Zurich Lectures in East Asian Art History: Prof. Dr. Bert Winther-Tamaki
Charismatic Concrete: Artistic Transformations of an Industrial Material in 1980s Japan
Prof. Dr. Bert Winther-Tamaki (University of California, Irvine)
Tuesday, May 5, 2026, 18:30–19:45
University of Zurich, Rämistrasse 59, 8001 Zürich
Room RAA-G-15
Flyer (PDF, 271 KB)
Abstract: During Japan’s boom years, an extraordinary appetite for concrete transformed cities, coasts and mountainsides into grey expanses. Photographers, architects, animators, and other visual artists responded by imbuing this hardening of the environment with unexpected beauty. They drew on tropes of indigenous tradition, reverence for nature and the sublime power of disaster. Yet the charisma they cultivated could not dispel deeper unease: concrete also came to symbolize the anxiety and monotony of a landscape dominated by drab, unforgiving infrastructure. This lecture explores how architect Andō Tadao, photographer Shibata Toshio, and other artists negotiated those tensions—discovering new aesthetic potentials for an industrial medium while exposing its harsh impacts on daily life.
The lecture will be held in English and is open to the public. No registration is necessary. For questions, please contact us via email at kgoa@khist.uzh.ch
