Transcultural Dwelling. Japan’s Pioneer Architect Miho Hamaguchi and her last Project in Spain

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.2022186198

Keywords:

Japanese Houses, Women Architects, Post-war Architecture, Miho Hamaguchi, Cultural exchange

Abstract

Miho Hamaguchi (1915-1988) was the first woman to be a licensed architect in Japan. A pioneer in domestic design during the postwar period, she built and consulted on thousands of houses throughout her prolific career. However, she is a little-known figure both in Japan and in the international debate. Her representation in architectural historiography is limited to her influence on kitchen design, but her writings and work go far beyond. Hamaguchi's legacy is one of bold residential architecture that embodied democratic ideas in spatial configurations. She promoted the house as a fundamental tool for gender equality, leaving behind a feudal and patriarchal system. At the end of her career, she found in Costa del Sol the perfect place to carry out a residential project as a cultural exchange. "Kaiyo Club" became a set of three houses since the first design in 1974 until the subsequent extensions were completed in 1987. Throughout its different stages, the project shows a striking Spanish-Japanese transfer where different architectural languages coexist. The white-walled exterior dialogues with the vernacular, while its interior unfolds Japanese patterns with tatami-floored rooms or ofuro-style bathrooms. These dwellings present a unique hybrid materialization, displaying Hamaguchi's design from a humanistic stance, blending of locally rooted modernist spatial principles and reinterpreted traditions.

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Author Biographies

Noemí Gómez Lobo, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Noemí Gómez Lobo (Spain, 1988) is an architect graduated from the School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM). She completed her doctoral thesis with a Monbukagakushō fellowship at the Tokyo Institute of Technology at the Yoshiharu Tsukamoto Laboratory, where she subsequently held a research and visiting professor position. She has also taught architectural design courses at Hosei University and TDU University.   Her investigation focuses on the intersection between gender and the Japanese context, from the perspective of women architects, the Japanese house and the urban realm. She currently holds a postdoctoral position with a Margarita Salas Grant in the CAVIAR Research Group at the University of the Basque Country.

Kana Ueda, Associate Stücheli Architekten, Zürich

Kana Ueda (Ehime Japan, 1974) studied architecture at the Kyoto Institute of Technology, qualifying in 1997. After receiving the title of First-Class Kenchikushi in 2000, she moved to Switzerland. Since 2011 she has been an associate at Stücheli Architekten in Zurich. Aside from her practice, she has been a guest critic at the University of Liechtenstein and Pratt Institute. In 2019 she attended the Master of Advanced Studies in History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at ETH Zurich, qualifying in 2021. Kana Ueda specializes in the history and theory of postwar residential architecture and focuses on Miho Hamaguchi within the framework of cultural differences between Europe and Japan, as well as gender and dwelling architecture.

Diego Martín Sánchez, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Diego Martín Sánchez (Spain, 1987) is an architect trained at the School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM) and PhD from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tsukamoto Laboratory. His research activity focused on the intersection between city and landscape, especially on participatory urban forestry practices that generate more-than-human commons. After teaching as visiting professor at Tokyo Denki University, he currently holds a postdoctoral position with a Margarita Salas Grant in the Cultural Landscape Research Group at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

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Published

2022-09-02

How to Cite

Gómez Lobo, N., Ueda, K., & Martín Sánchez, D. (2022). Transcultural Dwelling. Japan’s Pioneer Architect Miho Hamaguchi and her last Project in Spain. ZARCH. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, (18), 42–57. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.2022186198

Issue

No. 18 (2022): Women, Feminist Practices and Alternative Practitioners in Architecture

Section

Topic papers