Abstract
Structural engineers, whose contribution is often indispensable to the realization of iconic buildings, are seldom honoured to the same degree as the architects with whom they collaborate. Mamoru Kawaguchi, Japanese structural engineer and Emeritus Professor at Hosei University, Tokyo, was one such.
Mamoru Kawaguchi (courtesy Kawaguchi, Engineer).
Born in Fukui City, Japan, on 21 October 1932, Mamoru Kawaguchi was the eldest son in a family of eight siblings – three older and three younger sisters and a younger brother. His early life was affected by two major events: first, the consequences of Japan’s entry into the second World War in 1941, after which young boys like him were educated to become soldiers willing to sacrifice their lives for their country and, second, the powerful earthquake that struck Fukui in 1948. Shortly before the end of the war, Fukui was bombed. The family house was destroyed but the family survived. After rebuilding it was again destroyed in the earthquake. The death of his father in 1950 following these traumatic events prevented him, as the eldest son, pursuing his ambition to study at a university in Tokyo, and he entered Fukui University in 1951. There he was influenced by the values of Professor Hirohiko Yoshida, who taught structural mechanics but also introduced his students to more cultural activities – sketching, sculpture, music and Japanese folk songs.
In 1955, Mamoru became a student of Professor Yoshikatsu Tsuboi (1907–1990), at the graduate school of the University of Tokyo, having been recommended to him by Yoshida. Tsuboi, who had been building innovative reinforced concrete shells with the architect Kenzō Tange (1913–2005), influenced Mamoru greatly with his interest in the relationship between rationality of structural design and architectural aesthetics. Following completion of his MEng degree, as one of the chief engineers in Tsuboi’s Institute, Mamoru Kawaguchi worked closely with the project’s architect Kenzō Tange and associates on the first Yoyogi National Stadium (used for swimming and diving) and with Dr Shigeya Kawamata, chief engineer for the second Stadium (smaller Annex) (basketball), for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, in 1964. He was responsible for the structural design, including the iconic cable–suspended semi-rigid roof structure which spans 126 m between the main columns. The structure is similar in principle to a suspension bridge but cleverly adjusted for architectural design by introducing semi-rigid elements. This iconic stadium will be used for handball in the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Yoyogi National Stadium and smaller Annex, for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, in 1964 (courtesy Kawaguchi, Engineer).
A later collaboration with Tange resulted in the Expo’ 70 Symbol Zone Space Frame, in Osaka, a 300 m × 100 m × 10 m deep steel space grid canopy supported on just six columns, and roofed with novel 10 m × 10 m translucent inflated cushions. At the same Expo, working with architect Yutaka Murata (1917–1988), he also engineered the Fuji Group Pavilion, comprising 16 brightly coloured, air-inflated, arching tubes arranged on a 50-m diameter base and a 23-m diameter hybrid floating theatre of inflated tubes and negatively pressurized membranes for the Electric Power Pavilion.
Expo’ 70 Symbol Zone Space Frame, Osaka (courtesy Kawaguchi, Engineer).
Fuji Group Pavilion, Expo’ 70, Osaka (courtesy Kawaguchi, Engineer).
In the early 1980s, Mamoru Kawaguchi developed the ‘Pantadome’ system, based on the foldability of a pantograph, as a method for pre-assembling large spatial structures safely at or near ground level. The initial roof structural geometry is designed as a mechanism that, subsequently, can be deployed (pushed up) and fixed once the roof has achieved its final stable form. Examples of the system’s application are the Singapore National Indoor Stadium (1989), with Kenzō Tange, and the Sant Jordi Sports Palace, for the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, in 1992, in collaboration with Arata Isozaki and associates. A further Pantadome project with Isozaki was the Nara Centennial Hall (1998) where both walls and roof were initially in a folded state.
Pantadome System: Sant Jordi Sports Palace, Summer Olympics, in Barcelona, 1992 (courtesy Kawaguchi, Engineer).
Mamoru Kawaguchi first met Arata Isozaki (1931–) while studying for his Master’s in Tokyo, during a seminar given by architect Konrad Wachsmann (1901–1980). This led to a long-standing and very productive professional relationship. One particularly innovative structural solution was applied at the Ceramic Park MINO, Gifu, Japan (2002). Here, it was necessary to protect extremely fragile ceramic artefacts from damage due to seismic activity. Kawaguchi’s solution was to use a pendulum-based system to isolate the 1300 tonne, 900 m2 floor, which is suspended from 32 pinned hangers.
Not all of Mamoru Kawaguchi’s inventive structures have been developed with architects. In Japan, fabric carp kites, typically 3–5 m in length, are flown on 5 May to celebrate Children’s Day. But in 1988, Mamoru was approached by residents of Kazo City, famous for the carp kite production, to advise on their failed attempt to fly a 100-m-long carp to advertise their carp-making skills. With his suggested modifications following wind tunnel tests, eventually the massive carp (jumbo koinobori) lifted gracefully into the sky, suspended from the jib of a crane.
Jumbo koinobori, Kazo City (courtesy Kawaguchi, Engineer).
Mamoru’s innovation also extended to award-winning bridge design. In the slender 35-m span Inachus Bridge, Oita, Japan (1994), pre-stressed natural stone – imported from Yantai, the city of Beppu’s sister city in China – replaces the more conventional reinforced concrete of the deck, which is supported from below by a chain-like steel tie and tubular steel props.
Inachus Bridge, Oita, Japan (courtesy Kawaguchi, Engineer).
During his long and distinguished career as a structural engineer, Mamoru Kawaguchi received many honours and awards, including from the Architectural Institute of Japan (Space Frame at Expo’ 70 (1970); Sun Dome Fukui (1997); commendation for Inachus Bridge (1996) and Grand Prize (2015)). In the academic field, he was made a full Professor at Hosei University in 1972; awarded an Honorary Dr.Eng. by the University of Stuttgart (1997) – where he had first visited in 1966 to meet Curt Siegel (1911–2004) while translating his philosophical book on structure and architecture into Japanese; Honorary Dr.Eng. by the Slovak University of Technology (Bratislava), 1998; and made Emeritus Professor at Hosei University in 2003. Inspired by his design and development of non-conventional structures, among his many memberships of academic and professional bodies, Mamoru took a particular interest in the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS). Mamoru’s mentor Yoshikatsu Tsuboi was President of IASS, at the time of his death in 1990, a role that Mamoru took on at short notice until the end of Tsuboi’s term and then again in his own right from 2000 to 2006.
From a personal point of view, I shall always be extremely appreciative of the friendship and support offered by Mamoru over a period of more than 25 years. Without his assistance, my book on Space Grid Structures would not have been so wide-ranging, as he generously provided full details of his own projects and acted as a channel of communication on my behalf with other designers and companies in Japan. In 1997, I chaired the third Colloquium of the IASS Working Group 15: Structural Morphology (SMG3), held at the School of Architecture, University of Nottingham. Shortly before the early registration deadline, early one morning a long ribbon of paper snaked from the department’s fax machine. To my great surprise, this was from Mamoru – registrations for about 20 of his friends and colleagues in the Japanese construction industry, which ensured SMG’s financial viability. On the last day, Mamoru gave an unscheduled presentation ‘Supporting structures or structures being supported’ in which he pointed out that structures are not always as they seem. At the closing dinner, he successfully completed the after-dinner tensegrity puzzle!
Success with the after-dinner tensegrity puzzle at SMG3, 1997.
In 2009, once again he offered similar support for the colloquium ‘Timber Structures from Antiquity to the Present’ I co-chaired with Ishan Mungan, in Istanbul. On that occasion, unfortunately, his colleagues withdrew their registration shortly before the event due to a ‘swine flu’ health scare but Mamoru was determined to attend. He presented his paper ‘Technology and sophistication in design of Japanese traditional structures’, a topic that he said may include ‘expressional indeterminacy’, the study of which ‘. . . may be useful to broaden the range of our capability of understanding modern architecture’.
Mamoru Kawaguchi will be remembered for his deep understanding of spatial structures, acquired through extensive experimentation inspired by his sense of curiosity and innovation over a wide range of materials and structural systems, but also for his kindness, humour, generosity and love of life.
Mamoru Kawaguchi is survived by his wife Fukimo, three sons and one daughter.