Naitō Tachū

Naitō Tachū ( Japanese 内藤 多 仲 , born June 12, 1886 in Sakaki , Nakakoma County (today: Minami-Alps ), Yamanashi Prefecture ; † August 25, 1970 in Tokyo Prefecture ) was a Japanese architect, engineer and university professor at the Waseda University . He is considered the founder of earthquake-proof construction and built many television towers . Its most famous building is the Tokyo Tower .

biography

The Tokyo Tower designed by Naitō Tachū

Naitō Tachū attended Kofu Middle School, graduated from high school, and then went to Tokyo Imperial University, now known as Tokyo University . After initially studying shipbuilding, he switched to architecture due to the shipbuilding crisis triggered by the Russo-Japanese War . He studied under Kino Toshikata and graduated in 1910. 1913 became the professor at Waseda University .

During a stay abroad in the United States in 1916 Naitō developed his theory of the earthquake-proof wall. He put the theory into practice when building the headquarters of the Industrial Bank of Japan. Three months after completion, the structure survived the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 , thus illustrating the effectiveness of Naitō Tachū's idea. He also designed the Kabuki-za theater building in Tokyo and the Okuma Auditorium. However, he achieved particular fame through his designs for television towers in Japan. In 1954 came Nagoya TV Tower , 1956, the TV tower Tsutenkaku , 1957, the TV Tower Sapporo and Beppu Tower and 1958, the Tokyo Tower.

Naitō Tachū has held many positions over the course of his career and has received a number of awards. In 1938 he was appointed chairman of the welding academy and in 1941 he became chairman of the building academy. In 1954 he also became a member of the Science Council of Japan and in 1960 of the Japanese Academy of Sciences . In 1962 Naitō Tachū was declared a person with special cultural merit and in 1964 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, second class. He died on August 25, 1970 at the age of 84 in the morning in the National Tokyo First Hospital (today: International Medical Center of Japan). His funeral urn was buried in the family grave of the Tamareien cemetery.

Publications and writings (selection)

• Building Construction After the Great Earthquake , 1924.
• Earthquake-proof Construction , 1927, Stanford University.
• Discussions on Construction of Earthquake Proof Frame Buildings , 1929
• together with Wilbur M. Wilson, (Ed.) Henry Dievendorf Dewell: Earthquake Resisting Construction , 1930, American Society of Civil Engineers .
• Note on Earthquake Resistant Construction , 1939, Sanshusha Press.

literature

• Tawā: 内藤 多 仲 と 三塔 物語 . Birth of towers: Tachu Naito and a tale of three tower . INAX Publications 2006, ISBN 978-4-87275-836-8 .

Web links

Commons : Buildings by Tachū Naitō  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biographical summary of Tachū Naitō (Japanese)
• Information on the work of Tachū Naitō (Japanese)
• Hiro Satoshi Noguchi: Tachu Naito exhibition in Ginza, October 16, 2006 (Japanese)

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Naitō is the family name, Tachū the first name.