Founded in 1900, 26 professionals embarked on a journey. This was a time when Japan was rapidly pressing forward with modernization. Nikken Sekkei also was beginning to acquire the architectural styles and techniques of the west. This “pursuit of technology” went on to become an embedded basic principle in the firm.
The Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library was designed by the Sumitomo Tentative Architecture Department (forerunner of Nikken Sekkei) and opened in 1904. It is the oldest library in use in Japan. In 1974, the main building and its north and south wings were designated important Cultural Properties."
The environmentally conscious design ethos evident in its very first project, incorporating natural day lighting and long building life, endures to this day.