It Looks Like a Gymnasium Designed by Kenzo Tange Will Be Demolished

The title of this headline echoes one from two years ago, when Ulf Meyer reported that “despite the efforts of preservationists, the decision has been made that the Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium, designed by Kenzo Tange in 1964, will be knocked down.” The gymnasium has some formal similarities with Tange's Yoyogi National Gymnasium, which was built in the same year but, with arguably better maintenance in the ensuing decades, served as a venue for the Olympics held in Tokyo in 2021. The gymnasium owned by Kagawa Prefecture, on the other hand, has been closed since 2014, with demolition cited as necessary due to the possibility of the ceiling collapsing in the event of an earthquake.

Back in 2023, when the first article appeared, DoCoMoMo Japan and other preservationist groups were focusing on efforts of repairing the roof to stave off demolition. This year, the Former Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium Restoration Committee, led by architect Shigeru Aoki, has instead proposed purchasing the building and redesigning it for another use, a hotel. The group's petition, which garnered close to 30,000 signatures (as of the time of this article), includes renderings of how the large space beneath the hyperbolic paraboloid roof could be reused. 

The Former Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium Restoration Committee's proposal for adaptive reuse was officially announced on July 23, but during a regular press conference on August 18, Toyohito Ikeda, Governor of Kagawa Prefecture reiterated his decision to demolish the building: “Although it is a valuable building designed by Mr. Tange, it has been closed for ten years, and with its deterioration progressing daily and concerns about earthquakes, I have decided that we cannot delay any further, and this is also the decision of the prefecture.” (Translations via Deepl)

Ikeda did not close the door completely on the decision, though, with the article indicating that “the private sector's proposal lacked clarity in terms of specific project entities and earthquake countermeasures,” something the preservation committee could potentially work on in the limited time frame available—bidding for the demolition is set to begin this month. Furthermore, in terms of the governor meeting with the preservationists, he said “I will make an appropriate decision after hearing from the Board of Education,” which has jurisdiction over the building.