2020 Volume 85 Issue 769 Pages 485-491
In Japan, condominiums for individuals were born after World War II, and the number of them increased rapidly after the act on building unit ownership, etc. established in 1962. Although there is accurate knowledge about early public housings, little is known about the early condominium projects planned by private companies. Among them, there is no specific research about "Co-operative House Series," condominium projects sold by Nippon Shinyo Hanbai Co. since 1956.
We previously reported that Yotsuya Co-operative House, which is said the first private condominium project for individuals in Japan, was designed by Keiichi Kimura who was an architect of Sato Kogyo Co., Ltd. This study focuses on the architectural planning features and backgrounds of "Co-operative House Series" designed by him.
First, this study analyzed the connection between Keiichi Kimura and "Co-operative House Series" using the pamphlet of "
" made by Nippon Shinyo Hanbai Co., design drawings of "Yotsuya Co-operative House," "Daikanyama Co-operative House" and "Akasaka Co-operative House" drawn by Sato Kogyo Co., Ltd. and some documentations. As the architectural planning features of the "Co-operative House Series," they have the following common features: 1) sectional composition consists of L-shaped maisonette-type dwelling units, 2) field-shaped rooms layout, 3) flooring room as living room and kitchen.
Second, this study analyzed housing construction projects Keiichi Kimura experienced in Ministry of Construction using documentations about Government Building Department, registered contents of Japan Federation of Architects & Building Engineers Associations and web search systems of the three large newspapers in Japan. We found that Keiichi Kimura experienced construction of the apartments for national government officials around 1949. As the architectural planning features of the apartments, we pointed out that they also have the field-shaped room layout and flooring room as living room and kitchen.
Through the above analyses, we concluded that it is reasonable to support that the dwelling unit plans of the "Co-operative House Series" were influenced by the apartments for national government officials.
