EVENT ARCHIVES

The Wright Spirit in Fujisawa:
Two Buildings by His Apprentices

WAAJ members and guests were treated to tours of two buildings in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture: the former Kondo House (1925), designed by Arata Endo, Frank Lloyd Wright's righthand man in Japan; and the former Fujisawa Country Clubhouse (1930) by Antonin Raymond, who worked with Frank Lloyd Wright on the Imperial Hotel.

At the Kondo House, our expert guide was Akitaka Miyai, who worked with Arata Endo's son Raku and is the Director, Facilities Management, Jiyu Gakuen School (designed by Wright and the Endos). At the Fujisawa Country Clubhouse, we ate lunch underneath a soaring ceiling of wooden beams before Prof. Yoshiko Mizunuma and Koichi Kitazawa shared their insights into Raymond and took us on a tour of the maintenance-challenged Spanish-style building. Prof. Mizunuma teaches ergonomics at Kanto Gakuin University and is a specialist in the architecture of Japan's Shonan area. Kitazawa worked for Raymond from 1966-1973 and is the owner-caretaker of Raymond's summer studio in Karuizawa.