Paper short abstract:

I examine the resonances between the work of architect Murano Tōgo and the writings of philosopher Tanaka Ōdō on William James' philosophy of pragmatism, in particular Murano's staging of promenades that intertwines his personal sensibilities with established cultural codes in Japan.

Paper long abstract:

In his response to a journal's questionnaire in 1957, the architect Murano Tōgo (1891-1984) cited the writings of the philosopher Tanaka Ōdō (1867–1932) as one of the literary sources that impressed him at the time of his graduation from college. Although Murano left behind only fragmentary comments on Ōdō, it is clear that the latter's essays had a profound impact on the architect. Having studied in the United States in the 1890s under the Chicago Pragmatists, Ōdō played a critical role in disseminating the philosophy of pragmatism in Japan, as filtered through his own reconfigurations. I will map out similarities between the thoughts of Murano and Ōdō on such issues as individualism, the role of art in society, and imitation as an artistic strategy, and explain how these came to be expressed in Murano's architecture throughout his career. Special attention will be given to the parallel between William James's idea of stream of thought as discussed by Ōdō and the way Murano dramatized the architectural promenade as a locus of communication between himself and the wider public in a design program that alternately deferred to and critiqued established cultural codes. Examples discussed include Osaka Panshon, Chiyoda Life Insurance Headquarters, and Shin-Takanawa Prince Hotel.

Murano is a controversial figure who garnered both deep respect and sharp criticism from his contemporaries in Japan but, curiously, remains little studied abroad. In associating his methods to the thought of Ōdō and James, I propose Murano to be a quintessentially modern architect who drew inspiration from international intellectual currents to create an architecture anchored in Japanese cultural practices, one that is at once legible in its intention and organization but also open and theatrical in the specificities of individual experience, embodying a mode of artistic production from which one can still learn in today's globalized world.