[Katsura Library] Model Exhibition "Kobe New Capital Plan" presented by Takeyama Laboratory, Department of Architecture (-2027/1/5)
The "Kobe New Capital Plan" presented by the Department of Architecture, is currently on display at Katsura Library.
We invite you to come and view the exhibition.
Exhibition Period & Location
October 23, 2026 (Tue) – January 5, 2027 (Tue)
(Katsura Library, 1st Floor Lounge)
The exhibition is open for viewing during library opening hours.
(Visitors from outside Kyoto University can view the exhibition between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM on library open days. For details, please check "Service Guide for Non-KU Users".)
Overview of the "Kobe New Capital Plan"
This reconstruction plan for Kobe was proposed in the wake of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Following the disaster in January 1995, the month of February was dedicated to studying past post-disaster reconstruction efforts and capital city planning; the plan itself was then developed over the course of 20 days in March. Professor Emeritus Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama directed the overall concept—producing the initial sketches—while approximately 10 students from his laboratory, organized into small groups, took responsibility for three distinct zones. The project represents the culmination of Professor Takeyama’ s vision for the modern city, a vision shaped by earlier research trips—undertaken with students shortly after the laboratory’ s inception—to ancient Mediterranean urban ruins in search of the archetypes of the city. The plan made a significant social impact, garnering coverage in both the architectural journal "GA" and general-interest magazines such as "President".
At the time, the relocation of capital functions was a subject of serious debate, following a November 1990 resolution on the relocation of the National Diet and other government bodies, and the subsequent enactment of the "Act on the Relocation of the National Diet and Other Organizations" in late 1992. The "Kobe New Capital Plan"—presented in "GA" as a "personal proposal" linking post-earthquake reconstruction with the potential relocation of capital functions—was not Professor Takeyama’ s first engagement with Kobe; he had already been collaborating with the city on urban development, serving as a member of the Shinkaichi Architectural Design Committee. The "New Capital Plan" was, in fact, rooted in an earlier project titled the "Kobe Sannomiya Plan," which the Takeyama laboratory had developed in 1993. That earlier project, which addressed future planning for the area around Sannomiya Station—including the redesign of a monorail station connecting Sannomiya to Port Island and the reconstruction of the Kobe Shimbun newspaper building—was even exhibited for the public in the Sannomiya Center-gai shopping district. The model for the "Kobe New Capital Plan" serves as a valuable, publicinterest resource; it not only documents the activities of the Kyoto University Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering but also offers insight into the relationship between the university and society during that period.
Display Stand for the "Kobe New Capital Plan" (Produced by Mokuteki Kogei-sha)
This display stand is designed not merely as a flat board to support and highlight the model, but as an object with a distinct physical presence of its own. Our core approach was to employ a single, minimal intervention—tapering the top surface—while deliberately avoiding any excessive ornamentation or processing.
When a viewer approaches the model, the angle of their gaze causes the thickness of the stand to vanish, making it appear as though the model is being held aloft by a simple, thin plane. Conversely, as the viewer moves away, the increasing thickness of the top surface becomes apparent, drawing the eye toward the stand's form—an inverted trapezoidal
object.
The stand behaves in a way that ebbs and flows within the viewer's consciousness; it can emerge into focus at one moment, only to dissolve into the background the next—functioning equally well as a protagonist or a supporting element.
Inquiries Regarding This Exhibition
Komiyama Laboratory, Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University
Yosuke KOMIYAMA
E-Mail:komiyama[at]archi.kyoto-u.ac.jp
TEL:075-383-2945
* This exhibition is conducted as part of the project "Development of Modular Furniture to Promote Upcycling of Timber Building Components" (Komiyama Laboratory), selected for the Katsura Campus Demonstration Research Fund. The display fixtures feature "CoLoT," modular furniture upcycled from CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber) offcuts. Please take a look at these fixtures as well.
