World Observation

Were World Observation solely a biography of the architect Itō Chūta, it would be a valuable and compelling study, given Itō’s importance to the origins of the field of Japanese architecture. But Matthew Mullane’s book is so much more. World Observation makes a strong case that the modern practice of observation and the history of architectural design in Japan are inseparable. In doing so, it connects design to drawing, travel, thinking, and writing in ways that are surprising and insightful, and dynamically entangles the emerging field of architecture in Japan to developments elsewhere in Asia and Europe. The result is a richly conceptualized vision of the multinodal origins of modern architecture that will be of interest to readers well beyond the field of architectural history.

Matthew Mullane examines the work of Itō Chūta, a teacher, architect, architectural historian, and preservationist who played a pivotal role in the development of the architectural profession in Japan. This impressive study is theoretically sophisticated, is based on rigorous archival research, and tackles aspects of Itō’s career that some postwar scholarship has shied away from, including his contributions to Japanese imperialism.