Mayan temple in Tokyo. Demolished Imperial Hotel

The Imperial Hotel in Tokyo was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most unique works. The originality of the building lay in its exotic Neo-Mayan style, referring to the ornamentation of pre-Columbian civilisations. The grand hotel complex survived the earthquake, bombing during the Second World War, but was left without a chance against the modernist 1960s. Today, a new high-rise Imperial Hotel stands on the site of the old building. Interestingly, a fragment of Wright’s work has been preserved and transferred to an architectural museum near Nagoya.

Exotic passions

Wright’s fascination with Mayan and Japanese cultures began long before his first architectural projects. His interest in the former was sparked as a child by illustrated books on expeditions to the Yucatan peninsula. At the end of the 19th century, Mayan buildings also intrigued his mentor, Louis Sullivan, the designer of the famous Guaranty skyscraper in Buffalo. Over time, the architect became convinced that it was not European models, but rather Pre-Columbian architecture that should set the rules for true American style.

In contrast, the Japanese sense of beauty fascinated Wright a little later. The architect began collecting Japanese woodcuts and other objects related to the country. In 1893, he had the opportunity to observe this stunning art in the Japanese pavilion at the World Exhibition in Chicago. He even managed to visit the Land of the Cherry Blossom in the early 20th century, and in time, the twists and turns of life encouraged him to stay longer. Importantly, the architect paid little attention to the modern developments of the ongoing Meiji Era (Era of Light Government) and focused more on traditional castles and pagodas.

public domain photo
Zobacz

Japanese asylum

In 1914, the architect’s beloved Mamah Bortwick Cheney was murdered along with six others by a servant. Following the crime, the perpetrator set fire to the Taliesin house designed by Wright. During the period in which the tragedy occurred, Wright was drawing up the design for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. The architect had received this commission through a recommendation of his work by a friendly collector of Japanese art. Interestingly, over the course of several years, the architect sailed to Japan only once, to view the plot.

Taliesin II was already rebuilt in 1915, and a year later the architect hosted a Japanese delegation to agree on the final plan for the investment. Following this visit, a period of several, months-long trips to Japan began. The last of these ended in the summer of 1922, and the building was completed almost a year later.

It is worth noting that the first Imperial Hotel was built back in 1890, a time of intense modernisation in a backward country. Europeans were the symbol of modernity, so the massive hotel was meant to resemble the eclectic French buildings of the Second Empire. The hotel slowly began to fill up, until eventually the owners decided to build a new, larger building. Unfortunately, as a result of a fire in 1922, the original building burned down. As history shows, this was not the last tragedy of the Hotel Imperial.

Mayan temple

When word spread in America about the new Wright-designed hotel in Tokyo, everyone thought the building would draw on the architecture of Japan. Quite the opposite was thought by the Japanese, who expected a modern American hotel. In the end, the architect surprised everyone with his ‘Mayan temple’.

The low but sprawling hotel was designed on an “H” plan, which was next cut by a vertical axis of symmetry. The building defied the modern trend of vertical edifices and opted for a horizontal layout. What’s more, the hotel was very large, with room inside for 250 rooms, a huge banquet hall capable of seating a thousand people and an equally large theatre.

From the outside, the Imperial Hotel was stunning with exotic decorations carved into the porous oya stone. This local volcanic rock is easy to work with and is characterised by its soft grey colour. Such stone blended perfectly with red brick, concrete and terracotta. Geometric, Mayan decorations also made their way inside.

photo Department of Image Collections National Gallery of Art Library, wikimedia, CC 4.0

The indestructible hotel

Guests were greeted by a high lobby with a mezzanine floor and heavy stone columns. Upon entering the sanctuary, it was apparent that the long corridors were not very wide, a characteristic feature of Wright’s work. Another trademark of the architect is the interior colour scheme, which is kept in brick red. In addition, reliefs and other stone-carved ornaments were scattered throughout the building to emphasise the exotic, mysterious character. Some of the reliefs even resemble ancient altars. There was also room for colourful Mayan paintings. It should be added that these magnificences were mainly admired by Americans and Europeans, and the Japanese rarely stayed overnight.

The architect also designed the furniture and lamps in his iconic style. One particularly recognisable piece is a chair with a hexagonal backrest resembling a peacock feather (Peacock Chair). Wright’s furniture was characterised by an emphasis on sharp, geometric shapes that expressed the spirit of the time. Unfortunately, the furnishings from the hotel have not survived to the present day.

The engineering aspect of the hotel is also worth noting. Even during the final works, the ground beneath the new hotel began to shake. Admittedly, the quake did not cause any serious damage, but it was a harbinger of a much greater tragedy. In 1923, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale devastated many Japanese cities. Tokyo was heavily affected, but to everyone’s surprise the newly opened Imperial Hotel emerged from the disaster in good condition. The damage was noticeable, but the building did not collapse. The hotel survived thanks to floating foundations supported on a reinforced concrete base.

photo by Morio, wikimedia, CC 4.0

If not war, then modernity

The second test of endurance came with the heavy bombardment of Tokyo during World War II. Nearly 60 per cent of the city was burned in bomb fire. The Imperial Hotel was partially destroyed, but only the south wing suffered significant damage. By the end of the war, reconstruction of the hotel had already begun.

Unfortunately, over time the building began to become too small and unprofitable, and the lack of funds for renovation reduced its attractiveness. In the rebuilt high Tokyo, there was no longer room for an outdated relic. In 1967, the former ‘Pearl of the Orient’ was demolished and a new seventeen-storey hotel opened in its place. The décor of the new building partly refers to the original, but it is not the same ornate ‘Mayan temple’. Some of the stone reliefs were taken out of the old hotel and arranged in the corridors of the successor.

Fortunately, Wright’s homage to Japan can be admired at the Meiji-mura Museum located near Nagoya. The body of the hotel was disassembled and transported, then reassembled in the open museum of Meiji period architecture. In this way, it was possible to preserve at least a fragment of this exotic work. Interestingly, the hotel management plans to rebuild the Wright building in the distant future. You can read a little more about the unique Neo-Meijian style in the text describing Wright’s other project, the Samuel-Novarro House in Los Angeles.

Source: Imperial Hotel

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