The „Signboard“ architecture (Kanban Kenchiku), created after the earthquake of 1923, consists mainly of a small insignificant building with an elaborate, mostly colored façade facing the street. Thus the drawings in the second part of the exhibition are related to still existing houses, which, in analogy to the façades of the drawings by Yoshida, evince the new architectural typology of the time. Thorsen prescinds this architecture and identifies certain elements of the façade with Japanese colors, creating a two-dimensional ensemble of basic shapes, which from today‘s perspective ties in with the Modernology of the 1920s. Through the drawing, seen as an analytical element that extracts and makes visible the different levels or overlays of architecture, she highlights the exemplary character of the individual architectures.


Bettina Steinbrügge
Excerpt from the press release for the exhibition
Sofie Thorsen,
Krobath, 9. 9.– 7. 11. 2009