Architect Drawings : A Selection of Sketches by World Famous Architects Through History

Ito, Chuta (1868–1954)
Sketch of gate of Shrine Shinobazu Bentendo Tenryumon, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo,
Japan, Graphite on grid paper, 1914
Primarily an architectural historian, Chuta Ito is best known for his documentation of Japan’s historical
temples and monuments. Ironically, Ito was born the same year Japan established a parliament to
initiate an open international policy. The Meiji reign led Japan to exchange culture and ideas that
resulted in a style of architecture blending European aesthetics with Japanese construction and materials
(Stewart, 1987).
Ito, originally from Yonezawa, Dewa Province (Yamagata Prefect), attended the School of
Engineering at Tokyo Imperial University, completing in 1892. Upon finishing he entered graduate
studies in architectural history, receiving a doctorate in 1901. Ito joined academia (School of
Engineering) becoming a Full Professor in 1905. In the late 1890s, he prepared a survey of the buildings
of Japan’s oldest Temple, Horyuji at Nara. In 1898, he published the Horyuji kenchikuron
‘Discourse on the architecture of Horiuji’ discussing his findings of the construction, proportions and
decoration of the temple (Turner, 2000). A member of Japan’s Society for the Preservation of Ancient
Shrines and Temples beginning in 1896, he also received the Cultural Medal of Japan in 1943.
Additionally a practicing architect, his work includes Okura Shukokan Museum 1927; Memorial
Hall for the Earthquake of 1923, 1930; and the Main Hall of the Temple Tsukiji Honganji, 1934, all
located in Tokyo. Ito retired from academia in 1928 (Turner, 2000).
As an example of the careful recording of traditional monuments, this page (Figure 5.9) displays
details of the gate of the shrine called Shinobazu Bentendo Tenryumon. An example of a series of
studies this image was concerned with drawing as a means to observe and ultimately understand.
Different than a design sketch to discover ideas and form though design, this sketch was used to
uncover meaning. That meaning could have included historical analysis of materials, construction
techniques, or symbolism.
This group of details has been studied on grid paper supposedly to comprehend and accurately
record measurement, scale and proportions. The scale running up the left side of the paper has been
divided into equal units and numbered to sixteen. The grid could also assist Ito to keep lines straight
and to comparatively proportion objects, although these pieces were not sketched in the same scale.
The roof exhibits decorative objects that have been sketched at a larger size to better understand their
detail. To better understand its form the dragon/chimera was rendered three times, once in context,
as a profile, and in three-quarters view.
The graphite technique used by Ito is meticulous, revealing fine detail and showing slight corrections
to achieve the viewed angles and curves. The transfer from the three-dimensional object to the
paper reveals a dedicated observer. This relocation has been accomplished entirely freehand but was
facilitated by the grid lines.
The fastidious manner of the image suggests its importance as a device to hold a memory for posterity,
an image to remain even if the original was damaged. Undoubtedly the sketch was also meant
for study, to compare form and composition to other temples. Analysis often separates distinctive
elements for individual inspection. Here the act of drawing helped him to thoroughly understand
and the accuracy was vital for a scholarly discussion. As a sketch, this page was preparatory for
something else, most likely the discourse of speculation. The study was intended for his own conclusions
but it contained the added importance of helping to educate others. The sketch represented
a phase in the process, one that could have sparked an unusual relationship between parts or stimulated
an insightful discovery.
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