NEWS
DOCOMOMO Japan Selection Plate Presentation Ceremony and Campus Tour Held
Update: November 28, 2017
The plate presentation ceremony and a campus tour were held on Saturday, November 25, to commemorate the selection of the Diffendorfer Memorial Hall East Wing (design: W. M. Vories & Co.) as a "Building of the Modern Movement in Japan" for fiscal 2016 by DOCOMOMO Japan* in May this year.
The Diffendorfer Memorial Hall East Wing is named after Dr. Ralph E. Diffendorfer, who contributed greatly to the founding of ICU. The building, which houses an auditorium, student clubrooms and a lounge, has been serving as a place for both faculty and students to get together since its completion in 1958.
At the plate presentation ceremony, Associate Professor Taisuke Yamazaki of Tokyo Institute of Technology, who was involved in the selection process, explained the idea behind the designing of the Diffendorfer Memorial Hall East Wing, the process of design changes and the reasons for the selection of the hall while looking back on the history of ICU centering on its buildings. As the reasons for the selection of the building, he noted that it exemplifies the process of modern architecture spreading widely through the Japanese world of architecture and that the aesthetics of modernism is recognizable in its overall structure of space. In addition, Professor Yamazaki pointed out, the building was redesigned repeatedly in response to student requests, as if symbolizing ICU's philosophy of valuing dialogue between students and faculty.
The plate presentation ceremony followed. ICU President Junko Hibiya received the plate from Professor Kenji Watanabe of Tokai University (Left in the photo), who serves as director of DOCOMOMO Japan. She said, "We are greatly honored to receive this award. We once again have recognized the importance of the Diffendorfer Memorial Hall East Wing for this university and for modern architecture. We will continue to treasure the building."
The participants then went on the campus tour, visiting the University Hall, the Seabury Memorial Chapel and the library in addition to the Diffendorfer Memorial Hall East Wing.
*DOCOMOMO Japan is the Japanese branch of DOCOMOMO (the International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement) based in Lisbon, Portugal. It is dedicated to the documentation and conservation of historically and culturally important existing buildings and the environment involved in the Modern movement, a significant 20th-century trend in architecture.
DOCOMOMO Japan Website: http://www.docomomojapan.com/
