Former Maeda Family Residence 2017
Komaba Park, Tokyo, Japan
The preservation and maintenance of cultural heritage 
Quoted from Associate Professor Huang, Chun Ming’s Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/al.huang.71?fref=pb&hc_location=friends_tab&pnref=friends.all
 
舊前田侯爵邸洋館 古蹟修復工程 2017
日本東京駒田
文化資產考察
2017.07 圖文轉載自中原大學建築系黃俊銘老師Facebook
 
The “Western style” villas of Tōkyō are – by all means – important cultural assets and touristic spots, as many of them were already built during the Meiji era (1868-1912) and are rather posh representatives of an attitude towards life of the high society of those days.
The former residence of the Iwasaki family (旧岩崎邸 / いわさきてい), the founders of the Mitsubishi Group and the villa of Toranosuke Furukawa (古河虎之助 / ふるかわとらのすけ) located in the stylish gardens of the same name (旧古河庭園 / きゅうふるかわていえん) – both built by the British architect Josiah Conder (whose work I basically don’t really treasure) – may serve as well-known examples.
There were many more of those representative mansions in Tōkyō, but most of them were destroyed either during the great earthquake of 1923 or during the US-American air raids at the end of World War II.
 
A particularly noble ensemble of buildings was (like the marvellous buildings housing the Teien Art Museum) lucky enough to be built after the earthquake of 1923 – and to survive the last war: The former residence of the Maeda  (旧前田家本邸 / きゅうまえだけほんてい) in Komaba (駒場 / こまば) in Tōkyō’s Meguro ward (目黒区 / めぐろ).
 
The construction of this residence was ordered by Toshinari Maeda (前田利為 / まえだとしなり). Let’s take a brief look at the gentleman’s background:
 
He was born on 5 June 1885 as the fifth son of the former daimyō Toshiaki Maeda (前田利昭 / まえだとしあき) of the Nanokaichi Domain (七日市藩 / なのかいちはん) – located in what is now called the Gunma prefecture (群馬県 / ぐんまけん) – and as such he originally belonged to a branch line of the Maeda. However, already in the year 1900 he was adopted into the main branch of the Maeda, as he was supposed to carry on their fortune as the main heir. On 13 June 1900 he was made “marquis” and became the 16th head of the Maeda Clan. As customary in those aristocratic levels of society, he became a member of the upper house of the Japanese parliament, while pursuing his military career. He graduated from the military academy in 1911 – already at that early stage of his career he proved to be an outstanding student (he was awarded the “Emperor’s Sword”). After graduation he continued his military studies in Germany (1913) and went on the Great Britain. In August 1923 he became battalion commander in the 4th Regiment of the Imperial Guard of Japan and served as military attaché to Great Britain from 1927 to 1930, before he became  regimental commander of the 2nd Regiment of the Imperial Guard of Japan. After that he was superintendent of the military academy and was promoted to lieutenant general. With this rank he also retired from active duty in 1939.
His knowledge, however, was again required during the Pacific War, when the commando of the Borneo theatre of war was assigned to him. In the same year he lost his life in a plane crash in September. Only posthumously he was promoted to the rank of general.
 
So much about the person. Obviously, he had the building of his new residence already ordered while still serving as military attaché in Great Britain, as the larger of the two buildings of the ensemble (the one in Western style) was completed in 1929 already – with the smaller, Japanese style building following a year later.
 
Here some of the basic data of the buildings:
 
Western style residence:
Reinforced concrete construction by the architect Yasushi Tsukamoto (塚本靖 / つかもとやすし) representing some sort of “Tudor style” with three stories above ground and one below.
Building area: 1,129.44 m²
Total floor area: 2,930.96 m².
https://thomasgittel.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/the-former-residence-of-the-maeda-%E6%97%A7%E5%89%8D%E7%94%B0%E5%AE%B6%E6%9C%AC%E9%82%B8/
 
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/maeda-family-residence-japan-meguro-ku-park-tokyo.html
 
106-0729-旧前田侯爵邸洋館
日本文化財修復技師只要專心負責一個工地:
建築測繪、痕跡調查、解體調查、修復設計、預算、接待參訪專家學者、開討論會檢討修復工法、參訪其他工地、與協力研究單位討論、尋找修復材料、決定結構補強做法、親自監造每個細節……樣樣都自己來!
vs.
台灣的古蹟修復建築師要趕場:
測繪只能交給員工代勞、修復設計繪圖也只能靠員工代勞、監造交給事務所的staff……
何時我們的古蹟修復才能專業化、專一化?