Tōdai-ji in Nara was founded under Emperor Shōmu, with the Great Buddha commissioned in 743 and its eye-opening ceremony held in 752. The article names no architect, and says the original complex was meant to imitate Tang dynasty temples. The infobox gives no style and lists the Great Buddha Hall as completed in 1709 as a reconstruction.
The current Great Buddha Hall is 57 meters (187 feet) long, 50 meters (164 feet) wide and 49 meters (161 feet) high, with 48 lacquered cinnabar pillars, and is seven bays wide, down from eleven. A 1974 to 1980 project added steel frames and concrete to the wooden pillars. It was the world's largest wooden building until 1998.
The hall has been rebuilt twice after fire, and Chōgen led a reconstruction around 1180 to 1181. The bronze Great Buddha is given as 16 meters in one place and 14.98 in another. The Tōdai-ji Culture Center opened in 2011.
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