Tradition and kitsch in Japan

Japanese architects have been on a quest for a new style. This was buoyed by a recent economic boom, leaving Japan's designers to reflect on what their explorations have taught them.

An exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Architecture at the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, displaying key projects from 1985-1996, shows that architects in Japan have taken inspiration from various sources. The boom "opened up many new possibilities for architecture and culture in general", says the Architectural Institute of Japan.

The exhibits are divided into seven groups: metropolis; medium-sized cities; towns and villages; suburbs; reclaimed land; countryside; and resorts. "Architecture is the product of climate, society and, especially, the times," the organisers remind us. Stylistically, the exhibits can be divided into three categories: whacky, one-off, Post-Modern buildings; traditional Japanese architecture; and cubic, elemental buildings that explore space on plan.

In all categories the designers' thought processes can almost be read from the buildings. In terms of design, there are successes and failures. The Japanese exhibition has its share of domes and helix towers. Despite its contemporary title, earlier projects in this exhibition date from the 1980s and some celebrate Post-Modernism.

One brave, but rather ugly Post-Modern project, by Kengo Kuma and Associates, has a central tower which mimics an Ionic column. To one side is a replica of the top of a skyscraper by Russian Constructivist architect Leonidov and to the other a jumble reminiscent of a Piranesian ruin. This building expresses our view of the Japanese: tradition mixed with kitsch.

There are buildings influenced by the electronics industry. The New Tokyo City Hall Complex by Kenzo Tange Associates speaks of Gothic towers through its tall structure, yet the surface suggests a traditional Shoji screen and electronic circuit boards.

The Aoyama Technical College, from Makoto Sei Watanabe Architects' Office, is like a machine, its shape influenced by motorbikes, insects and eggs.

The influence behind the Kihoku Astronomical Museum is writ large. The building looks like a cross between star-gazing equipment and moon-walking modules.

The projects that have bowed to Japanese tradition fair well. One by Kengo Kuma and Associates is a traditional performance space; known as a Noh stage, this follows a vernacular style but the auditorium has a floating roof instead of the traditional hat-shaped, tiled structure above the stage. In another, by Kiryu Atelier, a timber and glass structure above a concrete colonnade in a shopping complex, speaks of Japanese tradition, as do the stalls within the building. These elements create a building that marks our return to the use of natural elements and clear expression of details.

In the third category of cubic and elemental designs is a housing complex by Tadao Ando Architect and Associates. A series of concrete boxes climbing a hill, it sounds awful but uses a sequence of open and closed spaces, changing viewpoints, plays with light and shadow and incorporates grassy roof gardens to break up the grey concrete.

Water is adept at dabbling with light and the Japanese skill at incorporating water is expressed in a glass diningroom by Kengo Kuma and Associates, surrounded by shallow water and overlooking a bay. In another scheme, a spherical glass entrance to a building in Tokyo Bay by Taniguchi and Associates, visitors walk down to an aquarium, as if descending into the bay. Another simulated decent into water is made by visitors to the Water Temple by Tadao Ando, who walk down a staircase flanked by semi-circular ponds.

Not all schemes in the exhibition have been a success but each elicits a response. One house in Osaka is just 2.5 metres wide but it has used light and scale effectively: it's a great example of how to build in tight spaces.

Contemporary Japanese Architecture, 1985-1996, at the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, 8 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, runs until January 27th. Free entrance and catalogue.