*The image is view from the “Atami Villa (Kyu Hyuga Bettei)”

Today is a side story of Bruno Taut “Atami Villa” 1 / Bruno Taut “Atami Villa” 2.

I wrote about the guide when I visited the Atami Villa in the last article, I introduce about wonderful leanings from the guide.

Taut found the Japanese beauties in Katsura Imperial Villa, Ise Shrine and Shirakawago, and he disseminated them to the word by his books. Today’s blog is about why Japanese architectures attract him.

First, the “Unostentatiousness”.
Katsura Imperial Villa is a “Villa” and Ise Shrine is a “Religious Facility”, but they are humble and simple. The colors from nature are modest. On the one hand, Western villas and religious facilities are gorgeous, also they are colorful. They are opposite of Japan. The architectures are modest in Japan and they are gorgeous in the Wet, but how about clothes? Japanese traditional clothes are Kimono, right it is very colorful and gorgeous. The color of the upper class more vividly, more layers and the hairstyle becomes big and gorgeous. The clothes in the West is dress, dresses look modest and colorless, especially in the Middle Ages.

Japanese culture which is gorgeous clothes look best in the modest space, and Western culture which is modest clothes look best in the gorgeous space. I see, both has good balance.

I introduced about Bruno Taut last blog, I write about the “Atami Villa (Kyu Huga Villa)” this time.

The client was Mr. Rihei Hyuga who was active in trade business in Asia. FYI – the wooden two-storied main house was designed by Jin Watanabe who also designed Wako department in Ginza, the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno and Aichi prefectural office. I think the client Mr. Hyuga knew about art & culture very well and had a nice sense of beauty. Also I heard that Mr. Hyuga said “You can design whatever you want no matter how much it costs” to Taut. Such a dream project it was that the client trusted Taut, left all of it up to Taut and no money restriction. I think client’s understanding for design is necessary to create something great.

This Atami Villa is well know as a “A cellar of the annex” but I think “A guest room for social place” is more suitable for this space. Because there are three rooms and there is also a big window that you can see the Pacific Ocean, it is very luxurious “cellar”.

Atami (a pleasant seaside resort west of Tokyo in Shizuoka Prefecture) is famous as nice Onsen area, also it attracts attention as great architectures for architecture lovers.
I visited MOA art museum and Bruno Taut “Atami Villa” (official name is Kyu Hyuga Bettei).

First talking about Bruno Taut, he was a German architect and his style is categorized Expressionism. He was active as an avant-garde architect in Berlin. He was also active as a city planner by designing housing complexes. You can live his house still now but it is difficult to live there because it is very popular.

He went to the Soviet Union but he returned to Berlin after a few years, then he headed to Switzerland in order to escape persecution with the emergence of Nazi. He arrived in Japan after Turkey and European countries, invited by Japan International Architecture. He was raised in Europe where Japonism was a heyday. Perhaps his dream came true to come to his dream country Japan.

In 1930, he arrive in Tsuruga, Fukui prefecture and he had a fateful encounter in Kyoto. He met “Katsura Imperial Villa”. He expressed the villa “It makes me almost cry, it is so beautiful…” All his ideal design was there. He was the first person who introduced Katsura Imperial Villa to the world, he wrote about it some books. I have a lot about the villa but not this time.