1.  Foreword

The "Atomic Bomb Dome" (or "A-bomb Dome"; "Genbaku-Domu" in Japanese), the memorial ruins of a brick building in Hiroshima destroyed by an American atomic bomb at the ending period of the World War II, is globally known as a symbol of antinuclear weapons and permanent peace. It is a memorial consisting of ruins and has a special meaning especially by being ruins. However, it is not fully known, about the figure of the building before being destroyed by an atomic bomb and becoming ruins. Although it is possible to guess at the spot the vague outline crowning a dome, its value of design as an architectural work can be scarcely experienced because it is destroyed heavily. Indeed, the figure before destruction is generally known to some extent with some extant photographs. And they show us its figure of the Western style architecture standing at the riverside which shows powerful facade, and teach us there was once such kind of modern building also in Hiroshima before WW II. They make us remember the talent of an excellent architectural designer, but it seems that the esthetic value is not fully analyzed and evaluated.  (fig. 1)

At the very moment of atomic bombing, this building had a name of the "Hiroshima-Ken Sangyo-Shorei-Kan (Hiroshima Prefectural Hall for Industrial Promotion)", and has a role of a place for exhibition of wares and their information in order to promote local industry, serving also as a place for fine-art exhibition etc. as a cultural facility at the city center. The building, which had originally a name of "Hiroshima-Ken Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan (Hiroshima Prefectural Hall for Products Exhibition)", and began by the ground-breaking ceremony held under the Prefectural Governor of Hiroshima Munakata of those days, in the year of Meiji 44 (1911), whose construction was taken over to the Governor Nakamura who took office next year, and, passing through some complications, taken over again to the next Governor Terada, who entrusted with the design to the architect Jan Letzel in the year of Taisho 2 (1913). The building was finally completed in Taisho 4 (1915). Then, it was renamed once as "Kenritsu-Shohin-Chinretsu-Sho (Prefectural Exhibition Building for Wares)", and renamed again in short time as "Hiroshima-Ken Sangyo-Shorei-Kan (Hiroshima Prefectural Hall for Industrial Promotion)". (In order to proceed the consideration based on the image of which the architect conceived, the name is used here as "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan", which was given at the time of design by the architect.)

The character of this institution is known generally and well, as is described in the book "Hiroshima-Shi-Shi (City History of Hiroshima)" , written by the historians of local history and published by the municipal government of Hiroshima, etc. Especially, the concern of this paper pays its attention to the architectural design of this building and tries to carry out esthetic analysis and evaluation. Although it is generally known that this building was designed in use of "Secession style" as an architectural style, this paper tries to give deeper analysis in style and more detailed evaluation. It might be supposed that, as to the esthetics of Western style architecture , there were almost no citizens who could evaluate precisely its architectural style in those days just half a century after Japan had opened the country to the world and even more just in the local city as Hiroshima. The European architectural style was still estranged, and had almost no meaning to the ordinary citizens whatever name its style had. It is guessed easily that the big difference of concern was between the average citizen's side who use it and the architect's side who designs architecture.

This architect Jan Letzel (1881-1925) ⁽¹⁾ was the foreigner who came from the Austrian Empire of those days. He was born to the town in Nachod located northeast of today's Czech Republic in 1880, entered the School of Applied Arts in Prague in 1900, where he studied architecture under Professor Jan Kotera (1871-1923), the future director of Prague Academy, and obtained his appreciation to the excellent talent, as is said. Letel was named as the first representative architect under the Egyptian king and went to Egypt. He came to Japan after that in 1906 or in 1907, and was employed by the architectural office of German architect Georg de Lalande in Tokyo. He founded an architectural office " Letzel & Hora Architectural and Engineering Offices" in 1909 together with Karel Jan Hora (1881-?), who was also a man from Czech and stayed in Yokohama, and carried design activities mainly in Tokyo. When it became difficult to work in 1916 under the influence of World War I, he once came back to his country, but re-visited Japan as an attache to the Department of Trade of the Czechoslovakia Republic which became independent after the war, stayed for three years. Then he came back home and died in 1925.

The architectural works which he designed were mainly in Tokyo, and were residences for the elite class of Japan at those days, the private schools, hotels, restaurants, etc. His architectural style showed that of just European, however, "Matsushima Park Hotel" and "Miyajima Hotel" build in local area of Japan showed the semi-Western unique form using tiled roofs since they were both build in relation to the "Nihon-San-Kei (Three Scenary Sites of Japan)". From that, it is said that Letzel was an architect of rich imagination talented with flexible brain.

Now, as data for research, it cannot but depend on few existing printed matter. Almost all the original architectural drawings for construction are thought to be lost, and those which could be preserved in some local governments or by someone around the designer himself are also undiscovered. Although the building exists scarcely as the A-bomb Dome, since it is strongly damaged ruins, it is difficult to grasp fully the state before bombing.

The following drawing data were referred to as data here in order to know the precise form.

a. frontispieces of the architectural magazine "Kenchiku-Sekai (Architecture World)", the eighth volume, 1915, No. 7, No. 8, and No. 10.

　2. Architectural Form

(1) Formal composition

When analyzing and evaluating an architectural work, there are various methods, but since it is an architectural work in connection with the Historicism of the 19th century Europe, its formal composition is noted especially here. As it was seldom scrupulous, except among specialists, about the selection from the Western architectural styles, and is generally satisfied with just to be informed about the name of the style even among specialists, in Japan. But since the European designer himself decided possibly the architectural form through very detailed meditation, the consideration is made here paying attention to the method of the fundamental formal composition.

a. Composition of plan  (see fig. 2 and fig. 3 upper) 

<Wing composition>

As known from floor plans, the horizontal form of "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" makes the form of a square ring, when observed in basic form, which is composed of four wings surrounding a courtyard (or a light well). Generally such form had spread as a design method in the 19th century Europe. Here, it shows a little complicated modification. Although the comparatively simple connection method is used at the back, a strong unevenness is added by the curved wall surfaces and concave and convex forms in the front part. Such a design technique can be understood as that the design operation of baroque modification was added to the basic form of a simple quadrangle.

<Centrality>

The stair case of the ellipse form is placed at the center and connected with the porch tower which breaks down the square ring form of the plan. The composition to set the rotunda at the center enclosed with wings making a square ring was the form well used since the age of Neo-Classicism in the early 19th century, of which this building remind us. If supposed in such way, the rotunda is transformed here into an ellipse, pulled up as a tower, inserted with the stairs of three stories, and is no more a void space. Although it does not exactly make the entire central point, it may be called as a plan composition with centrality.

<Axial composition>

A clear central axis is observed in the floor plan form. This serves as an axis which produces symmetry to the whole form simultaneously. The axes running through the right and left side wings of the building are not parallel and getting slightly wider toward the front side. Both these axes and the central axis cross, if extended, at the point about 230m backward from the outer wall of the back side wing. Therefore, these axes serve as radiation axis lines. Moreover, each part of the front wing located at right and left of the porch tower and hemmed in by the right and left side wings has own central axis respectively and makes a small symmetric figure.

<Circle motif >

As mentioned above, the center of the circles to regulate the whole basic form of the building is taken at the position of about 230m behind, and the outer wall of the back wing makes a circular arc with about 230m in radius, and the courtyard side wall of the back wing makes a circular arc with about 240m in radius. Moreover, each front wall of the right and left part of the front wing makes circular arc with radius of about 12.5m. In contrast to this, each right and left courtyard side wall of the front wing consists of a straight line which intersects perpendicularly with the above-mentioned central axis lines of each right and left wing. The porch tower has the curved central part hemmed with both corner posts, which makes a small arc 3.8m in radius. The front end of the side wing on either side of the façade also makes a curved surface which makes half ellipse form with the same scale as the central dome. Such ellipse forms including the central dome are created using compass and, in fact, are of the pseud-ellipse type which combined large and small circular arcs. The central dome was composed with two smaller arcs of 120 degrees with 3.9m in radius and two larger arcs of 60 degrees with 6.7m in radius. Consequently, the short axis of the ellipse has 8.6m length and the longer axis has 10.6m length. Thus, as a whole, the plan form consists of combination of circles in various scales and the plan form shows a complicated and unique figure. It seems that such complicated combination of circular and straight lines induced remarkable difficulty especially in the design of the pitched roof.

b. Composition of elevation  (see fig. 2 and fig. 3 lower)

Compared with other three walls, the front wall (southwest side) was designed especially carefully. Since the facade consists of combination of curved surfaces, not only the drawing of the  elevation but the developed drawing of the wall surface must be taken into consideration together, when the formal analysis is to be performed.

<Axis line composition>

As analyzed in the plan form, a total of five axis lines including the central axis of the total bulding, both right and left side wing axes, and the axes of both right and left front wings pinched by them exist in the facade as axis lines of architectural volume, and the whole wall at the front side is divided into five portions corresponding to it. In the elevation, it turns out that a central axis is emphasized most too and then the axes on right and left side wings are emphasized. A style with projection of the central part and projection on either side at the facade is the typical feature of the royal castles and urban palaces of baroque age, and it means that such technique was applied here. Moreover, a window unit which consists of three pairs of respectively longwise glass windows is defined as the design element of wall surface. Then, a rhythm of 3-2-1-2-3  by the number of window units is given to the elevation of the front wall divided into five. The rhythm of such wall surface may also be called one of the features of the baroque design.

<Horizontal articulation>

Although the clear division line is not necessarily given, it is visually distinguished between the basement (the first floor in Japanese vocabulary) and the stories above it. Moreover, in the upper part, the top cornice makes the horizontal line and cut off the portion of the roof. Therefore, it is found that the method of "three-layer composition" (basement, main body and attic) following the tradition of the Classicism of Europe is used here latently.

Such facts show in particular that this building is yet caught by the formal composition method of the Historicism in the 19th century and not stands in the region of modern architecture of the 20th century. However, if considers that the upper horizontal line of the basement disappeared or other horizontal motifs including cornices on the wall surface which are ordinary observed in the classic style are missing, they suggest that it is a little distant from the region of traditional architecture. Moreover, generally in case of the style of the Classicism, the horizontal lines are emphasized, however, the perpendicular lines are rather emphasized here by mullions and pilasters which run from the ground to the top cornice of the wall.

<Central part>

The entrance part is emphasized by making a tower-like form. The basement has an outlook of the ordinary basement with expression of masonry on which two corner posts rise and the cylindrical wall surface between them juts out. Therefore, the top cornice runs higher a little bit, upon which a triangular decorative gable is set and the dome with a drum rises in the back. Thus, the central volume is intended to be emphasized more than other parts by making the basement higher. Such design technique is also one of the methods of the mental expression in the form composition of the European Classicism architecture ⁽²⁾.

<Skyline>

The almost all roofs are pitched. Each surface of the roof over each front wing makes a shape of cone since it is based on the circular plan and its surface runs along it. However, it is substituted by the surface of polygonal cone in construction of the roof. As the ridge line which makes the top of the elevation drawing is made as a clear horizontal line, such complexity can hardly be recognized from the elevational view. Moreover, the roof over the front end of each side wing consists of a peculiar elliptical cone form which is composed of curved surfaces made from cones. The dome rises in the central point of the whole building and gives the skyline a monumental profile. In the whole façade the horizontal lines are emphasized in order to clarify the character of the three-layer composition of Classicism in the elevation, and therefore the composition of the facade looks rather simplified although the actual stereometrical outline of the upper end which is composed of plural roofs is very dynamic.

c. Decoration in detail   (see fig. 4) 

<Order>

The outer wall has a rhythmical composition where vertical planes of brick wall and longwise windows are set in a line by turns. The surface of each vertical brick wall is expressed like a pillar and given an image of the traditional pilaster ornament. The decoration given at its upper end which imitates a capital is expressing such character. Therefore the longwise brick wall is expressed as if it is a pillar. The so called "order" which makes a decoration system using the ornaments of column is clearly recognized, although it is simplified extremely. There, the capital decoration appears as a geometrical ornament with a large simple square apparently in which a decoration like a classical ornament of dentil is observed in the lower end and the image of the classical order is attached in such way. The motif of the classical order can be seen at the flutes used for decoration of the lintel over the window, and also at the square shaped pilasters on the wall of the elliptical drum under the central dome. Moreover, a pair of doric columns are designed at both sides of the entrance to the elliptical stair case at the basement (this doric column is clearly observed in the section drawing published in the "Kenchiku-Sekai"), and also a pair of ionic columns with volutes at the capitals and the flutes on the surface of shafts are clearly seen even today on the first floor. Thus, it can be said that the design of this building has not still escaped from the realm of the tradition of Classicism. Especially the porch tower has three-layer composition lucidly and the ornamental grammar of Classicism intensively in comparison, as mentioned above. That is, as the basement has the expression of the stone wall with masonry joints, the main body has the expression of the corner pillars at either end respectively, and the parapet over the top cornice has a pediment, the character of Classicism facade which has a root in the motif of the facade of ancient temple architecture is shown much more clearly.

<Geometrical decoration>

The decoration of the large and small squares observed at the capital of pillar, the lattice-like decoration on the surface of the dome which is modified based on the motif of square shape, the lozenge decoration observed at the parapet, the check pattern which decorates the walls of the porch, etc. give the building the remarkable feature of the geometry in the whole. This shows clearly the Secession style which was born from the simplification of the ornament of Classicism and the substitution by the geometrical form.

a. Secession

As there was a description of "Secessin style" in the drawing published in the architectural magazine "Kenchiku-Sekai" mentioned above, it is known that the bulilding was designed consciously in this style from the start of design. The "Secession style" was a modern style which was generated in Vienna at the end of the 19th century and which was going to secede from the historical style. Although it was a tendency of the new art which is parallel with the "Art Nouveau" of the French-speaking world, there was a clear contrast that the latter used the curve abundantly and showed the more decorative tendency, and the former used the geometric modeling technique . The "Secession style" reached the climax in the 1890s and was taken place by Futurism, Expressionism, etc. when it entered in the 20th century, but it was introduced a little bit later in Japan. Therefore, when the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" was designed, it can be supposed to be thought of as the still fresh style in Japan. The founder of the "Secession" movement was Otto Wagner (1841-1918) who was a professor of the Academy in Vienna, and there were the followers such as Joseph Maria Olbrich (1867-1908) and Joseph Hoffmann (1870-1956). Wagner claimed seceding from the style of the historicism which was the consistent tendency through the 19th century and tried bold modification of the style. Although it had received influence from Art Nouveau there, the tendency of more geometrical modeling and to design the wall decoration like a graphic design became the feature. It was also a forerunner of the abstract art which modern movements developed soon after.

Jan Kotera (1871-1923), under whom Letzel studied at the Art Academy in Prague, had entered the Formative Art Academy in Vienna in 1894 when Wagner became its professor, and had studied the early Secession style which was not yet on the peak. He absorbed the Wagner's style that time, so that he obtained the national expenditure scholarship by the design study in 1897. And after learning for three years under Wagner, he became a professor of the Art Academy in Prague. However, although the "Wagner school" accomplished innovative development, the style of Kotera did not developed so much and had not great reputation in the European architectural history, it is supposed that his students contributed to the subsequent Modernism architecture in Czech ⁽³⁾.

Letzel was his student when Kotera was around 30 years old, and it seems that Letzel absorbed the breath of early Secession of Wagner indirectly. That is, it can be said that what Letzel learned was on the interim position of the style of Historicism and the style of Secession. Letzel is supposed that he had left excellent results under Kotera, but his name has not gone up among the successful students under Kotera. The point which can be noted especially in relation to Wagner is the decoration on the surface of the dome of "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan". Wagner built the famous chapel for the mental hospital in Steinhof, the suburb of Vienna (1902-04), of which the dome was constructed as the double shell with the iron frame covered with copper over the outer surface and decorated with the inner coffer ceiling. It is noteworthy that this technique was followed fundamentally in the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan", and furthermore, it is more noteworthy that the decoration idea similar to that of Wagner, where the geometrical pattern was given to the surface of the copper dome, is found in the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan". There, although it is not certain whether it is direct or indirect, the marks of influence are observed clearly.

b. Neo-Baroque

Although the decoration in detail of the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" is indeed positioned into the genealogy of Classicism and Historicism, it is better to say that it is abstracted with modernistic sense, since it is modified remarkably and not systematic. However, as the whole image of building, the extremely varied dynamic neo-baroque modeling technique with elliptical forms is used, and the aesthetic sense before modernization is also remarkable. The architects of Secession did not like such kind of exaggerated expression regarding that it is anachronism, and it seems that there is nothing similar also even in his teacher Kotera's works. Such feature can be rather found in the tendency before Wagner, and it can be said that Letzel jumped over both Kotera and Wagner, and carried out atavism resulting rather into the conservatism in respect of design taste. A series of designs for "Emperor Franz Joseph's Memorial Municipal Museum" (1903-1910) by Wagner planned in the midtown of Vienna are meaningfull when compared with the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" ⁽⁴⁾. The plan composition of the one in 1910 among them took the form of the oblong rectangular containing inner court and had a large circular hall in the center. The transparent dome like a birdcage form rose over the big space of the hall, and then, the outline formed as such that a round dome can be viewed over the rectangular volume of the building. Such combination between the plan composition of rectangular form with inner court and the round dome over it is common to the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan". Furthermore, it is also common that the entrance volume projects ahead and its front wall makes a circle and swells.

Moreover, the design of the same museum in 1907 was arranged so that the wing on either side radiate taking advantage of the site of V type. Although the center point of radiating axes located in this side in this case and that of the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" is located far back on the contrary, it can be said that this is the similar way of thinking. As no design of this series was realized and Letzel was in Japan during those days, there is no reason for discussing about the influence immediately, but the possibility cannot be completely denied that he knew this design from any kind of printed matter, etc. Although such architectural modeling techniques were popular  comparatively and there is also a condition that both buildings are of the museum type, even so, a fundamental influence must be guessed. In addition, the motif just like the pediment over the porch tower of the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" is also found in other architectural designs by Wagner. By the way, the dome used as a symbol of the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" is not circular and is elliptical, which also shows the feature of baroque style. The clear circular dome which appeared in the Italian Renaissance architecture shifted gradually to the ellipse form at the Mannerism age and was used abundantly at the Baroque age. This ellipse was not the mathematical ellipse of strict scientific meaning with two focuses, and substituted with the pseudo ellipse which was made connecting smoothly the circles with two kinds of radii using compasses in drawing. The draft line found in the plan published in "Kenchiku-Sekai" shows that the same method as it was taken also here. The front ends of both side wings are also made as half-ellipse by the same technique. But, since the dome construction was used in ancient ages and developed generally at the transcept, namely, at the focus point of church building, it was applied in other part of buildings like palaces,  and the space under the dome was normally a void space like hall, but it was used here for the stair case and produced another effect. The ceiling inside the elliptical dome is made as a circular coffer ceiling just like the Pantheon in Rome, and it is to be said as rather Classicism than Baroque. As for lighting, the lantern was not built here and the windows cut from the wall of the drum were utilized, which depict that an image of circular coffer ceiling with the bright shadows receiving the soft light was made.

Letzel designed a hall building of "Dainihon-Shiritsu-Eisei-Kai (Private Sanitary Society of Great Japan)" in Tokyo several years before in 1911, and used a similar elliptical dome construction ⁽⁵⁾ < fig. a-1>. Namely, it had the trussed iron framework where the roof and the ceiling are covered independently and the inner surface of the ceiling had the circular coffer ceiling. In the case of "Dainihon-Shiritsu-Eisei-Kai", the elliptical lantern was put on the elliptical dome and the lightning was through this. The side wall of the lantern is made into the form that the triadic small pillars and windows are located in a line by turns, which supported the small elliptical dome, and therefore, the dome of "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" had just the same form as this lantern was enlarged. The decoration technique such as a series of squares under Secession style is observed already on the surface of that lantern.

The hall of "Dainihon-Shiritsu-Eisei-Kai" was built in a corner lot, whose plan had an entrance at one pointing end of a large ellipse and a staircases jutting out at each side. Therefore, a monumental plan form was devised with which the motif of circle was also developed richly. The interior of the first floor had an elliptical hall enclosed with colonnades in two stories composed of seventeen columns, in which the upper columns were connected each other with arches and covered with a large elliptical dome, and so the interior reminds the Byzantine church architecture. However, such basic form was covered with the vertical flat outer wall rapping small additional rooms which included the straight lines making angles of 90 degrees and 45 degrees, and so the photo of outer view makes an illusion as if it had a simple box form. When taken consideration that the church architecture of the so-called Bohemian Baroque used the ellipse form as a motif and was characterized by the visionary plan composition by play of geometrical forms, it can be said that the image of the church architecture of Letzel's homeland was developed here. Incidentally, the church architecture of the Bohemian Baroque is known as developed under the influence of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656-1723), who had studied the baroque architecture of Rome and built some churches in Vienna such as Karlskirche, and characterized by very complicated and diversified geometrical composition. It means that the architectural tradition of Vienna had dropped the shadow on Letzel's design technique also here.

  3. Urban Space

a. Facade of the riverside

Seen from the construction process of "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan", it is two years after since there was a ground-breaking ceremony and the development of the building site started that Letzel was entrusted with the architectural design. Although it is not ascertained in what kind of master plan was performed at the beginning, it must be called strange thing that the designer is decided on the way. Letzel is considered to have begun the design for the first time after he had watched the already developed site. The site was the place where two large official warehouses for rice were built under the feudal domain in the Edo era, and its riverside had a "Gangi (stone stairs)" which served as a ship arrival place and a landing place. Such condition of the riverside remains today as it was, but one of two warehouses for rice was pulled down and a new road was constructed along the riverside. Therefore, it seems that the architect could have the choice for the location of the front entrance of the new building between the point facing the passage of Sarugaku-Cho (the road located at the south of the present Aioi-Dori main street by one block) which was located at the north of the building site and the road at the riverside.

Although Letzel built a monumental building setting after all its front along the riverside, there remains question in what range the architectural form and the arrangement on the site depended on the Letzel's own discretionary which does not necessarily adjust the original distorted site form. Anyway, Letzel performed a kind of landscape design which put facade on riverside by a little forcible design. That is, the interim architectural type was chosen, which cannot be said to be either the palazzo type which makes the surface of a wall meet the front road or the villa type which has a front garden in full scale. It seems that therefore, it became an disposition too much nearer to the riverside although it had a villa type facade. It can be said that Letzel utilized such arrangement efficiently skillfully. It became to be reflecting successfully the condition of the site at the riverside that he made the architectural design opening the facade wider to the front using the radiating wing-axes and made the facade wall surge dynamically.

It is worth to be questioned from where such way of thinking came up primarily. As for the style to set the building at the water and show the facade, the palazzo type architecture of Venice is well known, but this is the villa type architecture set on the high stone wall here, and its effect differs somewhat. Moreover, Prague, where he studied architecture, is known for the arrangement of splendid buildings on both sides of a big river Vltava. Potentially, it will also be considered that such a scene of Prague was in his mind. This site is near the point where Motoyasu-Gawa river branches off from Hon-Kawa river, and "Aioi bridge" was built in early Meiji era. A pair of wooden bridges served in V shape and made a varied and characteristic scene with the waterway of Y shape. (The V shape bridge was changed later into T shape bridge and exist today.) It can be said that Letzel was fully taking into consideration that it was a key point on such a scene, and that suggests also the high design quality of the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" .

b. Historical and regional meanings

The historical character of the site for the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan", was, as mentioned above, that of the non-private lot in Edo era, where the warehouse for rice stood. It seems that landing work was frequently done also including other goods than the rice since that was close to  "Ote-mon", the principal gate to the castle. Its environment was depicted in the painting of the "Hiroshima-Joka-Ebyobu", the historical artistic folding screen, as the composition in which an arched wooden bridge "Motoyasu-Bashi" is set in the front and the stone stairs "Gangi" and the warehouse of wooden structure covered with clay can be seen beyond, and also one of the turrets attached to the wall of the castle site at the corner of the outer moat "Sotobori" is found <fig. a-2>. The "Motoyasu-Bashi" bridge, which was located in the midtown area, was the place where citizens come and went frequently, and around it, a row of the detached houses added in the backyard of town houses juts out over the river. The painting suggests us that the inhabitants enjoyed the elegant atmosphere those days. That is, the "Motoyasu-Bashi" area was the place where the citizens enjoyed scenery beauty, and it is supposed that it was one of the few delightful spots inside the castle town Hiroshima which is judged from the fact that it became one of the subject matters in this painting on the folding screen. As the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" was inserted replacing one of the old warehouses for rice, the architect should have thought it his subject to consider about its scenery. It is also the reason why the disposition of the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" should be evaluated also in respect of the scenery from the "Motoyasu-Bashi" bridge.

The main axis line of the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" pierces through the area reclaimed in early Meiji era along the so called "Jisenji-no-Hana (the projecting edge around Jisenji Buddhist temple)" beyond the Motoyasu river, where only a row of low detached houses at the backyard of townhouses is visible and there was not a fine balance. Therefore, it is supposed that the architect considered first of all the scenery from the Aioi-Bashi bridge in which the building's front was watched in comparatively good angle and then the scenery from the "Motoyasu-Bashi" bridge in the transverse direction. In contrast to that, the riverside scenery from the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan", in which the bridges were entangled with the streams intricately and the wooden two-story town houses were jostled and built, was able to be enjoyed. A garden, where there was a fountain designed also by  Letzel himself, and which was enclosed by a half-transparent fence, was built and was utilized for the rest place to enjoy the riverside area. It means that the circumstances around the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" formed a kind of picturesque scenery composed of the water, the green, an exotic building and rows of houses of tiled roof, and it can be also reappraised from a viewpoint of city beauty. Although it is not certain if citizens fully recognized it or not, they had probably noticed what may be called amenity of the city made of the mixture of the elements of Japanese and Western styles, at least unconsciously.

 4. Conclusion

As mentioned above, it can be said that the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" had peculiar value in both the level of a building and the level of an urban design.

On the level of the building, its aspect of the Neo-Baroque was strong in fundamental form composition, while applying the decorative style of Secession as a modern style of those days. That tells that the architect Letzel had built his original modeling world, after he had studied architecture in the cultural sphere of the Austrian Empire at fin-de-siecle, and then intermingled traditional styles and a new style especially. Probably, especially its architectural form consisting of complicated curved surfaces was nothing but a very bold courageous design and also a skillful formative art, considering the difficulty of design, and the difficulty of construction. And it was understood that, as a root of the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan", not only Vienna at fin-de-siecle but also the influence from the Baroque church architecture of the same city Vienna should also be taken into consideration.

It can be said that his design sense was highly progressive when seen globally, although it was not the style of avant-garde when the situation of the contemporary Europe is considered in. There is without question, of course, that he stood on the position which led Japanese architects in Japan. At least in a local city Hiroshima, the thing alone that he showed the genuine image of the brick architecture of Europe and also his own free and dynamic modeling technique in use of the curved surface became a big stimulus. Incidentally the financial street, named "Rijo-dori" today, along which Western style buildings will be built in a row was not yet present at those days in Hiroshima, and what could be called the genuine brick buildings were only the factories and the warehouses of the national army, and almost all structures were wooden two-story buildings. Therefore, the appearance of the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" was probably a real surprise for the citizens.

On the other hand, from the viewpoint of urban design, this building was inserted in the place where the traditional scenery beauty existed already since the early modern age, and it may be said that Japanese scenery beauty and Europe architectural beauty were united, so to speak. Remarkable was that the buildings such as "Matsushima Park Hotel" or "Miyajima Hotel", which the architect Letzel designed in the most beautiful scenes of Japanese sense, were modeled in the Japanese style. That is, Letzel was not a mere emigration architect who came for getting work in Japan using the technology of Europe but an architect with the courage which tries an original design experiment in the landscape of Japan.

In Europe, the so-called tendency of Japonisme had happened in the latter half of the 19th century, so that it is necessary to take the point into consideration for the background that Letzel came to Japan. Otherwise, the reason why an able architect took the trouble to travel so far to Japan cannot be fully explained. Letzel's experimental trial and volition mentioned above show that he was pursuing building the original creative world in Japan. Probably, the "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan" can be said as a master work in Japan by such a person. Because it was itself a building to be highly evaluated in such meaning, it shows today its full monumentality after it was damaged severely by the atomic bomb and became ruins as seen in the present condition. It is well known that in the 18th century Europe the picturesque gardening technique which dared to build ruins in a garden from the Romantic aesthetic sense and let them the object for visual amusement for walking around was often utilized. The A-bomb Dome has become curiously to have the image which bore apparently a strong resemblance to the ruins of such kind of garden, at least visually. That is, it may be said that A-bomb Dome has not only the significance as a monument with an important meaning, but also have embodied a kind of beauty of ruins in itself, if it might be permitted not to mention the tragedy related to it. A peculiar deep emotion follows usually against the ruins which emerges after some artificial structure collapses, and it seems that the A-bomb Dome can be seen emotionally as such a thing.

The plan of Peace Memorial Park designed by the architect Kenzo Tange has arranged a series of facilities geometrically, introducing the baroque technique (a radiation axis line, symmetry, etc.) by setting a central axis as the axis line whose vista is focused on the A-bomb Dome. Although the A-bomb Dome is set not to face head-on but to catch obliquely this axis, this axis line plan is very effective because the central point is distinguished very clearly by existence of a dome. If considered as such, three esthetic elements, namely, the scenery beauty of Japanese sense in early modern ages made by the environment composed of the Motoyasu-Bashi bridge and the warehouses for rice, the European architectural design by Letzel in modern ages of Taisho era, and the design of the Peace Memorial Park by Kenzo Tange in the postwar period, are piled up concerning the A-bomb Dome.

It seems that it brings an important change of viewpoint when it is recognized that a city beauty is formed of lamination of some historical memories as such. Such viewpoint will be anew evaluated especially by in the era of so-called "post-modernism" of today when the method of the modernism governed by unitary logic is denied and plural and multi-layered values are appreciated. It seems that it involves some issues which suggest to the problem how to design the townscape of future Hiroshima, and also it includes some matters to be examined more profoundly.

 (Notes)

(1) The transcription of the name "Letzel" has been "Letsuru" in Japanese publications since he came to Japan. The following articles were referred to concerning Letzel. Ichiishi, Eizaburo, 'A-bomb Dome and Jan Letzel' (in Japanese), in: "Kenchiku-Zasshi (Journal of Architecture and Building Science)", monthly magazine published by Architectural Institute of Japan, 1968, October, pp.14-15. Sato, Shigeo, 'Hiroshima's A-bomb Dome and Jan Letzel' (in Japanese), in: "Summaries of Technical Papers of Annual Meeting, Architectural Institute of Japan", 1968, October, pp.8, 9-20. Sato, Shigeo, 'On the preservation work of Hiroshima's A-bomb Dome' (in Japanese), in: "Kenchiku-Zasshi (Journal of Architecture and Building Science)", 1969, March, pp.147-8. Fujita, Ayako, 'Jan Letzel, the designer of the A-bomb Dome' (in Japanese), in: "Shin-Kenchiku", 1969, February, p.237, and 1969, March, p.253. Fujita, Ayako, 'The A-bomb Dome designer who was a Czech' (in Japanese), in: "Shin-Kenchiku", 1969, August, pp.186-8. Hori, Takeyoshi, 'The Modern ages as the contemporary' (in Japanese), in: "Japanese architecture in Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras", Sanseido, 1981, pp.119-120. And others.

(2) As the shape of this porch tower resembles well to the porch tower of the seven-storey building called "Koruna" in the corner lot facing Vaclavsk Namesti place in Praque, in such points as swelling forth in circle or the technique to line up the longwise widows inserting mullions, there should be some inquiry about influence or relation. See: "Praga, le Forme della Citta", Roma, 1987, pp.139, 177.

(3) The following articles were referred to concerning Kotera. Pozzetto, Marco : "Die Schule Otto Wagners 1894-1912", Wien & Muenchen 1980 (Trieste 1979). Russell, Frank (ed.): "Art Nouveau Architecture", London 1979.

(4) See: Graf, Otto Antonia: "Otto Wagner 2 - Das Werk des Architekten1903-1918", Wien, etc.1985, pp.457-88, 630-40. 

(5) See: "Kenchiku-Sekai (Architecture World)", vol.5, no.8 &10, frontispiece.

 < Caption of figures >

fig.1 "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan", photo of the facade (taken in 1931, Chugoku-Shinbun-Sha)

fig.2 "Bussan-Chinretsu-Kan", formal analysis = (upper:) plan, (lower:) elevation A: classical three-layer composition of wings /  B: classical three-layer composition of a porch tower /  C:   axes of windows /  D: axes of plasters  /  E: volume composition of five parts

fig.3 drawings published in "Kenchiku-Sekai (Architecture World)"   upper = plan of the second floor /  lower = elevation of the south west(front)

fig.4 drawings published in "Kenchiku-Sekai (Architecture World)" : detail (side elevation of the porch tower and section of the front wing)

   <Cation of additional figures> 

fig. a-1 "Dainihon-Shiritsu-Eisei-Kai (Private Sanitary Society of Great Japan)" in Tokyo , section drawing published in "Kenchiku-Sekai (Architecture World)"