1905: Frank Lloyd Wright Goes to Japan

Image Sources for the Imperial Hotel: 1 , 2

Innovation: Frank Lloyd Wright Goes to Japan
Location: Tokyo and other cities, Japan
Year: 1905, 1917-1922
By: Frank Lloyd Wright

An avid collector and dealer of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, Frank Lloyd Wright first traveled to Japan in 1905 and lived in Tokyo from 1917-1922. During this time, he designed 14 buildings—of which 6 were built—including the Imperial Hotel, the Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan, and the Tazaemon Yamamura House. According to historians, this proliferation of work may have aided him both financially and creatively after he returned to the United States [1].

Wright’s Asian influences have had significant impact on architecture and building technologies. While working on the Imperial Hotel, he hired a Czech architect named Antonin Raymond, who would go on to become the father of modern architecture in Japan. Raymond was influenced by Wright to use reinforced, wood-textured concrete in buildings. A notable example of this technique appears on the Reinanzaka House, which employed concrete engrained with the texture of cedar [2].

Web links to more information: 1 , 2
Information on the Reinanzaka House

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