INSIGHTS

2021.10.05

R&D DISCUSSION Vol. 33

Before-Before Architecture Theory
Design techniques that unravel history [Part 1]

Toru Ajisaka, Professor, Kagoshima University

R&D DISCUSSION TOP

After working on numerous architectural preservation and restoration projects at Mitsubishi Estate / Mitsubishi Jisho Design for around 30 years, Ajisaka left the company in 2013 and took up a professorship in the Department of Architecture at the Graduate School of Science and Engineering at Kagoshima University. We spoke to Ajisaka, who has been involved in preserving and restoring modern and contemporary architecture and revitalizing local communities, about the future of architectural preservation and restoration.

Q: While the economy-first scrap-and-build trend continues, Renovation and the utilization of existing buildings, known as "before-after," are also becoming more prevalent in society. When did the idea of "preserving" architecture first come about?

A: If we unravel the origins of architectural "preservation," we find that it is in the flow of Western architectural history, where architectural techniques, which had declined with the collapse of the empire after the prosperity of ancient Rome, were rapidly revived during the Renaissance and blossomed into Mannerism and Baroque. Ancient Rome boasted high architectural techniques, as exemplified by the Colosseum (1st century), which used concrete building materials called Roman concrete. However, the Colosseum gradually fell out of use and became a quarry, and the techniques were lost. As a result, even if they tried to build a similar building during the Renaissance period (14th-16th centuries), which aimed to revive ancient Roman culture, they no longer knew how to even build a dome. As they started by restoring old sculptures, the lost high-level techniques were rediscovered, and a movement to review and learn them began. At the same time, discussions began on restoration methods and the ideal ways of preservation.

The turning point was the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century. The French poet Victor Hugo (1802-85), who was concerned that historical buildings that had been abandoned by the nobility and the church and nationalized would be lost due to vandalism (destruction) by citizens, argued that "There are two things in a building: its utility and its beauty. The utility belongs to the owner, the beauty belongs to everyone" (War of the Vandals, 1825). In the mid-19th century, Georges Haussmann (1809-91) began a major renovation of Paris, but with the activities of Austrian urban planner Camillo Sitte (1843-1903) and others who objected to the renovation that placed too much emphasis on efficiency, today's Paris is protected by laws such as not allowing buildings to be built within 500 meters of historical buildings without permission. Even now, if you drive a car from 100 years ago, you could make a movie of Paris from 100 years ago.

At the end of the 19th century, Japan finally began to "preserve" architecture [Slide 1]. After the Meiji Restoration, the "Law for the Preservation of Ancient Shrines and Temples" (1897) was enacted out of concern for the loss of culture. In the 20th century, the preservation of architecture began to be discussed at the International Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM, 1928-1959), and the Venice Charter of 1964 led to the founding of the current ICOMOS, and UNESCO began to review World Heritage sites.

Meanwhile, in Japan, the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties (1950) was enacted as a result of legal reforms under the GHQ occupation after the war, and the designation of Important Cultural Properties began, but the system of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties was only established in 1996, so it is still quite new. The World Heritage Convention was adopted in 1972, but Japan joined in 1992, the latest among developed countries. Japan is a backward country in terms of heritage when viewed from a global perspective. In particular, the public benefit of historical buildings in cityscapes is recognized as landmarks in places like New York, but in Japan, this has not been given much importance.

[Slide 1] Japan is a heritage-underdeveloped country that has lagged behind the rest of the world.

Q: When and how did the discussion of architectural preservation begin in Japan?

A: In fact, you could say that Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsubishi Jisho Design were heavily involved in this turning point. The demolition of Mitsubishi Ichigokan in 1968 and the demolition of the Bank of Tokyo Head Office (now Mitsubishi UFJ Bank Head Office Annex) in 1975 sparked preservation and opposition movements. In 1970, Kajima Institute Publishing's magazine Urban Housing ran a year-long special feature called "The Economics of Preservation," in which architects and scholars proposed preservation ideas. Around this time, discussions about preservation became quite heated, and in 1975 the system of "Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings" was launched, not just for individual buildings. There are currently about 120 such districts across the country.

As I mentioned earlier, while systems to promote preservation were established, such as the Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 1996 and the "Tokyo Important Cultural Property Special Specific Districts" in 1999, a new urban planning system called the Urban Renewal Special Districts was created in 2002, which created a trend to stall preservation. After all, economic development remains the top priority for the country, and the approach to architectural preservation has continued to fluctuate.

Meanwhile, at the 2017 Architectural Institute of Japan Hiroshima Conference, a materials research presentation was made stating that "neutralization of concrete has no relation to the lifespan of a building," and it is hoped that this will help to curb demolition due to the deterioration of buildings. This is already common knowledge overseas, but the fact that it has become widely known in Japan marks an important shift in direction for preservation and restoration [Slide 2].

Since the 1960s, the Agency for Cultural Affairs has been investigating old houses, early modern shrines and temples, modern heritage sites, and modern Japanese-style architecture across the country, setting standards and working to upgrade them to Important Cultural Properties, and finally began emergency investigations of modern and contemporary architecture and civil engineering in 2015 (Emergency Priority Investigation Project for Modern and Contemporary Buildings). As a result of these investigations, the National Museum of Western Art (1959), the Former Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura Main Building (1951), and the National Yoyogi Stadium (1964) are some of the cultural properties that have been designated Important Cultural Properties.

[Slide 2] The preservation and restoration of post-war modern architecture has finally begun.

Q: Please tell us about the preservation and restoration projects you worked on while working Mitsubishi Jisho Design.

A: In the "Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Building Block" in Marunouchi (2004-05), in order to protect the living heritage of the Meiji Life Insurance Building (1934), we designed it under the "exemption from application of the historical building rule" under Article 3 of the Building Standards Act [Photo 1]. In particular, the steel sashes, which were found to be in good condition thanks to their excellent rust-proofing treatment after investigation, were able to be used as they were, which I think was beneficial in terms of both cost and cultural value. Rather than replacing everything, we updated the functions while leaving the "before". We believe that maintaining reversibility is what we should aim for in preservation.

The "Preservation and Regeneration of the International House of Japan Main Building" in Roppongi (completed in 1955, renovated in 2006) was designed under the supervision of the late Seizo Sakata of the Sakakura Architectural Institute, and his words "preservation for regeneration" rather than "regeneration for preservation" were impressive [Photo 2]. Initially, functional updates and seismic reinforcement were considered separately to continue using the building, but they were combined and the functional walls were used as seismic walls. Furthermore, the earthquake resistance was improved by replacing the beams on the first and second floors in conjunction with the basement extension. Here too, the large cypress wooden sashes that Kunio Maekawa liked to use were replaced with double-glazed glass and aluminum moldings were inserted into some of the sashes to preserve them. This is a technique similar to grafting, which is used in the restoration of cultural properties.

Next is the "former Rising Sun Oil Company housing," a building (1929) currently used as Building 10 of Ferris University's Yamate Campus [Photo 3]. It has also been recognized as a Yokohama City Historical Building, and in 2009, facade was restored with assistance from the city. Before the renovation, the building had facade Bauhaus-like white wall and black sashes, but after construction began and facade was washed, it was found to have beige walls and green sashes. It was originally in the Spanish style. In fact, it was recently discovered that facade of the Villa Planex and Villa Savoye, designed by French architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965), which were thought to be white, were actually beige, and there are plans to repaint these World Heritage buildings beige. It seems that they were made from crushed sandstone extracted from the underground of Paris. Color is a "demon." It is important not to be fooled and to faithfully reproduce the past.

In conjunction with the renovation of the House of Representatives Members' Building, we also designed a new access corridor [Photo 4] to the National Diet Building (1936) and renovated the connection (2010-12, design architect: Nikken Sekkei, landscape advisor: Shinichi Okada, schematic design and design development: Mitsubishi Jisho Design, Kume Sekkei, design and Construction Supervision joint venture). When you actually go to see the National Diet Building, you will see that all the marble used inside was made in Japan, so we used "Kasumi" marble from Yamaguchi Prefecture for the walls of the corridor. We use a stone called Mocha Cream from Portugal for the walls of the new Diet Building to keep costs down, but we reinforced the corners, which are fragile and prone to chipping, with coral marble called Taminashi from Kagoshima. Local production and consumption and the use of genuine materials are also important in preserving architecture.

[Photo 1] The Meiji Life Insurance Building, an important cultural property, has been preserved in working order.
"Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Building Block"
[Photo 2] The Architectural Institute of Japan's revitalization report was the catalyst.
"Preservation and Restoration of the International House of Japan's Main Building"
[Photo 3] It has been certified as a Yokohama City Historical Building.
Ferris University Yamate Campus Building 10
(Former Rising Sun Oil Company Housing)
[Photo 4] The new House of Representatives Building (right) and the new connecting corridor between the National Diet Building.
The original plan was for it to be two stories tall, but the design was changed to have most of it underground.

[Photos (excluding the Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Building block) and slides: provided by Toru Ajisaka]

Continued in Part 2

PROFILE

Professor at Kagoshima University

Toru Ajisaka

Ajisaka Tooru

Born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture in 1957, and raised in Osaka. After graduating from the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, majoring in Civil Engineering, in 1983, he joined Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. (currently Mitsubishi Jisho Design). In 2013, he left Mitsubishi Jisho Design to become a professor in the Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University. Since assuming his position, he has been teaching Architectural Design, working on the preservation and restoration of modern architecture, regional revitalization, and the utilization of regional assets, as well as engaging in exchanges with the University of Florence. He also serves as the chief of the JIA Excellent Architecture Selection Task Force, the executive director of the JIA Kyushu Branch Kagoshima Regional Chapter, a member of ICOMOS 20th Century Heritage-NSC20C, a vice representative of DOCOMOMO Japan, and a member of the Workplace Subcommittee of the Architectural Institute of Japan.

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