Tatsuno Kingo

Japanese: 辰野金吾 - たつの・きんご

Year of death: March 25, 1919
Year of birth: August 22, 1854 (October 13, 1854)
A representative architect of the Meiji and Taisho periods. He also left a major mark on architectural education. He was born in Karatsu, the second son of Himematsu Kuraemon, a samurai of the Karatsu Domain (Saga Prefecture). In 1868, he was adopted by Tatsuno Muneyasu. In 1870, he left for Tokyo. The following year, he entered the newly established Engineering Bureau of the Ministry of Public Works. There, he was taught by Conder, a foreign teacher employed by the government. In 1879, he graduated as part of the first class of students from the College of Engineering (the Engineering Bureau was renamed). He was the top of the four students who graduated from the Department of Architecture. He was asked to study abroad, so in 1881, he left for London, where he trained in architecture at Burges Architects and other offices, and traveled around France and Italy before returning to Japan in 1884. In the same year, he began working for the Ministry of Public Works, and designed his first work, the Bank Assembly Hall (1885). In 1882, he became a professor at the College of Engineering. In 1884, he established the Tatsuno Architectural Office. In the same year, the Imperial College of Engineering was absorbed and reorganized into the Imperial University's College of Technology, and Kingo became a professor there. From then until his retirement in 1902, Kingo trained many excellent architects. In 1888, he was selected as the designer for the Bank of Japan. He traveled to Europe to prepare for this, and returned to Japan the following year. In 1908, he was appointed president of the Architectural Institute of Japan and president of the College of Technology. It is said that the Tatsuno Architectural Office (later the Tatsuno Kasai Architectural Office and the Tatsuno Kataoka Architectural Office) designed as many as 228 works, and it can be said that they truly dominated the architectural world of the Meiji and Taisho periods. Examples of their works include the Bank of Japan Head Office (1896), the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall (1909), and Tokyo Central Station (Tokyo Station, 1914). Kingo's eldest son was the French literature scholar Kingo Tatsuno. <References> Shiratori Shogo (ed.), "The Life of Doctor of Engineering Kingo Tatsuno," and Fujimori Terunobu, "The Design of the Nation" (Japanese Architecture [Meiji, Taisho, Showa], Vol. 3)

(Keiichi Shimizu)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：大正8.3.25(1919)
生年：嘉永7.8.22(1854.10.13)
明治大正期の代表的建築家。建築教育にも大きな足跡を残した。唐津藩(佐賀県)藩士姫松倉右衛門の次男。唐津生まれ。明治1(1868)年,辰野宗安の養嗣子となる。同5年,出京。翌年,新たに設立された工部省工学寮に入学した。ここで,お雇い外国人教師コンドルの指導を受ける。12年,工部大学校(工学寮の名称変更)の第1回卒業生として卒業。造家学科の卒業生4名の中の首席であった。留学を申し付けられ,13年,ロンドンに出発,同地のバージェス建築事務所などで建築を研修,フランス,イタリアを回って16年に帰国。同年,工部省に奉職,処女作銀行集会所(1885)の設計を行う。17年,工部大学校教授に就任。19年,辰野建築事務所を設立した。この年,工部大学校は帝国大学工科大学に吸収,再編成され,同校の教授となった。以降,35年の退官まで多くの優れた建築家を育てた。明治21年,日本銀行の設計者に決定。この準備のため渡欧し翌年帰国。31年,建築学会会長,工科大学長に就任した。辰野建築事務所(のちの辰野葛西建築事務所,辰野片岡建築事務所)が設計した作品は228件にもおよぶといわれ,まさに明治・大正の建築界を席巻したといえよう。作品の一例に,日銀本店(1896),両国国技館(1909),東京中央停車場(東京駅,1914)がある。フランス文学者辰野隆は長男。<参考文献>白鳥省吾編『工学博士辰野金吾伝』,藤森照信「国家のデザイン」(『日本の建築[明治・大正・昭和]』3巻)

(清水慶一)

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