Raymond, Antonin

Raymond, Antonin (1888–1976). Bohemia-born American architect. He assisted Cass Gilbert when designing the Woolworth Building, NYC (1910–12), and then joined F. L. Wright in 1916, later collaborating in the building of the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (1919–20—destroyed). He practised in Tokyo on his own account (1923–37), designing several buildings, including his own houses at Reinanzaka (1923—an early example of International Modernism) and Karuizawa (1932–3), the Akaboshi House (1932), and the Kawasaki House (1934), all in Tokyo. In the 1930s he began to experiment with pitched roofs, but in 1937 left Japan, and after a brief stay in India set up an office in NYC, specializing in Federal, State, and Local-Government work. In 1949 he returned to Japan to build the Reader's Digest Building, Tokyo (1947–50—demolished), which incorporated Japanese elements such as louvres, and in 1953, with his house at Azubu, he introduced traditional Japanese construction. Among his last works were the campus of the Nanzan University, Nagoya (1960–6), and the Pan-Pacific Forum, University of Hawaii, Honolulu (1966–9). He was a considerable influence on those Japanese architects who pioneered the Modern Movement after the 1939–45 war.

Bibliography

Kalman (1994);
Leatherbarrow (2000);
Raymond (1973);
Jane Turner (1996);
van Vynckt (ed.) (1993)