Building a World after the War: Japanese American Design at Midcentury

Building a World after the War: Japanese American Design at Midcentury

by Washington University in St. Louis

Exhibition Dates: January through June 2026

Location: Pre-security, Lower Level A Baggage Claim Windows

Building a World after the Way: Japanese American Design At Midcentury is a large panoramic collage––an imagined landscape whose features many St. Louisans will recognize: landmarks designed by Japanese American architects: the Abbey (Priory) Church and McDonnell Planetarium by Gyo Obata, the “Flying Saucer” by Richard Henmi, and of course the iconic St. Louis Lambert International Airport by Minoru Yamasaki, among others.

Inspired by 17th-century Japanese ukiyo-e screens, the exhibition focuses on the lives and works of Japanese American designers impacted by internment during World War II. Among these are four architects (Gyo Obata, Richard Henmi, George Matsumoto, and Fred Toguchi) who relocated from West coast exclusion zones to study at Washington University, and went on to make vital contributions to the nation’s post-war architecture and design landscape, from the iconic to everyday––from suburban split-level homes to high-rise apartments and corporate headquarters.