INSIGHTS

2019.12.06

R&D DISCUSSION Vol. 21

Architecture in Film: Special Effects TV and Comedy Films of the 1960s [Part 1]

Tatsuo Iso  Architectural Journalist

R&D DISCUSSION TOP

Q: As an architectural journalist writing articles about old buildings, you refer to books, magazines, movies, and TV dramas as well as other sources. How do you get your information?

A: When you watch movies or TV dramas that use real buildings as filming locations, you can see how people saw and understood the buildings. Especially in the case of old movies, it's interesting to compare old maps and aerial photographs to identify which buildings they are.

For example, let's look at how Marunouchi was depicted. There's a special effects drama called "Ultra Q" [Figure 1] that aired in 1966. It was the first installment in the Ultra series, famous for "Ultraman." What sets it apart from the second and subsequent installments is that it doesn't feature a superhero like Ultraman. Instead, it features ordinary people dressed in ordinary clothes battling monsters. Episode 4 of this drama, "Mammoth Flower" [Figure 2], is entirely focused on Marunouchi. The premise is that seeds of an ancient plant called the "Mammoth Flower" lie dormant underground in Marunouchi. The story is about how, for some reason, these seeds begin to grow, causing a gigantic flower to bloom into the sky, destroying buildings and destroying human life. The miniature artwork is exquisitely crafted. The story begins with scenes filmed on location in Marunouchi. The protagonist goes to pick up flyers from an advertising agency in the Shin-Marunouchi Building (1952, designed by Mitsubishi Estate), located in front of Tokyo Station's Marunouchi Exit, for a job distributing flyers. However, the building is inexplicably disorganized, and an earthquake-like phenomenon occurs. Hearing that something strange is happening in the moat around the Imperial Palace, he goes to investigate, where he finds the roots of a giant plant appearing on the surface of the Hibiya Moat. To defeat this terrifying creature, which grabs humans and sucks their blood with its thorns, the protagonist boards a light aircraft and sprays chemicals from the air. The footage overlooking the city is a simple special effects shot, simply pasted over a photograph, perhaps because they couldn't create a miniature of the entire Marunouchi area. However, it seems the director wanted to capture the image of flowers blooming above a city covered in buildings.

This work beautifully captures the history and architecture of Marunouchi. I thought the building that was destroyed by the Mammoth Flower sleeping underground was a fictional building, but the book "Godzilla and Tokyo-Kaiju Movies Trace the Showa Era's Urban Landscapes" (Ichijinsha) says that it was a real office building. This building is called "Okawa Tanaka Office" (1921) designed by Shimizu Corporation, and if you compare the photo with the miniature in the drama, you can see that the arched windows and chrysanthemum crest were referenced in the construction of the building.

The 1960s, when Ultra Q was filmed, was a time when the eaves height of buildings in Marunouchi was limited to 31 meters (100 shaku), and a unified urban landscape was being realized. Looking at it from the other side, this was also the time when the red brick Western-style office districts of the Meiji and Taisho periods were being demolished. A full-scale urban design emerged after the Meiji Restoration, nicknamed "Iccho London" because of its streetscape resembling London. The buildings that made up this design, such as Mitsubishi Ichigokan, No. 2 Building, and No. 3 Building, were demolished one after another in the 1960s. This drama is a work that allows us to see this historical background.

[Figure 1]
"ULTRAMAN ARCHIVES Ultra Q UHD & MovieNEX"
(70,000 yen excluding tax, on sale now /
Released by: Tsuburaya Productions,
Sales: Pony Canyon / Ⓒ Tsuburaya Productions)
[Figure 2] The mammoth flower, a giant plant called Juran, blooms big enough to break through a building.

Q: What is interesting about watching films that focus on architecture and cities?

A: If you look at the "Mammoth Flower" from Ultra Q, you can see it as a natural disaster attacking a city, but if you look at it with an eye on architecture, a different meaning emerges. As I mentioned earlier, by incorporating monsters, Ultra Q drama is dramatizing the situation that actually occurred in the city in the 1960s. The Mammoth Flower symbolizes the destruction of old buildings, but let's look at the setting of the Mammoth Flower. According to a monster encyclopedia published at the time, it was 100m tall. This shows that the Mammoth Flower can be likened to the Tokyo Marine Headquarters Building. The Tokyo Marine Headquarters Building was designed by Kunio Maekawa and completed in 1974, with a 99.7m eaves and a maximum height of 108m. It was a building that surpassed the height of the previous buildings in Marunouchi, but the design began in 1965, the same time the drama was being made. In the drama, the Mammoth Flower destroyed an old building in Marunouchi, but in reality it was the Tokio Marine Headquarters Building.

In other words, the drama Mammoth Flower is a story that skillfully incorporates three generations of buildings that stood in Marunouchi. The first generation were the brick buildings that made up One Block London. The second generation were the buildings that were demolished and erected with the same 31m line. While Mammoth Flower depicts this situation, it also incorporates the appearance of the third generation, 100m-class skyscrapers like the Tokio Marine Building, which were built after eaves height restrictions were relaxed.

In Marunouchi today, the next generation of 200m-class buildings are being built one after another. They are now twice as tall as the Mammoth Flower, but at the same time, the monsters are also evolving rapidly. For example, Godzilla grows taller with each new movie, which means that he evolves as the buildings get taller. Godzilla also attacks Tokyo in "Shin Godzilla" (2016) [Figure 3]. In this movie, the building that helps to defeat Godzilla is the "Tokiwabashi Project" building [Figure 4], which is bigger than the monster. As you know, the Tokiwabashi Project is a plan consisting of four buildings, including a 390m skyscraper that will be the tallest in Japan, and is scheduled to be completed in 2027. This unseen building appears in the movie. This means that Godzilla can only be defeated by buildings of the future, not existing buildings. Monster movies have always depicted monsters destroying buildings, but Shin Godzilla shows that buildings can also fight back against monsters. In the movie Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995), there was a scene where a giant turtle-like monster attacking the Japanese archipelago was lured into the Fukuoka Dome (1993/designed by Takenaka Corporation and Maeda Corporation Joint Venture), where the roof was closed and the monster was captured. The Tokiwabashi Project is another rare example of architectural design helping to defeat a monster. As someone involved in the construction industry, I felt very proud when I saw this.

[Figure 3] "Shin Godzilla 2-disc set"
(DVD now on sale/Released and distributed by: Toho)
[Figure 4] In Shin Godzilla, Building B of the Tokiwabashi Project appears behind Godzilla, wreaking havoc around Tokyo Station.

[Figures 1 and 2: Provided by Tsuburaya Productions / Figure 3: Provided by Toho]

Continued in Part 2

PROFILE

Architectural Journalist

Tatsuo Iso

Iso Tatsuo

Born in Saitama Prefecture in 1963. Graduated from Nagoya University in 1988 and worked at the Nikkei Architecture editorial department. Became independent in 2000. Co-founded the editorial office Flick Studio in 2002. Part-time lecturer at Kuwasawa Design School and Musashino Art University. Major co-authored books include Showa Modern Architecture Pilgrimage: Complete Edition 1945-64 (Nikkei Business Publications, 2019), Premodern Architecture Pilgrimage (Nikkei Business Publications, 2018), Kikutake Kiyonori Pilgrimage (Nikkei Business Publications, 2012), Postmodern Architecture Pilgrimage (Nikkei Business Publications, 2011), The Future Cities We Dreamed of (PHP Institute, 2010), and Showa Modern Architecture Pilgrimage: Western Japan Edition/Eastern Japan Edition (2006/2008).

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R&D TOP

Update : 2019.12.06

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