Hello, this is Minato kid.
Until last time, I walked along the street around Akashicho, where the Tsukiji foreign settlement was located in the Meiji era.
Today, I would like to introduce a foreign house called "Polaba Bungalow", which survived on the banks of the Sumida River until the Heisei era.
Name = POLABA BUNGALOW
Location = 8 Akashi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Designer = J. Bergaminy
Constructor = Shimizu Gumi
Year of completion = Taisho 13-14 (1924-25)
Building area = 66 tsubo 791 (220,752 m2)
Foundation = cloth foundation
Wooden one-story building
In 1989 (1989), the redevelopment project of St. Luke International Hospital was implemented. At present, the Toysler Memorial Hall, which was located at the location of St. Luke Garden, was relocated to the courtyard in the hospital, but in fact there were two more wooden one-story Western-style buildings on the same site. One of them is "Polaba Bungalow".
"Polaba Bungalow" was located on the site of the American Embassy during the Meiji period. It was a foreign house for hospital staff. Completion is estimated to be around 1924, which means that it was built there earlier than the Toysler Memorial Hall.
It seems to be the house where "Mr. Polaba" lived, but there are no detailed materials such as the design drawings at the beginning of construction. And no one who knew about Mr. Polava was able to find it after a long time.
The exterior was a Japanese-style wooden one-story house. However, once the survey started, an unexpected architectural style came to light. That is, the "2 x 4 (two-by-four) method" (framework wall method), which is still rare in Japan at the time, was used.
In addition, all rooms were Western-style rooms. Obviously, it was a house for foreigners. A full-scale survey was conducted with the historical value of the building recognized and planned to be demolished soon.
♪ History of the construction of Polaba bungalows
The Great Kanto Earthquake that occurred in 1923 (1923) not only took away all the features of Tsukiji foreign settlements, but also caused enormous damage to hospital buildings. Building materials were transported by ship from the United States to build a temporary hospital. Wood, asbestos slate, tile roofing, etc. It was a ballack building that was quickly built during reconstruction.
According to the people involved, "I built two houses with the remaining materials that built the temporary hospital." It is thought that there are two wooden one-story houses built near the Toysler Memorial Hall. It can be estimated that the completion will be around June 1924, at the same time as the temporary hospital.
♪ Floor plan of poraba bungalow
Polaba Bungalow is a middle corridor-shaped house with a ridge extending east and west. After Ms. Polaba, Miss Stound (also known as Ms. Nuno's theory) lived, but the number of residents increased further, and the extension was made in 1933 (1933).
Each material at that time remains at St. Luke's International Hospital. In the drawing, "POLABA BUNGALOW" was written. This is why this building is called Polaba Bungalow.
In addition, the designer in the extension was described as J. Bergaminy. Speaking of 1933, it was the year when the first phase of the hospital was completed and the Toysler Memorial was newly built. All were designed by J. Bergaminy. Probably, the extension of the Polaba Bungalow was done at the same time as these.
On the north side of the entrance, there were two "surbant rooms". This is a Japanese-style room, probably based on the assumption that Japanese will be hired as servants. There is a living room, dining room, bedroom and bathroom on the south side, and a kitchen and storage room on the north side. In the extension, the living room was expanded, and the entrance was increased beside it.
With the extension, there is a "design change and heating installation application notification" notified to the police station. Probably because the number of residents increased and a solid living environment was needed in the future. In other words, the Polaba bungalows confirm that it was a ballack building that was built for first aid immediately after the earthquake.
♪The architectural style of Polaba bungalow
[Axis]
On top of the cloth foundation, the foundation is placed, and a vertical column stands directly on the foundation. After removing the clapboard outer wall, a board about 10 cm wide was affixed diagonally at an angle of 45 degrees. Furthermore, when we removed it, we found that a one-third square pillar was set up at equal intervals, regardless of the position of the window. This is clearly different from the Japanese architectural style.
In addition, a cement block was sandwiched between the stole and the stole. As an example of using the same method, it is also found at the former American Board Missionary Museum, an important cultural property designated by Gunma Prefecture, and is thought to be avoiding rats. It could be a commonly used method in American residential architecture.
[Oyagumi]
It is a manthard roof with a low eaves (a waist-breaking roof). Despite being a Western-style roof, the hut structure uses a Japanese hut method instead of a truss structure. Finishing is a tin roof for the main building and a waveform asbestos slate for the eaves.
[Interior]
In the living room, a wooden hair board is used, and a cosmetic plywood is attached to it. This cosmetic plywood seems to be the same as the ceiling on the second floor of the main hospital building. This is an imported material from the United States.
[Feder group] When the floor of the living room is peeled off, the base plate is diagonally pasted on the rootta, and a thin carpet is laid on it. The diagonal sticking of flooring material is also a feature of the 2×4 construction method.
While the American architectural style is adopted, the traditional construction methods are visible and hidden everywhere. This is thought to be because, apart from the designer, the person who actually worked on the construction was Japanese and used familiar techniques.
During the Meiji era, when Western-style architecture entered Japan, there were many cases where construction methods were mixed in this way. The Japanese masters tell us that it was a transitional period when they were proud of their previous techniques, interpreted themselves and accepted new construction methods.
♪ 2×4 construction method in Japan
The characteristic of Polaba bungalow is that its exterior is a Japanese-style wooden one-story house, but it has a complete American house style. One of them is the “2 × 4 (two-by-four) method” (framework wall method).
The 2 × 4 construction method is mainly used for housing in the United States and Canada. A thin pillar is set up at equal intervals, and an exterior plate with a clapboard is attached to a framework that combines beams and the like. It is a unique technology cultivated in American topography and history, and it also has one aspect of a "prefabricated house" that anyone can easily assemble.
There seem to be many examples of the use of this architectural style during the reconstruction period of the Great Kanto Earthquake. In fact, a long time ago, the 2 × 4 construction method was adopted in Japan was the building of the Hokkaido pioneer.
In 1869 (1869), the Hokkaido pioneer established by the new Meiji government was organized with the cooperation of the American Department of Agriculture. The former pioneer Sapporo Museum, etc., has become an important cultural property.
Later, in 1890 (1890), there was an example of bringing back an American assembled house, which is thought to be when the 2 × 4 construction method began to be introduced in the private sector.
Polava bungalows hold the key in the process and stages of the adoption of the 2×4 construction method in Japan.
♪ Bungalow style
Regarding the format of "bungalows", it was the ideal housing image that was considered to be the most suitable for Japanese people among the housing styles introduced from overseas in the housing improvement movement during the Taisho era.
At the time of the reconstruction of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 (1923), the bungalow format came to be highly evaluated in order to resolve housing shortages. "Polava Bungalow" is thought to have practiced it in such a trend.
♪ After the Polaba Bungalow
In 1941 (1941), there is a record of Hirotoshi Hashimoto, the hospital director at the time, living with his family. For this reason, I have alias of "Hashimoto Memorial Hall".
In addition, since 1977 (1977), it was used as a training room for hospital officials and a conference room, and was called the "St. Luke's Second Memorial Hall". In 1985 (1985), it also served as the office of the Redevelopment Planning Headquarters.
The building that tells the history is with a voice that wishes for preservation every day. However, buildings that are forced to disappear due to problems such as maintenance and management continue to disappear. Polaba bungalows is one of them.
Because it is a building that is not visible now, the "record" tells us a lot.
Reference: Chuo-ku Cultural Properties Survey Report Vol. 1 "Foreign Housing in Tsukiji"
Survey report on Polaba Bungalow, a foreign housing attached to St. Luke's International Hospital
1992 Chuo-ku Board of Education
Correspondent Minato kid, Chuo-ku Tourism Association
No. 31 January 10, 2019
