To us, tennis and its surrounding culture should not only be confined within the bordered-off lines of its court; it should be allowed to permeate layers throughout the society across spheres of art, architecture, design, food, music, skateboarding and whatever else we find ourselves into at any given time.

When we spoke with our Tokyo-based friend and photographer, Jun Iwasaki, about this sentiment, he instantaneously knew where he take to our feelings of tennis to: the renown works of Japanese architect, modernist and Pritzker Prize recipient, Kenzo Tange. Here, Jun brought two close friends of the Palmes Tennis Society, designer Kikuno Kiki and skateboarder Ryo Maruyama, to Tange’s Yoyogi National Gymnasium and St. Mary’s Cathedral in Tokyo.

Kikuno-san is portrayed in the scenery of the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, known for its suspension roof construction and built to house the swimming and diving events at the 1964 Summer Olympics with a separate annex used for the basketball events that same year.

Together with Ryo-san, Iwasaki went to St. Mary’s Cathedral in the Sekiguchi neighborhood of the city. Originally constructed in a gothic style in 1899, the cathedral was destroyed in the air raids of World War II, leading to a new design by Tange that was opened to the public in late 1964. In March 2005, the cathedral found itself home to the funeral of Tange, having passed at the age of 91.

Learn more about Kenzo Tange here.

Follow Jun Iwasaki here. Follow Kikuno Kiki here. Follow Ryo Maruyama here.