Events are being held almost every week in various places this fall (2023), and when I saw an announcement for a lecture that would appeal to architecture enthusiasts, I was interested and went along.
Architect Shizutaro Urabe, who loved his hometown of Kurashiki and was loved by the city Shizutaro Urabe, and how he came to be involved in the development of Kurashiki.
Here is a report, including introductions to some of his representative buildings that were also featured in the lecture.
The information presented here is current as of the article’s publication in November 2023. Please note that it may differ from current information.
Architect Shizutaro Urabe’s Vision: The 30 Years Leading Up to the Simultaneous Opening of the City Art Museum, Library, and Natural History Museum
“Architect Shizutaro Urabe’s Vision: The 30 Years Leading Up to the Simultaneous Opening of the City Art Museum, Library, and Natural History Museum” was held on November 3, 2023, as part of the Kurashiki City Art Museum’s 2023 cultural lecture series and in celebration of its 40th anniversary.
The speaker was Kiyoshi Nishimura, President and Representative Director of Urabe Architects Co., Ltd.
I Attended the Lecture
The lecture venue, Kurashiki City Art Museum, was originally built as Kurashiki City Hall by Kenzo Tange, one of the great architects of the Showa era. This year (2023) marks 40 years since it was renovated into an art museum by Shizutaro Urabe.
This lecture is being held as part of the 40th-anniversary celebrations.
The venue is the auditorium on the third floor. Let’s take a look inside the building as we make our way there.
Lecture Overview
At last, the lecture begins.
It opened with an introduction to Shizutaro Urabe by the speaker, Mr. Nishimura.
While working in the construction and maintenance department of Kurashiki Rayon (now Kuraray), he worked on many buildings, including factory buildings and company housing. Many of them still stand today, more than half a century later.
One example is the “Kuraray Kurashiki Research Center,” north of Sakazu Park.
Even if you don’t know what the facility is, you may have seen it.
The lecture’s subtitle, “The 30 Years Leading Up to the Simultaneous Opening of the City Art Museum, Library, and Natural History Museum,” refers to the 30-year period from this “1953 Notebook” through 1983.
The notebook records the thoughts of Ohara Soichiro, then president of Kurashiki Rayon (now Kuraray), about developing Kurashiki. Shizutaro Urabe wrote them down, and many of the buildings envisioned in it were realized and still exist today.
Just as Ohara Magosaburo, who founded the Ohara Museum of Art, supported Kojima Torajiro as his patron, Ohara Soichiro supported Shizutaro Urabe as a patron of urban development. However, he fell ill and died before his vision was fulfilled.
The main focus of this lecture is how the urban-development vision conceived by Ohara Soichiro was brought to life.
Kurashiki Central Library
This library opened at the same time as the Kurashiki City Art Museum, the main subject of this lecture.
It was built to connect the adjacent Natural History Museum and the Kurashiki City Art Museum. Its design creates a sense of unity with the Natural History Museum, including a matching front facade.
The lighting on the stairs from the first to the second floor is the same as that used at Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel, and is a distinctive feature of Urabe’s architecture.
A birthday party celebrating the library’s 40th anniversary was being held in the children’s library, which has a wide selection of picture books and children’s books.
The children’s library is set into the west side of the first floor of Kurashiki City Art Museum.
I often used this library as a child, too, and now I wonder if this space was where I first became interested in architecture.
Ohara Museum of Art (Annex)
This is one of Shintaro Urabe’s signature works (Ohara Museum of Art (Annex) is currently closed for an extended period).
Lecturer Nishimura also said that he particularly likes the combination of this stone-wall-like exterior and Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel.
When it was featured on the NHK General TV program “Bura Tamori,” people also said that this place “is a boundary between the Bikan Historical Area (the former Kurashiki) and the new town.” Now that it’s been pointed out, I can certainly see that impression.
Before settling on this design, they considered many options and ultimately chose this design, which integrates the wall into the building.
The undulating roof design is so modern that it is hard to believe it dates back more than half a century.
It also blends well with the surrounding scenery.
I look forward to the day when we can once again view the works at the Ohara Museum of Art (Annex).
![[Closed] Ohara Museum of Art (Annex) — A museum supporting creative endeavors and keeping pace with the times](https://media.kuratoco.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/23060108/190215-101r-3.jpg)
Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel
“Let’s build a hotel worthy of the city of Kurashiki”—Shintaro Urabe responded to Ohara Soichiro’s vision as an architect.
The plans for the hotel’s construction were also recorded in the 1953 notebook under the title “Pub at HASHIMA,” and this hotel is the realization of those plans.
Displayed in the lobby, Munakata Shiko’s “Barrier of the Great World: Kon — From Humanity to the Gods” is one of the world’s largest woodblock prints, and it has continued to welcome visitors from the hotel’s opening to the present day.
A wooden model was also on display.
It had been exhibited at an exhibition held in 2019.
At the back is a garden directly connected to Shinkei-en Garden.
On a personal note, I held my wedding reception here, so this building holds a special place in my heart.
From the Writer
Having stood for 40 years, the Central Library has begun to show signs of age, and is set to move to the east side of the Kurashiki City Office Main Building. The Natural History Museum will also move in the near future to a location near Life Park Kurashiki.
Nothing has yet been decided about how the current sites of the Central Library and Natural History Museum will be used afterward.
I hope that the tradition of “Kurashiki, a city with its own distinctive character,” where the ideas of those who came before us live on, will be preserved and put to good use.
For those who would like to learn more about Urabe’s architecture, here are two books that were frequently cited as references during the lecture (both are held by the Central Library).
As an example of Seto Inland Sea architecture from the same era as Kenzo Tange, the book introduces Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel and the Ohara Museum of Art (Annex), designed by Shintaro Urabe. It also, of course, introduces Kurashiki City Art Museum (the former Kurashiki City Hall).
Although it is outside the prefecture (in Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture), the Ehime Folk Craft Museum is also featured in the book mentioned above.
It was designed by Urabe around the same time as Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel, and the two share many similarities.
It may have been part of Kuraray’s community outreach activities after the company expanded into Saijo City.
“The Vision of Architect Shizutaro Urabe: 30 Years Leading Up to the Simultaneous Opening of the City Art Museum, Library, and Natural History Museum” Information
| Name | The Vision of Architect Shizutaro Urabe: 30 Years Leading Up to the Simultaneous Opening of the City Art Museum, Library, and Natural History Museum |
|---|---|
| Date | November 3, 2023 2:00–3:30 p.m. |
| Location | Kurashiki City Art Museum, 3rd-floor auditorium |
| Admission (tax included) | Free |
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The catalog for a retrospective exhibition held at Kurashiki Ivy Square in 2019.
It also includes a detailed explanation of the “1953 notebook” discussed in this lecture by Nishimura.