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#1 |
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DATA |
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 Design: Prefectural Housing Corp.
Location: Minami-ku, Hiroshima City
Purpose of Use: Complex housing
Completed in: 1954
Total Floor Area: 3762sqm
Structure: RC |
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This municipal apartment complex is in an urban area near Hiroshima Station. The building stands on the periphery of the premises; thus a courtyard is naturally formed. This style is called the City Block Style, standard in Europe but rarely seen in Japan.
Built free from stereotype
Apartment houses on the first floor can be approached from the courtyard. The rooftop had a laundry area because washing machines were not prevalent in those days (photo #10). The architect probably intended to make the courtyard and rooftop a community space for residents. The exterior putting emphasis on oriel windows is under the strong influence of Dojun-kai apartment.
Current Japanese housing complexes are completely standardized; they force the residents to be uniformed. That's because contemporary architects and developers are bound by the standard for the most efficient investment. In those days, however, there were no standards. Various styles were tried. That's why the buildings from those days look refreshing to us, who are under the spell of standardization.
Why no City Block Style?
The City Block Style didn't prevail partly because of the Japanese city planning; Japanese characters also contribute to a large extent. That is, the Japanese fervently hate the north-facing residence which doesn't let in sunshine, and they are not good at using the public space of courtyard.
Will be demolished soon
The apartment is deteriorating and will be demolished soon. The new building will not adopt the City Block Style any more. |
[For Visitors]
Pay due attention to avoid any disturbances to the local residents.
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| #2 This is Barcelona from a picture post card. The open space is secured
in the center of the city block. The Japanese city planning prefers open
space along the street not in the center of the city block; thus the Japanese
cityscape doesn't look organized like that of Barcelona. Graphic A is European
and B Japanese. |
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#3: The courtyard is used as parking lot. It's quite unfortunate to use
it this way from my point of view, because I know the marvelous function
of European courtyard. |
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Created on May 12, 2006 Last updated on Jun 25, 2008 Written by makoto Translated by jasmine Photos taken by makoto Camera: NikonD70 |
| Photos on this page are licensed under a Creative Commons License. You are free to copy and make commercial use of them under the conditions
"Attribution" and "No Derivative Works". [about copyright] |
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 EAST DELTA INDEX |
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| (CC) arch-hiroshima 2006 |
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