Mozuna Kiko and His Grand Architectural Thought

    Mozuna Kiko was born in Kushiro, Hokkaido in 1941. The vast fields and starry sky in Kushiro City formed Mozuna Kiko's initial impression of the world. Because of this broad and mysterious atmosphere, Mozuna Kiko has formed an almost infinite grand view in his architectural career. In the 1960s, postmodernism rose and led the trend of thought of liberation worldwide, and then quickly extended to the field of architecture. In the field of architecture, aesthetic diversity broke out, and various architects boldly carried out innovative designs and incorporated various humanistic concepts. In 1965, when postmodernism prevailed, Mozuna Kiko graduated from Kobe University in Japan. Under the influence of post-modernism, Mozuna Kiko formally began his exploration of architectural theory.

    After graduation, Mozuna Kiko first stayed at Kobe University as an assistant professor at Mukai Masaya. He founded his own office in 1978 and became a professor at Tama Art University in 1995. Mozuna Kiko's experience of living in Kansai made him contact with many Japanese traditional buildings and was influenced by Oriental mysticism. During this period, Mozuna Kiko was exposed to Western architecture at the same time, which led to the idea of combining the appearance of Western architecture with the spatial arrangement of Eastern architecture. Under the dual influence of post-modernism and the rugged customs in Kansai, most of Mozuna Kiko's designs look strange and unique.

    In 1972, Mozuna Kiko designed Han-Juki (反住器). This is the most famous building of Mozuna Kiko, which also won the 25th prize from the Japanese Architects Association in one stroke, becoming his masterpiece. Mozuna Kiko's starting point can be said to be very high. Han-Juki, as the representative of post-modernism architecture, represented the emergence of new designs at that time. Han-Juki is a building designed by Mozuna Kiko for his mother. In this building, he integrated the concept of geometric topology. Under the influence of Taoism's "one lives two, two lives three, and three lives all things", three cubes with identical shapes are arranged in a nested way. The largest cube appears as the appearance of the house, the second largest cube is a room in the house, and the smallest cube appears in the form of furniture. The nesting of the three cubes is not completely symmetrical, but slightly deviated to alleviate the excessive sense of seriousness. After all, this is a residential house.

    The cube in Han-Juki weakens the role of the center, while the skylight on the exterior wall that extends diagonally divides the wall in two making the building space extend outward. The continuous nesting of the same shape blurs the boundary between inside and outside, and the floor height higher than the ordinary house makes people living in Han-Juki feel the magnificent atmosphere. Skylights and large-area triangular windows enable residents to watch the changes in the sky in a calm atmosphere, to get peace and comfort in their hearts. This kind of spatial arrangement is full of Zen, which is the embodiment of Mozuna Kiko's idea of combining Eastern space arrangement with Western architecture.

    Under the influence of Han-Juki, Mozuna Kiko became famous and established his own office in 1978. In his office career, Mozuna Kiko continued to practice the combination of Oriental thought and Western nature. In the same year, he formed a group with architects of the same period, Rokko Kisho and Ishiyama Shuwu. This group focused on religious and cosmological views, and they paid more attention to design and less attention to architectural practicality. In 1980, Mozuna Kiko designed the mirror hall, which is an unfinished building. Mozuna Kiko integrated the idea of the universe into the design of the mirror hall (鏡の間). The most representative is the eleven arches of the mirror hall. According to research by Chinese scholar Liu Chengren, the arch of the mirror hall represents nine planets and the moon, and the sun. And the glass vault provides an open space for people to see the universe in the building.

    Mozuna Kiko also designed a series of buildings for his hometown Kushiro, including the Kushiro City Museum built in 1984. The building won the award at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Architectural Society. The shape of the Kushiro City Museum is inspired by the red-crowned crane, which shapes the image of the red-crowned crane spreading its wings and expressing the idea of connecting history and nature and leaping toward the future. The staircase of the museum is a double helix, which represents human DNA. It represents the memory of people in the museum. This reflects Mozuna Kiko's long-standing proposition that architecture can carry all people's memories. The exhibition hall of the whole museum is named after heaven, earth, and people, which you can experience a strong humanistic atmosphere. When people pass between the three pavilions, they are in the universe created by Mozuna Kiko. People's memory and history are connected through the architecture designed by Mozuna Kiko, and architecture has become the carrier of connecting humanities. This combination of humanistic atmosphere and architecture is also representative of post-modernism.

    I think the most striking idea of Mozuna Kiko is that he combines religion, cosmology, and architecture to create a grand value. In fact, Mozuna Kiko is a man who believes in theology in his life. He changed his name many times in his career. He himself once said that he invented the name Monta, which was related to his dreams. Later, he changed his name to Kiko because he dreamed that someone told him that Monta was no longer a lucky name. Mozuna Kiko also studied feng shui and published a book combining feng shui and architecture: feng shui and city image. This book reflects Mozuna Kiko's profound research and interest in theology. Mozuna Kiko has been exploring the way of combining theology and architecture. It is this strong interest in theology, the universe, and religion that made Mozuna Kiko integrate them into his entire career and make it his personal characteristic.

    I think the most important role for Mozuna Kiko is to become a pioneer of the postmodern architect. Mozuna Kiko supported the return of culture. Although most of the buildings he designed were made of modern materials, such as bricks and concrete. However, his spatial arrangement and many architectural details contain oriental culture. Mozuna Kiko really achieved the combination of the oriental space arrangement and the Western architectural form. Unfortunately, Mozuna Kiko died in 2001 and lost the opportunity to leave more unique buildings for the world. However, Mozuna Kiko's appeal for the combination of humanism with architecture and his bold design and innovative spirit of architectural appearance will always inspire a new generation of architects.