Description

Description

The National Archives of Modern Architecture, Agency for Cultural Affairs is an archive of architectural materials, opened in 2013 with the aim of preventing materials on modern and contemporary architecture in Japan from dissipating and leaking abroad. Currently, it not only provides emergency protection for architectural materials of historical value, but also exhibits modern and contemporary architectural materials, including those in its collection, researches the whereabouts of architectural archives and collaborates with institutions that have related materials.
The building of the archive was renovated and reused from the Supreme Court's training facilities in the Yushima Local Common Government Building adjacent to the former Iwasaki House Garden. The annex and new building each have two storeys and a total floor area of approximately 3,200 sq m. The building contains exhibition rooms, reading spaces, storage, research rooms and meeting rooms. The storerooms, which have space both within the museum and borrowed from other facilities, house approximately 115,000 architectural documents, mainly drawings by Junzo Sakakura, Takamasa Yoshizaka, Masato Otaka, Jin Watanabe, Kishida Hideto, Shigeo Hirata, Kiyoshi Ikebe and others.
The architectural materials, such as drawings and models produced by prominent Japanese modern and contemporary architects, are a global cultural heritage that conveys an important process in the modernisation of Japan. However, while many major overseas countries have public archiving institutions specialising in architecture, Japan has not developed a system to protect and pass on these materials as a country. As a result, the country was on the verge of a critical situation in which valuable Japanese architectural materials began to leak out of the country one after another in response to numerous transfer requests from overseas architectural archive institutions. Against this background, in 2011, the Cabinet approved the Basic Policy on the Promotion of Culture and the Arts (Third Basic Policy), which recommended the urgent development of archives in the field of culture and the arts. In this context, the National Archives of Modern Architecture, Agency for Cultural Affairs was established by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as an archiving institution for architectural materials.
Design archives also face similar problems of dispersal, disposal and overseas leakage, but there is no public organisation to consolidate such information. In addition, academic research in the design field lags behind that of architecture, and the fact that the social and historical value of design archives has not been widely publicised has also made it difficult for archives to be preserved and passed on. In order to obtain information that will provide clues for connecting design archives to the next generation, we decided to interview archiving institutions in the field of architecture about their methods of collecting, researching and re-using materials, as well as points to note.

Interview

Interview

It is important to close the gap between the architect's perception of the value of the material and its academic and social value as an archive

Background to the establishment of the National Archives of Modern Architecture

―　In the field of architecture, organised archiving activities are being promoted by national archives such as this one and university research institutions, whereas in the field of design, the situation has not yet reached that level. Therefore, we asked you to make time to talk to us about the collection activities of architectural archives and the dissemination and awareness-raising activities that make use of these archives. First of all, could you explain the background to the establishment of the National Archives of Modern Architecture?

Asada　The National Archives of Modern Architecture was opened in 2013. At the time, the architectural field was facing a critical situation in which drawings and other materials of world-famous architects were leaking overseas, and if this situation continued, valuable archives would rapidly be lost. In 2011, the Council for Cultural Affairs issued a report that the construction of archives in the field of culture and the arts should be developed from the possible fields. As part of this, the National Archives of Modern Architecture was established as the first national archive institution in the field of architecture.

―　The museum is located in a prime location for an architectural archive, with the former Iwasaki House Garden, an important cultural asset, right next door and the national cultural facilities of Ueno a short distance away. How did you come to establish this location?

Asada　We wanted to start up as soon as possible because of the urgent need to protect the archives, and also because of the financial constraints, so when we were looking for a vacant facility owned by the state, we found this location. The building was originally used as the Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court, and the location was very good, as it is adjacent to a modern building, the former Iwasaki House Garden, as you say, and close to a cluster of cultural facilities, so we decided to renovate it and use it.

Collection activities in collaboration with academics

―　How are the items archived here selected and collected?

Kato　One of our collection policies is that the items should be modern and contemporary architecture in Japan. In terms of time period, the materials are generally from before 1990, before the computerisation of drawing. The second is that it has gained national and international acclaim and relates to architecture and architects that have markedly marked a period. For example, this includes architects who have won multiple awards and collective activities such as the Metabolism movement.
Furthermore, from the perspective that the collection is "indispensable for the understanding of modern and contemporary architectural history and architectural culture in Japan", it is not just about buildings, but also about structures, technologies and, in some cases, architectural surveys and academic research. We cannot collect all of them, so we will collect what we can judge to be historically, artistically or academically important from among them.
In addition, as the generations of architects change, the national government is trying to preserve urgent items that are in danger of being lost due to the closure of an architect's office or the death of the architect himself.
The specific selection of the materials will be authorised by a steering committee made up of external academic experts and a sub-committee under them.

―　How is the committee on the collection of materials constituted?

Asada　First of all, we have the Steering Committee, which asks for various opinions on the management of the National Archives of Modern Architecture. The Steering Committee is made up of seven members, under whom there are three sub-committees for planning, collecting and information, and they also ask for opinions from a specialist's point of view. The Steering Committee then refers the candidate material to the Collection Sub-Committee for investigation, which then compiles the results and the Steering Committee makes the final decision on whether the material is eligible for our collection.

―　Is there a set target for the number of items to be collected throughout the year and at what time of year?

Asada　As our collection is based on donations rather than purchases, as is usually the case in museums, we do not have a target for a certain amount of items to be collected per year. The final decision is based on the opinion of the Steering Committee as to whether or not it is worthwhile for us to accept the items that have been scattered or are in a critical condition and for which the owner has expressed a wish to donate them.

Collection items are mainly hand-drawn drawings

―　There are various kinds of architectural documents, such as drawings and models, but what kind of items do you collect here?

Kato　The overwhelming majority are drawings. In addition to official drawings, we also collect progress drawings and sketches. As for models, we can't have many because of storage space. Other items include photographs, slides, microfilms and reports that were stored in the architectural office. As for books, we only collect those that need to be supplemented as part of the archive.

―　We often hear that archives require a lot of work and budget after they are collected, such as organising, cataloguing and utilising them for research and exhibitions. How exactly is this managed?

Tarashima　In archival research, the most ideal way is to conduct the research step by step, starting with a large collection of materials and gradually moving on to smaller and smaller collections, eventually building up to an item-level catalogue of a single drawing or a single photograph. In reality, however, it is not always possible to go that far. This is because, in the majority of cases, the number of items is the only thing that can be ascertained before acceptance, and the contents are not known.
So, for example, if there are 50 drawings in a cylinder, we can only investigate what the cylinder is and how many drawings are in it as soon as you accept it. First of all, if we can publish the information up to that stage as a catalogue, we are proceeding with the research in the belief that it will contribute to the immediate use of the collection.
Of course, if the number of items is small, there are cases where we can suddenly catalogue the items and be done with it, but for large firms, the number of items can be in the tens of thousands. It is not possible for four or five people to catalogue all of them from the very beginning.

―　It is very difficult for four or five people to research that many items. Are all the people in charge full-time?

Tarashima　Some people who studied architecture and others who have retired from architectural firms are in charge of the survey on a part-time basis. Basically, all architectural offices do most of the organising, so there is no need to replace the contents in detail, but even so, to examine a drawing that is rounded, we first have to flatten it, which is very labour-intensive.

Kato　The basic rule is that the flattened items, in some cases also digitised, are put in neutral paper boxes and put away in a storage room. The unorganised items are kept in tubes.

Difficult to store in everyday environment

―　Are all the storage areas located in this building?

Asada　We also rent a building from another institution and use it for storage.

―　I hear that, unlike works of art, it is very difficult to store materials.

Tarashima　The way they are stored and used is completely different from art works, so we have to store them in the most cost-effective way without excessive effort. This makes it very difficult because only some of the storage rooms are humidity-controlled, and the rest are stored in everyday conditions.

―　Are there any requests from architects to donate their own objects?

Kato　Sometimes we approach them privately, and other times they ask us if we can find a good place for them to store their work. When we receive such a request, we make various adjustments, and if it is judged to be a possible collection target, we ask for the final opinion of the Steering Committee.

―　How many consultations do you receive annually?

Kato　Not that many. If the National Archives of Modern Architecture were better known, it is possible that there would be more consultations about the inability to maintain materials on an ongoing basis.

Asada　The fact that we mainly collect material from the days when drawings were still mainly hand-drawn is also relevant, as the majority of the cases we collect are from people who have passed away and their families are having trouble storing them, rather than people who are still active in the field. Such information has been gathered by experts and through our research, so we have not received dozens of enquiries.

Research is carried out in conjunction with the exhibition

―　Are there regular exhibitions and other events linked to the architectural archive?

Kato　We have two main types of exhibitions: special exhibitions and exhibitions focusing on the collection, which are held approximately once a year. We also organise special exhibitions that include items from our own collection and expand them to include related items from other sources.

―　Are the exhibitions organised mainly by the sub-committees you mentioned earlier?

Kato　The Management Committee and the Planning Sub-Committee give us opinions and advice on our planning ideas. The planning of an exhibition begins with an internal review of the draft plan. Working groups with specialists are often formed to take the planning process forward. In order to organise an exhibition, we investigate the contents of the material in parallel, and in some cases this investigation leads to the material being placed in our collection because it is better to preserve it in a comprehensive way.

There are also differences between the value of architectural and academic sources

―　What is the procedure used when considering whether to accept materials or which of them are important?

Kato　It depends on the storage conditions. If the office remains, the materials are to some extent organised by work, but if they are kept by the bereaved family, in some cases it is impossible to know what has happened to them. Basically, we look at an overview of what kind of material is available, borrow some of it, do some research and finally narrow it down.

―　In the case of design archives, the number of recipients of materials is extremely limited, and we often hear from designers that there are no recipients even if they want to donate their materials. At the same time, given the limited manpower and budget of the recipient, if the donor had organised the materials to some extent, for example by making a list of them, I think it would be possible to increase the number of items left behind, even if only a little. What do you think?

Tarashima　As you say, one of the things that would make it easier for the recipient to adopt the donation is if the recipient has a set framework of what they want to donate. However, there is a problem in terms of whether the value of the material as conceived by the architects and its academic and social value as an archive match up well, so I think it is important to close the gap between these perceptions. This is because it is not uncommon for the parties concerned to think that such things are rubbish, but there is important value in them. So we always need to have a perspective from both sides.

―　Indeed, that is true. For example, when you are cataloguing, do you have any wishes for the items to be grouped by project or chronology, even if only roughly, rather than being packed in cardboard boxes in an indiscriminate manner?

Kato　In fact, some of the items are being organised in this way and then donated. In either case, we will conduct a survey while checking the contents again, but it is much better than not knowing where everything is, so we would like you to do that if possible.

―　I have the impression that many architectural firms do things properly, but how is it actually done?

Kato　The final information, including future maintenance and renovations, is organised properly. However, it is often the case that the drawings and sketches before getting there are thrown away or not discarded. In academic terms, on the other hand, this is very important in some cases, which is why it is so difficult. Also, some sketches can only be understood by the person themselves. To a certain extent, an expert can see that this should correspond to this project by this architect, but even so, mistakes can still be made.

―　Indeed, for those who are interested, that is the most fascinating part.

Kato　That's right. The final building is quite different from the state it was in before, so I think the most interesting part for researchers is to find out what kind of ideas are put into it.

Aiming at network collaboration with various research institutions

―　Do you work with university laboratories and other institutions to research and manage archives here?

Tarashima　We are thinking of working with research institutions such as universities in terms of information rather than research. In the long term, we need to consolidate information on architectural materials at each institution so that they can be viewed across the board. Some universities already manage archives of prominent architects, so I think it is important for us to work with them and to share information with each other.
The research itself may be possible, but the students are quite busy and not just anyone can do it if they have the manpower, so it is also quite difficult to control it.

―　PLAT also participated in the archiving workshops you organised last year. Do you plan to hold such information exchange meetings with archivists on a regular basis?

Tarashima　This year's workshop will be held in November. However, due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), there is a limit to the number of participants, so we are considering remote viewing for lecture-style sessions. In the long term, we are wondering whether we will be able to establish a kind of liaison organisation, but we are in frequent contact with the experts on the committee, so I think we have pretty much cleared the human resource issues.

Kato　It is easier to work together in a network if it is through digital materials rather than physical ones. There is a safety issue with taking physical materials outside, so in the future, we are planning to digitalise them while resolving issues such as copyright so that they can be viewed with digital materials.

Tarashima　Just a week ago, a national cross-sectoral integrated portal site called Japan Search (https://jpsearch.go.jp) was launched. It is a system for compiling Japan's cultural digital resources by field or region and searching across them. For example, if we upload the digital resources that we and each university have in the field of architecture to the database and compile the information in a cross-sectional manner, it will be possible to trace most of the architectural resources in Japan from there. I hope that I can be the link between the two.

―　That would be wonderful. I have high hopes for that. Thank you very much for your time today.

Enquiry:

National Archives of Modern Architecture, Agency for Cultural Affairs

Yushima District Joint Government Building, 4-6-15 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8553, Japan

e-mail：nama@mext.go.jp

https://nama.bunka.go.jp/