“Tokyo Review 055” Shibuya area-9
Tokyu Bunka Kaikan and the Architect Junzo Sakakura
As previously introduced, it was in 1954 that Keita Goto purchased the Tamden Building and converted it into a complex building including the Shibuya Station on the Subway Ginza Line. The building, designed by Junzo Sakakura, an architect who studied under Le Corbusier, was a complex building called “Tokyu Kaikan” at the time of its opening, it had a “Toyoko Hall” and “Great Dining Hall” on the upper floor. This building later became the Tokyu Department Store Toyoko Store West Wing.
Mr. Goto seems to have heavily used Mr. Sakakura, both of whom are creating the future concept “Shibuya Redevelopment Plan 66” around Shibuya Station. This is a dreamy future city concept such as a pedestrian deck over Shibuya, a basin-shaped valley, and a “core” with cylindrical vertical movement lines everywhere. There is a theory that the cylindrical core, which is the landmark of SHIBUYA109, is actually a tribute to “Shibuya Redevelopment Project 66”.
Two years later, in 1956, a combination of Mr. Goto and Mr. Sakakura completed the Tokyu Bunka Kaikan. Four movie theaters including “Shibuya Pantheon” are located on the upper floor of this complex cultural facility with 8 floors above ground and 1 basement floor and a total floor area of approximately 30,000 square meters. There was also a wedding hall named “Tokyu Golden Hall”. The interior of the spherical dome on the roof that stands out was the “Goto Planetarium”. It has a hemispherical screen with a diameter of 20m and 453 seats, and it seems that the procession extended to the first floor of the stairs every day, reflecting the space boom at that time.
This Tokyu Bunka Kaikan was connected to the Shibuya Station via a pedestrian access passage across public roads. Such pedestrian decks and access passages can now be found everywhere, including redevelopment buildings, but at the time they seemed to be novel. The site where the Tokyu Bunka Kaikan was demolished, is where the Shibuya Hikarie was built. We will introduced the Shibuya Hikarie in the next post.