Aiko Nakada

‘It should be stressed that despite being Japanese ourselves, today we see Japan with the eyes of a foreigner… Indeed, having gone beyond the process of modernisation, we see Japan from a viewpoint similar to that of Westerners.’  - Arata Isozaki

The tea ceremony is associated as being one of the most iconic traditions that is inherently Japanese. However, it is a practise that was imported from China in the 9^th Century and evolved from then on by developing its art. It is semiotic of Japan yet didn’t belong to its origin. It is questionable what is authentic there as its whole culture has been born from borrowing from other cultures.

Like Japan, France has had a large influence on its art and architecture from places such as Japan and Italy. The Art Nouveau movement developed from a heavy influence of Japanese woodblock and artists such as Manet, Degas and Bonnard not only collected Japonaiserie, but used the simple geometry and process of ‘borrowing scenery’ called shakkei to compose the flat, coloured prints in their own work. One of the most famous western collectors of Japanese woodblock prints was Frank Lloyd Wright. He used these geometries to frame the landscapes to inform his prairie style houses ‘eliminating the insignificant’. In creating a replica from his textile block system that is of Mayan inspiration, the replica emulates the form of a woodblock. Like the textile block being remade, Japan borrowed from other cultures for centuries to adapt and make a new form that is now known as ‘Japan-ness’.

Embassies and consulates serve as the front door of their countries diplomacy. They provide safety and security whilst reflecting national values of openness and exemplifying their national identity through their architecture. However, the role of the embassy, and how it promotes its own culture, or whether they are even necessary, is currently being questioned.

In 2018, France and Japan commemorates their 160^th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. The new Franco-Japanese Embassy will showcase a hybrid architecture of the two nations. The site is at the current French Embassy which was once home to the Japanese Native Village Exhibition hosted in Humphreys Hall in 1885. The exhibition employed 100 Japanese men and women in a setting built to resemble a traditional Japanese village. The skilled Japanese artisans illustrated the manners and customs of Japan, showing their everyday life as if they were still home. The embassy staff are a contemporary version of this village; they are imported as bureaucrats operating in a particular way. 

When embassy architecture is used to express national identity, what does the architectural hybrid look like of two countries that unite under one roof? How do two countries that are culturally so different share a building?