such as fishermen's huts in Asia and Scandinavia using wood, and in elev ...
, others with
shells.
Located to the east of the Nanzan Campus is the Divine Word Seminary Chapel (1962). This is a building that exploits the plastic capacity of concrete, with two intersecting shells forming a bell tower. These are punctured with vertical slots which allow light to radiate along the curved interior walls.
Influence of his wife Noémi Raymond
![Antonin Raymond and Noémi Pernessin in New York, ca](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Antonin_Raymond_and_No%C3%A9mi_Pernessin_in_New_York%2C_ca._1914.png)
Born in 1889 in
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...
to Swiss-French parents, Noémi moved to New York in 1900, and later studied Fine Art and Philosophy at
Columbia Teachers College
Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...
. Here, she was influenced by the painter and educator
Arthur Wesley Dow
Arthur Wesley Dow (1857 – December 13, 1922) was an American painter, printmaker, photographer and an arts educator.
Early life
Arthur Wesley Dow was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1857. Dow received his first art training in 1880 from An ...
. During Raymond's period of training as a painter, Noémi supported them both by doing graphic work for publications like the
New York Sun
''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...
and
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
. When they both moved to Taliesin she became interested in 3D design. She also polished her knowledge of Japanese crafts, becoming a broker for clients such as
Rudolph Schindler's wife, Pauline Gibling.
Noémi's influence on Raymond during the inter-war years was substantial. She encouraged him to break away from Wright's rigid style and explore the design of the Reinanzaka House. She increased her interest in Japanese art and philosophy, including
ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...
woodblock prints and introduced Raymond to various influential people, including the mystic philosopher
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a ...
.
She expanded her design repertoire to include textiles, rugs, furniture, glass and silverware. Noémi exhibited in Tokyo in 1936 and New York in 1940, and her textiles were chosen by American designers like
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whi ...
to cover furniture in their designs.
Noémi also contributed to the design of the studio in Nishiazabu and a series of Raymond's villas during the 1950s, including the Hayama Villa (1958).
A legacy in concrete
![Divine Word Seminary Nanzan University 2014 (6)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Divine_Word_Seminary_Nanzan_University_2014_%286%29.jpg)
When Wright left, Raymond set up his own office, he advertised himself as a specialist in reinforced concrete. He was aware of its textural properties from Cass Gilbert, its structural ones from Wright, and its benefits in relation to earthquake proofing. His first major independent project in 1921 was to design
Hoshi Pharmaceutical School, which was one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in Tokyo. Raymond used precast concrete to form decorative elements for the building, such as window mullions. In a partially successful experiment, he used wooden
formwork
Formwork is Molding (process), molds into which concrete or similar materials are either precast concrete, precast or cast-in-place concrete, cast-in-place. In the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering mold ...
to imprint a texture onto the concrete (but he chose to cover it up).
On the Reinanzaka House, the labourers were skilled in the use of wood, and helped Raymond engrain the texture of cedar onto the concrete. This was further explored on the Tetsuma Akaboshi and the Morinosuke Kawasaki houses, where the concrete walls of the luxurious interiors were imprinted with cypress textures. On the Karuizawa Studio, workmen polished the concrete with sand and straw to reveal the texture of the aggregate. Whilst at Nanzan University, the south facing facades were cast with checkerboard patterns, with applied metalwork casting abstract shadows on the surface.
Raymond's techniques endeared him to the Japanese architectural psyche, and in 1958, the editor of the architectural magazine Shinkenchiku, Yoshioka Yasugoro remarked, "it is doubtful that concrete is handled with such pains anywhere except in Japan. The idea of an exposed concrete surface seems to fit in with Japanese ideas of decor." Post war architects like
Tadao Ando have become famous for their use of exposed concrete.
Raymond's use of a traditional post and beam structure in concrete for the Reinanzaka House was a technique that was adopted by post war Japanese architects such as Kenzo Tange.
Predating Le Corbusier's work in
Chandigarh
Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...
, the Golconde dormitory used a monolithic concrete structure with deep overhangs and louvres to adapt to specific climatic conditions. The building pioneered the use of reinforced concrete in India.
Antonin Raymond died at St. Mary's Hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, on 25 October 1976, aged 88.
[ His wife Noémi died four years later, aged 91. Raymond Architectural Design Office continues to practice in Tokyo.
]
Selected works
* Tokyo Woman's Christian College, Tokyo (1921–1938)
* Reinanzaka House, Tokyo (1924)
* Hoshi University Main Building, Tokyo (1924)
* Ehrismann Residence, Yamate, Yokohama (1927)
* Italian Embassy Villa, Nikko (1929)
* Troedsson Villa, Nikko (1931)
* Tokyo Golf Club, Asaka (1932)
* Summer House, Karuizawa (1933)
* Akeboshi Tetsuma House, Tokyo (1933)
* Morinosuke Kawasaki House, Tokyo (1934)
* Tokyo Woman's Christian College Chapel/Auditorium (1934)
* Raymond Farm, New Hope (1939)
* The Huyler Building
The Huyler Building is a historic commercial and office building located in downtown Buffalo in Erie County, New York. It was built in 1926, and is a four-story, four bay, reinforced concrete building faced in cast stone and brick in the Classic ...
, Buffalo, New York (interior) (1939–1940)
* St. Joseph the Worker Church, Victorias City, Negros, the Philippines (1949)
* Raymond House and Studio, Azabu (1951)
* Reader's Digest Offices, Tokyo (1951)
* Cunningham House, Tokyo (1954)
* St. Anselm's Church, Tokyo (1954)
* Yawata Steel Otani Gymnasium, KitaKyushu (1955), (GoogleEarth 33.862184,130.806841)
* Yaskawa Head Offices, KitaKyushu, (1954)
* St. Alban's Church, Tokyo (1956)
* Hayama Villa, Hayama (1958)
* Moji Golf Club, KitaKyushu (1959)
* St. Michael's Church, Sapporo (1960)
* New Studio, Karuizawa (1962)
* St. Paul Church, Shiki (1963)
* St. Paul's Chapel, Rikkyo Niiza Junior and Senior High School
is a private boys' junior and senior high school in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, in the Tokyo metropolitan area. It is affiliated with Rikkyo University.
First established at Ikebukuro in 1948, Rikkyo Senior High School moved to a new camp ...
, Niiza Campus, Saitama (1963)
* Nanzan University Campus (1964)
* Chapel and Lecture Hall, Rikkyo Boys Primary School, Tokyo (1966)
Awards
* 1952 Architectural Institute of Japan
The Architectural Institute of Japan, or AIJ, is a Japanese professional body for architects, building engineers, and researchers in architecture.
The institute was founded in 1886 as an institute for architects. It was renamed the Architectural ...
Award for the Reader's Digest Building
* 1956 Medal of Honor by the New York Chapter of American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
* 1957 First Honor Award of the American Institute of Architects and the Yawata Steel Worker's Union Memorial Hall Award of Merit
* 1964 Third Class, Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...
by Emperor Hirohito
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
* 1965 Design Award from the Architectural Institute of Japan for his design of Nanzan University, Nagoya
Publications
* 1935 ''Antonin Raymond: His Work in Japan 1920–1935'' published by Jônan Shoin, Tokyo
* 1938 ''Architectural Details'' published by the International Architectural Association, Tokyo
* 1962 ''The Works of Antonin Raymond'' Architectural Association Journal
* 1967 ''Watakushi to nihon kenchiku (Myself and Japanese Architecture)'' A collection of writings and lectures, published by Kajima Shuppansha, Tokyo
* 1970 ''Jiden'' (autobiography) published in Japanese by Kajima Shuppansha, Tokyo
* 1973 ''Antonin Raymond: An Autobiography'' published by Charles E. Tuttle Company of Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, Japan
See also
*Czech Republic–Japan relations
Bilateral relations between the Czech Republic and Japan were established in 1919 by Czechoslovakia and Japan.
History
The diplomatic relation between Czechoslovakia and Japan was established in 1919. Czech architect Antonin Raymond was the hon ...
*Junzō Yoshimura
was a Japanese architect.
Early career
Yoshimura dated his desire to become an architect to the day he first entered Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, shortly after the Kanto earthquake of 1923. "“It was the first time that I fel ...
Footnotes
References
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External links
Antonin Raymond and George Nakashima
(in Japanese, Flash required)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raymond, Antonin
1888 births
1976 deaths
20th-century Czech people
Czech architects
20th-century American architects
American people of Czech descent
American expatriates in Japan
Czech expatriates in Japan
People from Kladno
Czech Technical University in Prague alumni
Recipients of the Order of the White Lion
People from New Hope, Pennsylvania
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class