Unknown Suns: László Hudec, Antonin Raymond and the Rising of a Modern Architecture for Eastern Asia

Anamaria Andreea Anghel,Joseph Cabeza-Lainez,Yingying Xu

doi:10.3390/buildings12020093

Anamaria Andreea Anghel, Joseph Cabeza-Lainez + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12020093

Copy DOI

Journal: Buildings	Publication Date: Jan 19, 2022
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Universidad de Sevilla

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to disclose the strenuous efforts of László Hudec in China and Antonin Raymond in Japan and India to create a modern architectural stance by heralding an incipient space syntax. At the turn of the 19th century, for dynastic, political and economic reasons, Eastern Asia had very little modern architecture. It is a surprising fact that, out of happenstance, two European architects, Antonin Raymond and László Hudec, had to intervene to remedy this situation, to the point of becoming 20th century icons in Japan and China. Their fruitful careers spanned over thirty years and included locations like Tamil Nadu and the Philippines. The oriental territories were not an easy ground for the bold architectural achievements that they produced. Despite faraway strangeness and uncountable personal losses, in revolutions and wars, which eventually forced them both to leave for the United States of America and never to return, they were successful in the manner of establishing a broad avenue for modern Asian architecture which is still recognizable today thanks to their systematic approach. However, theirs is an endangered heritage and the intention of this article is to offer a just remembrance of the way in which such actions could be performed, how they predated by many years a syntactic approach to architectural composition and why their legacy should be preserved.

Highlights

Received: 4 January 2022A score of years ago one of the authors of this article was present when the late and famed architect Peter Smithson delivered a speech to a devoted audience of the Architectural Association of Seville.When the turn came to explain his acclaimed project for the furniture factory Tecta in Germany, he produced a slide with a map of Europe
Hudec and Raymond are justly called pioneers of modern architecture because they were among the first western architects who came to Eastern Asia, developed as modern architects and managed to guide, transform and implement a new way of thinking and design based on oriental philosophy [28]
Once in Japan, far away from his native Europe, Raymond had to adapt his design processes. He tried to define what he considered to be the principles of a true modern architecture, everything based on the synthesis between his own pre-Japan experience and what he had learned since his arrival in Tokyo: space, structure, modulation as the essential philosophy of Japanese traditional architecture

Summary

Introduction

When the turn came to explain his acclaimed project for the furniture factory Tecta in Germany, he produced a slide with a map of Europe. He showed that the latitude of the construction site near Kassel was very similar to that of London, roughly 50 degrees north. ” and he went onwards explaining the particulars of his design. Smithson wanted to convey his great environmental concerns; he dared to work in this part of Germany because he deemed that the climate or at least the shadow casting of architectural forms were similar to that of his native London

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion