Monday, December 18, 2006

"The Sanshin Building"

I like old buildings - or more specifically, I like a mix of new buildings and old buildings.  All old buildings or all new buildings produce a desire for change, while a mix of new and old enable a view back and/or forward, depending on which buildings you spend time in.  Tokyo is very lopsided on the "new" side - to the point of old buildings having been nearly eradicated from the city.  The next target of this relentless push to the new seems to be the Sanshin Building, which its owners (Mitsui Fudosan Co.,Ltd.) want to tear down, but others want to save.  One last tenant is still in the building (a restaurant & bar) and there's a "Save the Sanshin Building" website:
http://www.citta-materia.org/sanshin.php

I've ended up getting interested in the issue myself, as I've always liked wandering through that building and think it would be good to renovate it - especially if they could restore it to its original style.  It was built in 1929 - conceived in the rush of the 20's and finished just in time for the Great Depression.  Post-war, it was not a time for opulence and the building was used in a practical way, with some of the nicer elements (chandeliers, etc.) damaged in the interest of pragmatism.

Anyway, I've put up a page about it here:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/SanshinBldg01.html

Sore dewa,

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/

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