Official

Soon, I have a question for you.
Harumi has a strong image as a city that evolves every day due to development for tower apartments and global sports festivals, but what do you think of when you hear "the site that remains in Harumi"?

Yes, it's the site of the Secretariat of the Japan World Exposition!
Just 80 years ago, in March, the "Japan World Exposition" was scheduled to be held in the Harumi area for about six months.
However, due to the intensification of war and the decrease in the number of participating countries, the postponement was decided immediately before the event.
The built secretariat building was used as an army hospital, and disappeared due to the war.

However, this was not the only site left in Harumi.

I realized for the first time that I would like to introduce "the site that remains in Harumi" by looking at Google map.
That's the ruins of the Harumi High-rise apartment.

According to the materials of the UR Urban Organization, Harumi High-rise apartments are high-rise apartments with three-story and six dwelling units, which began moving in in 1957 for the coming age of high-rise buildings.
It was designed by Kunio Maekawa, who studied under Le Corbusier.
Perhaps because of that, it seems that there was something in common with Marseille's apartment house (Unite Davidacion) designed by Corbusier.
remain, a representative work of Kunio Maekawa, is preserved in Chuo-ku. For more information, please see the article of Senior Correspondent Akira Makibuchi / Sai Sharaku. )

In addition, while emphasizing long-term durability, it can be said to be the pioneer of skeleton infill housing (SI housing), which can freely change the interior of floor plans and facilities in response to the diverse needs of residents.
Tatami, which is not bound by conventional dimensions, has also been pursuing rationality in Japan after the war, so it is becoming more and more interesting.
On the other hand, when constructing at that time, a number of restrictions were imposed, including the issue of building a high-rise house at the same cost as a middle-rise house.
This apartment, which has been devised in various ways to solve these issues, is exactly the result of efforts in modern architecture (see the above materials for details)!

By the way, what is going on at the site of such a Harumi high-rise apartment now?

Currently, the site is a high-rise apartment (part of Harumi Triton Square) and Harumi Daiichi Park, which can be used by anyone.
Looking at a park located higher than the ground floor, such as Sakuragawa Rooftop Park and Mizutani Bridge Park, which Cairy introduced the other day, you will be curious about "What's going on?" Isn't it?
It's a great deal, so please go along with a virtual walk for a while.
(As of STAY HOME Week, there are requests to refrain from using the park. Please follow the latest instructions from Tokyo and Chuo-ku.

As you go up the stairs in front of the scenery of the futuristic atmosphere, Harumi Daini Park on the right and Harumi Daiichi Park on the left.
This time, I visited Harumi Daiichi Park, nicknamed Fureai no Mori.
Harumi is so calm that it can't be imagined, and it is a park rich in nature.

Like other parks, playground equipment and benches are installed, but what I was worried about was this object.
This is a work called "The Universal Language Of U" by Kazutaka Uchida.
According to the commentary, "From the situation in the Harumi Tokyo at the end of the 20th century, the background of a newly reborn city through redevelopment, and the spatial composition to be arranged, time, history, memory, story, and exchange are key words, expressing the infinite depth and connection that should be called a microcosmic."

There is no indication of the history of Harumi High-Rise Apartment here, but if you look at this work with such a background in mind, you will see a connection that transcends the postwar, the end of the 20th century, and now.

From here, it's an extra edition (story outside Chuo-ku), but I'm glad that you can see the restoration of this Harumi high-rise apartment in the multi-family housing history exhibition building (the nearest station: Kita-Hachioji Station on the JR Hachiko Line) of the UR Urban Organization!
(*The History Museum is closed to prevent COVID-19 infection.)

Harumi high-rise apartment is the pioneer of high-rise houses connected to modern Harumi.
I would like to take a look at it at a glance.
When you visit the History Museum, you will be able to go out freely and visit the History Museum, I would like to introduce it as an excursion series.♫