Last Monday, 20th March 2017, the Chair of Docomomo International, Prof. Ana Tostões, visited the Japanese Concert Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (1961), in Tokyo, Japan, designed by Kunio Maekawa. The visit was accompanied by the Professor of Tokyo Metropolitan University, Dr. Eng. Seiichi Fukao.

The Modscapes Kick-Off Event – Modernist Reinventions of the Rural Landscape –, that took place last 20 to 22 March, in Milan, Italy. The goal is to present the MODSCAPES project, funded by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) within the programme “Uses of the Past”. MODSCAPES deals with 20th-century large-scale agricultural development schemes, entailing reclamation works, inner colonisation, resettlement processes, landscape architecture. Conceived and implemented in the different geographical and political contexts, in Europe and beyond, such schemes for the modernization of the countryside were functional to nation-building policies. The resulting rural landscapes were largely overlooked as a transnational research…

Last 16th March, the Chair of Docomomo International, Prof. Ana Tostões, visited Marunouchi and Ginza, in Tokyo, through a guided tour by the Professor Yasushi Zenno, and accompanied by the Ginza Association, an association who works intensively to preserve and maintain the unique and exquisite Ginza character. Photographic report: Docomomo International Facebook page

The Third mASEANa International Conference — Modern Architectural Heritage in ASEAN and Japan — was held in the National Museum of Western Art and in The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, between 12th and 13th March 2017. “ASEAN countries today are taken an impressive leap forward. Yet in the whirlpool of the growth, many significant pieces of modern architecture are about to vanish before their value is truly recognised. Deeply concerned with this issue, in November 2015, Docomomo Japan and The Japan Foundation launched “mASEANa Project” as a platform for international discussion. In this March in Tokyo, mASEANa provides the opportunity to…

Last 9 March, the Chair of Docomomo International, Prof. Ana Tostões, had an audience with the Deputy Mayor of Okayama, Mr. Yasuomi Ebash, at the prefecture of Okayama (Kunio Maekawa, 1952-57), in Japan, to discuss the future of modern buildings in the city, and with Administrator of the Hayashibara Museum of Art (by Kunio Maekawa, 1964), Mr. Akihiro Kemmotsu, before visiting the building.

The Chair of Docomomo International, Prof. Ana Tostões, presented the lecture on “African Modernity: Modern Architecture in Angola and Mozambique”, last Tuesday, 28th February, at Tongji University, Shanghai, China. This lecture had as discussion guests Plácido González Martínez and Li Yingchun. This event was hosted by Wen Jing. More details: PDF below Photographic report: Docomomo International Facebook Page Download PDF

The project “Reuse of Modernist Buildings – Design Tools for Sustainable Transformations” submitted to the ERASMUS+ Programme 2016, funded by the European Commission, was approved last July. Docomomo International is one of the project partners, together with the following High Education institutions, with complementary experiences and competences in the field of design methodology, practical adaptive reuse, refurbishment and improvement and policy-making on housing and urban development: HS OWL, Detmold School for Architecture and Interior Architecture – Detmold, Germany (Coordinator); ITU, Department of Architecture – Istanbul, Turkey; ULisboa, Instituto Superior Técnico – Lisbon, Portugal; Universidade de Coimbra, Faculty of Science and Technology…