The undefeated structure: Wright and the Great Quake

The Imperial Hotel, designed by the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, was completed in 1923 and dramatically demolished in 1967. Today, only the iconic entrance remains preserved as a museum in a small city in Aichi Prefecture, far from its original location in Tokyo.

Wright’s name alone ensures the building’s place in history, but there is a far greater, more dramatic factor: On the very day of the hotel’s unveiling, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck Tokyo, claiming over 140,000 lives. Amidst this unprecedented disaster, the Imperial Hotel, built using Wright’s innovative floating structure, remained virtually intact. It was an immediate, powerful validation of his genius and a stroke of profound destiny.

The luminous details: Where God resides

I visited the museum often when I lived nearby. What impressed me most were the intricate decorations on the windows and pillars of the entrance. The combination of natural light filtering through the window motifs and soft illumination leaking from inside the pillars created a feeling of being draped in light. The detailed carvings and masonry are the hotel’s main feature.

Every time I saw those details, I was reminded of the famous dictum: “God is in the details.” (Although the quote is popularly attributed to architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a quick search reveals the true originator is still debated—Einstein, Nietzsche, and Le Corbusier are all cited. It’s a quote whose details are lost in history.)

The details dilemma: Seeing the wood for the trees

As I’ve written before, being detail-oriented is undoubtedly a defining characteristic of the Japanese people. In that sense, our furniture can certainly be said to be “full of God.”

Having said that, this national character is not always advantageous. For example, some Japanese cars exhibit extremely good engineering and quality in the details, yet their overall design looks strange or incoherent when viewed as a whole.

“God is in the details,” yes, but we must also keep in mind the counter-saying: “You can’t see the wood for the trees.” This means being so preoccupied with fine details that one fails to grasp the overall picture or the core meaning. This is the Japanese Paradox: we excel at the micro-level, but sometimes falter at the macro-level.

As manufacturers striving for overall excellence, this is the fine line we must walk: embracing the cultural strength of detailing while never losing sight of the “wood”—the clean, coherent, and universal form of the final product.

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Photo credit: https://www.imperialhotel.co.jp/e/our_world/column/the_wright_imperial_2.html

https://www.dezeen.com/2017/06/15/imperial-hotel-tokyo-japan-frank-lloyd-wright-150th-anniversary/

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