The exhibition Tange Kenzo 1938–1970: From Pre-War Period to Olympic Games and World Expo, presented at the National Archives of Modern Architecture in Tokyo in 2021, examined the formative decades of one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century. Bringing together architectural drawings, archival photographs, models, and previously unpublished research materials, the exhibition traced the evolution of Tange’s architectural thinking from his early academic work to the projects that defined Japan’s postwar modernity.

Beginning with his graduation thesis and early proposals developed in the late 1930s, the exhibition explored the intellectual foundations of Tange’s architectural language. These early works revealed a young architect deeply engaged with the ideas of modernism while simultaneously searching for a synthesis with Japanese spatial traditions. The exhibition also addressed the difficult historical context of the Second World War, examining how the experience of conflict shaped Tange’s later commitment to architecture as a civic and symbolic act.

Particular attention was given to projects that played a central role in the reconstruction of Japan after the war. Materials related to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park illustrated how Tange conceived architecture as a space for collective memory and reconciliation. Through carefully preserved documents and visual studies, visitors could observe how the architect developed a language capable of expressing both monumentality and human scale, qualities that would become defining features of his work.