Special Exhibition Commemorating the Renovation of Edo-Tokyo Museum: "Western-Style Architecture: Dreams and Challenges of the Meiji Era" Held. Phantom National Diet Building Plans Unveiled for the First Time in Japan
At the Edo-Tokyo Museum's renovation commemorative exhibition, Meiji-era Western-style architecture and the dreams and challenges of modernization are introduced through spatial reconstructions and first-time public displays.Summary
As the second installment of special exhibitions marking the reopening of the Edo-Tokyo Museum after large-scale renovations, an exhibition titled "Western-Style Architecture: Dreams and Challenges of the Meiji Era" is being held, focusing on Western-style architecture as a symbol of Japan's modernization. Through more than 200 materials, including Important Cultural Properties and items unveiled for the first time in Japan, the exhibition traces the "dreams" entrusted to architecture by people of the time and their "challenges" in tackling unprecedented technologies. In the exhibition space, celebrated Tokyo buildings such as the First National Bank, Rokumeikan, and Shibusawa Residence are recreated using panoramic techniques. The configuration allows visitors to relive the liveliness of waterfronts, the bustle of the city, and the flow of time within Western-style buildings through audio and motion-based presentations. Phantom design proposals such as Endel & Beckmann's "Perspective Exterior View of the National Diet Building" (c. 1887–88) are unveiled for the first time in Japan, creating an exhibition where even architecture enthusiasts can physically feel the "amazement" held by people of that era.
(Source：美術手帖)