Yoshikazu Uchida

Japanese architect and structural engineer Yoshikazu Uchida studied at the Department of Architecture of the Tokyo Imperial University, graduating in 1907. He became university lecturer in 1911, after working for the real estate division of Mitsubishi for some years. In 1921, he was appointed a professor and in 1935 became president of the Architectural Institute of Japan. Uchida was named University president in 1943. After World War II, he was a member of a cultural heritage protection committee and recipient of the Order of Culture in 1972.

At the beginning of his academic career, knowledge of steel and reinforced concrete structures came to Japan. In his country, he was a pioneer in research on materials, which enhanced water protection and isolation from seismic ground movement and allowed the building of modern urban architectural foundations. Moreover, he was involved in the implementation of a new city planning law that brought major improvements regarding the containment of city fires. Later, he also campaigned for the protection of the cultural heritage.

Uchida is best remembered for the buildings he designed on the University of Tokyo campus, which he rebuilt after the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923. He developed the general layout for the reconstruction of the campus of Tokyo University and was also the designer of the Yasuda Auditorium and Library with the row of Gingko trees. With the assistance of younger colleagues and students in the Department of Architecture, Uchida designed some 30 buildings in a distinctive style known as “Uchida Gothic.” The massive towers and pointed arches of this style recall the Gothic revival architecture of universities in the United States and Europe, but its overall abstract quality also suggested an Expressionist influence.

The pool, whose plans were exhibited at the Berlin art competitions in 1936, is located in the basement of The Second Dining Hall, which was designed by Uchida and completed in 1934 and is still in use today. In the next year, the University of Tokyo archery field, his second submitted design, was constructed with a Japanese-style hall in the Ikutokuen Park. Uchida was also a member of the organizing committee for the art competitions of the planned 1940 Olympic Games in Tokyo.