ON THE THEORY OF ARCHITECTURAL EVOLUTION BY MAKINO MASAMI AND THE CONTROVERSY OVER IT

Abstract

This paper is the first part of a study of discourses by Makino Masami (1903-1983) in modern Japan, and is based on a study presented at Architectural Institute of Japan Kinki Branch research report (Planning system) in 2010 and 2015. The purpose of this paper is to clarify and to examine his theory of architectural evolution and the controversy over it. After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University (present the University of Tokyo) in 1927, Makino was employed at the Okura-doboku Corporation (present Taisei Corporation). He went to France, and became a disciple of Le Corbusier in 1928. After he returned to Japan in 1929, he was widely active as a writer, a lecturer and an architect, and then a treatise called “Kenchiku-shicho o kataru (On the architectural theory)”, in which he pointed out the laws concerning architectural evolution. In the second chapter, some historians presented the view that Makino did not give a lecture titled “Kenchiku-shicho o kataru” with the same name as his treatise, but the author clarified Makino gave the lecture from some articles of academic journal “Architecture Journal” and other journals of architecture published. In the third chapter, the author digested the treatise “Kenchiku-shicho o kataru”, consisting of 4 chapters. The points of these chapters are as follows: 1) There is a nature that exists constantly inside an architecture, called “Idenshitsu (gene)”, “Kenchiku no honshitsu (the essence of architecture)”, or “Kenchiku-shicho (architectural thought)”. 2) The essence of Japanese architecture is discussed by applying the theory of architectural evolution to Japanese architecture. The points concerning it are as follows: the Japanese mind who love nature, simplicity, implicity, and neatness. 3) Modern architectural thought focuses on functionalism and efficiency including economy. International architecture especially attaches more importance to the economy than a straight external appearance. 4) The similarities between Japanese and modern architectural thoughts is discussed, and proposes a future course that Japanese architecture should take in response to it. In the fourth chapter, the author ascertained the various responses which the “Kenchiku-shicho o kataru” evoked. Particularly the controversy over the theory of architectural evolution, between Makino and Magara Tozo (1904-1985), held in “Architecture Journal” in 1930 were intense. In the fifth chapter, the author chronologically summarized the developments and points of the controversy. Magara criticized the ideal side of the theory of architectural evolution from the historical materialism point of view. He claimed that the essence of architecture did not a priori exist, scientifically derived from experiment and observation of social and economic facts rather than idea. Makino objected that the thought which emphasizes economic factor was a biased view. The theory of architectural evolution was metaphorically explained by the evolution of a biological species, then the gene, called “Idenshitsu”, “Kenchiku no honshitsu” or “Kenchiku-shicho”, did not exist outside the architecture but inside one. A form exposed from it and kept in step with the times, thus he did not attach importance to an old form. Magara's criticisms, however, were very severe and based on a Marxist point of view. In the 1920s, Marxism rapidly spread among the students in higher schools of the old system and imperial universities as the socialist movement became more popular and some books about Marxism based upon historical materialism were published. Then the architectural histories and theories based on historical materialism was published. The controversy over Makino's theory reflected the intellects and students class spirit during the Taisho era.