He was born in London to a father who worked at a bank. His grandfather of the same name wrote books on the Bible, and many relatives were clergymen, engineers and artists. He lost his father suddenly as a boy, but attended school on a scholarship and set his sights on becoming an architect.
Lodging with his father's cousin, the architect Thomas Roger Smith, he studied architecture at the South Kensington art school and the University of London. Smith had worked on public buildings in British India, and Conder learned the basics of architecture under him.
He joined the office of William Burges, an architect known for the Gothic Revival, as an assistant. Burges was also interested in Japanese art, and this may have awakened Conder's interest in Japan. He later also studied stained glass.
He won the Soane Medallion, an honor for young architects, for a country house design. Around then Japan's Ministry of Public Works was seeking a teacher in Britain for architecture at its new Imperial College of Engineering, and Conder was chosen on a five-year contract.
Invited by the Meiji government, he came to Japan as teacher of architecture at the Imperial College of Engineering. He trained many Japanese architects, starting with the first class of Tatsuno Kingo, Katayama Tokuma and Sone Tatsuzo. Japan's architectural world is said to have been built on his teaching.
Deeply drawn to Japanese culture, he became a pupil of the painter Kawanabe Kyosai, attending Japanese painting lessons every Saturday. Kyosai later gave him the art name Kyoei, and after Kyosai's death Conder published an English book of his paintings, introducing his master's work to the world.
The Rokumeikan he designed was completed in Hibiya, Tokyo. A social hall for entertaining foreign guests, it became the symbol of the government's Westernization policy aimed at treaty revision. Balls were held there, and it is known as a building that conveys the mood of Meiji. Before this he had also designed the Ueno museum.
Having finished his contract with the Imperial College of Engineering and resigned as lecturer at the Imperial University, he opened his own architectural office in Tokyo. Earlier he had taken students to Germany for a plan to group government offices. From then on he designed many mansions for business leaders as a private architect.
Nikolai-do in Kanda, Tokyo, which he designed, was completed. A Russian Orthodox cathedral with a striking high dome, it became one of the most prominent buildings in Tokyo at the time. This year he also published what is said to be the first English book on ikebana.
He married Maeba Kume, a dancer of the Hanayagi school of Japanese dance. Besides Japanese painting, he enjoyed flower arranging, Japanese dance and rakugo, deeply loving Japanese culture. This year he also published a book in English introducing Japanese gardens, conveying Japanese beauty abroad.
The Mitsubishi Ichigokan he designed was completed in Marunouchi, Tokyo. A red-brick office building, it marked the start of the Marunouchi business district. He went on to leave many fine buildings from Meiji into Taisho, including the Iwasaki family mansions at Kayacho and Takanawa and the Mitsui Club.
He died of illness at his home in Azabu, Tokyo. His wife Kume had died eleven days earlier, and the two were buried together at Gokokuji. A bronze statue erected by his students stands at the University of Tokyo, and he is still honored as the father of modern Japanese architecture.
Ogino GinkoIsawa ShūjiTakamura KōunKodama GentarōKitasato ShibasaburōErnest FenollosaTakamine JōkichiShimoda Utako
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.