was a Japanese

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research List of structural elements, structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of ...

. He is considered the "father of the Japanese skyscraper" for his contributions to earthquake engineering.

Earthquake engineering research

Mutō was born in

Toride 260px, Ohori-no-watashi is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 103,717 in 47,545 households and a population density of 1482 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 34 ...

, Ibaraki,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He entered the Department of Architecture at

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

(now the University of Tokyo) in 1922 and graduated in 1925. He was immediately appointed Lecturer, and obtained a Dr of Engineering degree in 1931. In 1935, he was appointed Professor of Structural Engineering, a post which he held for almost 30 years, developing and teaching the principles of earthquake-resistant design. Among his best known contributions was the development of a simple but accurate method for routine structural analysis of a moment resisting frame under lateral loading. Known as the "D Method", it replaced tedious, time-consuming calculations with numerical tables, and was widely used for many years throughout the world. It was adopted into the Calculation Standard of the Architectural Institute of Japan in 1933.

Work as structural engineer

After retiring from the University of Tokyo in 1963, Muto became executive vice president of

Kajima Corporation is one of the oldest and largest construction companies in Japan. Founded in 1840, the company has its headquarters in Motoakasaka, Minato, Tokyo. The company is known for its DIB-200 proposal. The company stock is traded on four leading Japa ...

, a major construction company. He also founded his own company, the Muto Institute of Structural Mechanics, in 1965. At Kajima, he led the team that designed Japan's first high-rise building, the 36-story Kasumigaseki Building. Among his innovations for this building was first energy dissipation system used in Japan, a slit wall system consisting of precast reinforced concrete strips that stabilized the building under strong winds and small earthquakes and absorbed the energy of strong earthquakes.

Works

Mutō was the structural engineer for many of Tokyo's tallest and best-known buildings, including the following. *

Kasumigaseki Building The is a 36-story skyscraper located in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History The building is owned by the '' Kasumi Kaikan'' (霞会館), an association of the former ''kazoku'' high nobility. The plot was once owned by the ''Kazoku Kaikan'' ...

(1967) *

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

(1970) *

Keio Plaza Hotel is a chain of hotels in Japan, the largest of which is its flagship hotel in the Nishi-Shinjuku district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The Keio Plaza Hotel is featured in the 1984 film ''The Return of Godzilla'' and the 1991 film '' Godzilla vs. Ki ...

(1971) *

Shinjuku Mitsui Building The is a high-rise building in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo. It is owned by Mitsui Fudosan. It was the tallest building in Tokyo and Japan from September 1974 to March 1978, when Sunshine 60 was completed. It was built in the style of high-r ...

(1974) *

Sunshine 60 is a 60-story, mixed-use skyscraper located in Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, adjoining the Sunshine City complex. At the time of its completion in 1978, the 239.7 m (787 ft) building was the tallest in Asia, a title it held until 1985 ...

(1978) *

Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka The was an upscale hotel in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The site of the former hotel is now the location of a mixed-use development named Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho. A design of Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, the hotel was well known for its "d ...

(1982) *

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building The , also referred to as the for short, is the seat of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which governs the special wards, cities, towns, and villages that constitute the Tokyo Metropolis. Located in Shinjuku ward, the building was designed ...

(1991)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muto, Kiyoshi People from Ibaraki Prefecture 1903 births 1989 deaths Structural engineers Earthquake engineering University of Tokyo alumni Laureates of the Imperial Prize 20th-century Japanese architects