The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to demolish the Fujimigaoka Clubhouse in Suginami-ku within this financial year.

The 200 sqm, 2-storey wooden structure was built in 1954 as the clubhouse for the former NHK sports grounds. It was designed by Kunio Maekawa – one of Japan’s great modernist architects.

Suginami-ku had leased the grounds from NHK from 2007 until May 2015, and used the clubhouse as the management office. Tokyo City acquired the 10.9 hectare property from NHK between 2012 ~ 2014, and are preparing to turn it into a public park. Unfortunately the city has decided that the clubhouse must be demolished to make way for the new park.

In July, Docomomo’s Japan Representative, Hiroshi Matsukuma, submitted a petition to the Tokyo Assembly requesting the preservation of the clubhouse. A representative from the city said there was no point in saving the property as it has no historical designation, is too small to be of any practical use, and is in very poor condition.

Kunio Maekawa (1905 – 1986) was a highly respected architect of the 20th century. In the late 1920s he apprenticed with Le Corbusier, before returning to Japan to work with Antonin Raymond. In 1935 he opened his own architectural practice in Tokyo, and other great architects, such as Kenzo Tange and Toshihiko Kimura, started their careers working in his office. His personal residence, originally near Meguro Station, was relocated to the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum.

Some of Maekawa’s selected works include:

  • The International House of Japan (1955), with Junzo Sakakura and Junzo Yoshimura
  • Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (1961)
  • National Diet Library (1961)

Location

2-2-1 Kugayama, Suginami-ku, Tokyo

NHK Fujimigaoka Clubhouse 2

Source: The Tokyo Shimbun, October 25, 2015.

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