St. Mary's Cathedral, Catholic cathedral in Sekiguchi district, Tokyo, Japan.
St. Mary's Cathedral is a Catholic place of worship in the Sekiguchi district, completed in 1964 to a design by Kenzo Tange and considered a landmark of postwar modernism. The building presents eight curved concrete walls forming a cross and clad in stainless steel on the outside, while inside a large open hall emerges without supporting columns.
The first church on this site was a Gothic wooden building from 1899 serving as a seminary chapel, destroyed during air raids in 1945. After the war the land was returned to the Catholic order, and the current cathedral arose as the first major project by Kenzo Tange following his work on the Peace Museum in Hiroshima.
The church is known as Seibo no Kishi Cathedral, meaning Knights of Mary, reflecting its connection to a Catholic order. The interior follows Western liturgical layout, but the design rejects European ornament in favor of clean forms that create a contemplative atmosphere.
The cathedral is located in Bunkyo ward and welcomes visitors during daylight hours, with services held on Sundays. The large open interior accommodates hundreds of people and is accessible at ground level, allowing visitors to move freely around the space.
The ceiling opens along the cross shape through narrow bands of light that cast different shadows on the bare concrete walls depending on the time of day. These lines run from floor to peak and make the room seem taller than it actually is.
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