2025.10.02
R&D DISCUSSION Vol.57
Thinking about the future of "Inheritance Design" [Part 1]
Kazunori Nomura, Professor at Kanagawa University, Advisor to Mitsubishi Jisho Design Architectural Heritage Design Office
Top image: [Photo 1] Japan Industry Club Building, Grand Staircase
Nomura has worked on numerous "Inheritance Design" projects as a designer for Mitsubishi Estate / Mitsubishi Jisho Design for many years, and since 2022 has also been engaged in research and education as a professor at the Kanagawa University Faculty of Architecture. We asked him about his methods for Inheritance Design of historical buildings in redevelopment projects.
Q: First of all, what is the difference between "preservation and utilization," which has become increasingly common recently, and Mitsubishi Jisho Design 's "Inheritance Design"?
A: The recent increase in cases of preserving and utilizing historical buildings is due to a change in policy by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, which sees dynamic preservation as opposed to frozen preservation, meaning that it is essential to "continue to use" architecture. The ideal situation would be to preserve everything as is, but as the era, location, use, and scale of the architecture in question become more diverse, a wide range of methods must be considered for preserving and utilizing them. "Inheritance Design" is a design method that involves conducting research to clarify the "position and location of the value that should be inherited," and then revamping the architecture's functionality to meet the demands of the times while inheriting its value to the greatest extent possible.
Every town and building has its own unique value, and I believe that discovering it is an important role of a designer. I first started using the word "inheritance" when I worked on the Japan Industrial Club Building (2003), a project at Mitsubishi Jisho Design that incorporated methods of inheriting historical value that included not only preservation but also reproduction. I then worked on the Mitsubishi Ichigokan restoration project (2009), where I was tasked with recreating the entire building that had been lost. Neither of these jobs can be explained solely by the conventional concept of preservation and repair. Inheriting the value of historical buildings is always a case-by-case matter, and my involvement in a variety of projects has allowed me to develop Inheritance Design techniques.
Q: Please tell us about a project that was a turning point for "Inheritance Design."
A: The project we mentioned earlier, the The Industry Club of Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, involved redeveloping the entire block while preserving the historical value of the Japan Industrial Club Building (completed in 1920). At concept design stage, we considered how to simultaneously satisfy the three conditions of "preserving value," "ensuring safety (improving functionality)," and "urban development (business viability)," and we established a review process to find the optimal solution for "preservation and development" through a feasibility study, making this a very important project [Slide 1].
The precedent that served as a lesson was the remodeling of the Tokyo Bank Assembly Hall (completed in 1916). Tokyo Bankers Association Building (Completed in 1993). A committee that included academics considered ways to preserve the historical value of the building, and it was decided to preserve and reuse some of the components while partially recreating the exterior. This was an early example of an attempt to balance preservation and development in Marunouchi, but due to the small size of the site it was not possible to set the tower back sufficiently, and the exterior of the Bank of Tokyo Assembly Hall was reproduced as if it were attached to the lower floors of the tower, which was criticized negatively, with comments such as "preserving only a loincloth" and "preserving only a scab."
Approximately 10 years later, the Japan Industrial Club Building, also located in Marunouchi, was tackled with the theme of balancing preservation and development.Until then, the building's historical value had not been recognized.However, after the announcement of its redevelopment, the Architectural Institute of Japan submitted a request for preservation, pointing out the building's historical value.In order to arrive at the optimal solution for preservation and development, the Japan Industrial Club Building Historical Review Committee (sponsored by the City Planning Institute of Japan), which included academics (urban planning, architectural history, architectural planning, architectural structure), government officials (cultural properties, urban planning), businesses, and designers, conducted a study.
First, we conducted a survey to clarify the building's position and location of value. Its positioning was as "a building that expresses the spirit of the Taisho period," "a symbol of Japan's industrial world," and "an architecture that shapes the landscape in front of Tokyo Station." The building features decorative elements based on a geometric motif called "Section," and its original exterior and interior spaces were beautifully preserved. The plan was to preserve the club hall portion at the front, while updating the rental office area, which appears to have been added to the rear. The interior spaces were evaluated based on their importance on three levels. The highlights are undoubtedly the most impressive dining hall on the third floor, and the second-floor auditorium, which is historically where Einstein conducted experiments during his visit to Japan. The sequence of entering through the first-floor entrance, ascending the grand staircase, passing through the hall, and reaching the dining hall and auditorium was particularly important, and we decided to preserve the continuity of the spaces that comprise it [Slide 2].
Q: How did you strike a balance between development and preservation?
A: Based on these considerations, we conducted a feasibility study of a plan that would balance development and utilization. We first ranked 10 possible plans, ranging from clearing the land and building a new building to preserving the entire building, based on differences in the extent of preservation and reproduction and seismic reinforcement methods, and evaluated them based on three criteria, as mentioned earlier: preserving value, ensuring safety, and urban development [Slide 3]. In the case of an Important Cultural Property, the first priority is to preserve the entire valuable area when considering development methods, including utilization. However, when preserving the value of a registered cultural property like the Japan Industrial Club Building during redevelopment, I believe it is necessary to evaluate all three criteria at the same time.
In any project, owners and stakeholders initially worry about the building's aging and safety. Records show that the Japan Industrial Club Building sustained significant structural damage during the Great Kanto Earthquake. Although it underwent seismic retrofitting shortly afterward, there were concerns about its ability to withstand modern earthquakes. The key issue was how to cover the financial burden of repairs and retrofitting. The project utilized the "Specific Block System" of the City Planning Act, which was launched in 1996 and allows for floor area relaxation (premium) by preserving and recreating buildings within the registered area. At the time, the national and local governments were actively implementing urban planning systems to promote the preservation of cultural heritage buildings. The government also participated in the Historical Review Committee, and the coordination between the cultural property system and the urban planning system proved extremely effective.
Q: Could you tell us about the specific preservation methods and any special measures you took?
A: The final plan adopted was to preserve one-third of the structure and recreate the remaining two-thirds, with full seismic isolation. While the first-third, including the main hall and dining hall, was able to be preserved, the remaining two-thirds had structural issues and had to be updated. While reusing usable finishing materials, the exterior and important interior spaces were preserved and recreated. The preserved and recreated sections are now placed on top of the underground structure of the newly constructed section (the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation Head Office Building) via seismic isolation [Slide 4]. Another structural change was made: the tower columns were bent midway to preserve the grand staircase. We sought many opinions and put the structural engineers through considerable hardship, but dropping the columns from the tower to the preserved section would have ruined the spaciousness of the building. This demonstrates the importance of such bold decisions. Incidentally, the handrails on the grand staircase were originally made of metal, but were replaced with wood due to wartime metal donations. This time, we have restored the original appearance, referring to photographs taken at the time of completion [Photo 3].
The completed The Industry Club of Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking was recognized for its preservation method, which was carried out on top of a newly constructed underground structure, and was awarded AIJ Prizes (Achievement).
[Photos 1-3: Photo courtesy of the Japan Industrial Club (as it is a members-only facility, the building is not open to the public) / 4 slides: provided by Kazunori Nomura]
PROFILE
Professor at Kanagawa University / Advisor to Mitsubishi Jisho Design Architectural Heritage Design Office
Kazunori Nomura
Kazunori Nomura
Born in Tokyo in 1964. Ph.D. in Engineering. After completing a Master's course at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1988, he joined Mitsubishi Estate Estate (architectural design and construction supervision Department). After working on the planning and design of the Marunouchi Reconstruction Masterplan, he joined Mitsubishi Jisho Design Jisho Sekkei in 2001 and has been involved in the design of numerous urban regeneration projects, including historical buildings. His representative works include The Industry Club of Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (2003, Architectural Institute of Japan Achievement Award), the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Restoration Plan (2009, Architectural Institute of Japan Achievement Award, Japan Construction Contractors Association Award), JP Tower (2012), and Ginza Kabukiza (2013). His publications include "Reborn Historical Buildings" (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, 2014). He currently serves as an advisor to the Mitsubishi Jisho Design Architectural Heritage Design Office, a professor at Kanagawa University (since 2022), and a member of TOKYO ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL Executive Committee.
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