The Phantom Reconstruction Plan for the Mita Grand Hall

2021/07/30

The war-damaged Grand Hall (Collection of the Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies)

Long ago, on the site of the current West School Building on the Mita Campus, there was a building called the Grand Hall. Famous as the venue where Dr. Albert Einstein gave a lecture in 1922, it was a building much like what we would call a cultural hall today.

The Grand Hall was a Gothic-style, steel-framed brick building completed about 100 years ago in 1915 (Taisho 4), designed by the Sone & Chujo Architectural Office. With a capacity of 2,000 people, it was an elegant and magnificent building and, at the time, a symbolic structure on the Mita Campus, much like the Old University Library. Unfortunately, the Grand Hall suffered extensive damage in the war in 1945 (Showa 20); its roof was blown off, leaving only the pillars and outer walls standing. It was left abandoned for some time after the war but was demolished in 1957 (Showa 32).

While the Old University Library, which was similarly damaged by the war in 1945, was restored, why was the Grand Hall demolished?

In the warehouse of the Office of Facilities and Property Management, there are drawings for three different reconstruction plans for the Grand Hall, created between 1947 (Showa 22) and 1953 (Showa 28).

The first was drawn in 1947 (Showa 22) by Ando Gumi (now Ando Hazama Corporation). This plan involved reusing the remaining pillars and outer walls of the original building to faithfully restore its former appearance. The second, drawn in 1950 (Showa 25) by the Seiji Saito Office, retained the exterior's image while incorporating bold changes, such as adding a spire. The third, also drawn by the Seiji Saito Office in 1953 (Showa 28), was a plan to first demolish the structure and then rebuild an even larger hall with a capacity of 3,000 people. For the exterior, only the entrance of the original Grand Hall would be reused, with the rest being significantly altered.

However, this period coincided with the gradual advancement of plans for the Keio University Centennial celebrations in 1958 (Showa 33). In the end, all of these reconstruction plans were scrapped, and a new plan was drawn up for the construction of the West School Building, designed by Mitsubishi Jisho.

The West School Building has 24 classrooms of various sizes, as well as a cafeteria and rooms for extracurricular activities. For the university's development, increasing the size of buildings and securing more classrooms became a priority, and the Centennial Project was planned with the goal of strengthening the university's functions. Therefore, the Mita Grand Hall had served its purpose and was demolished without being rebuilt. It was used for only about 30 years, ending its short role.

If the Grand Hall were still standing today, it might have been designated an Important Cultural Property, just like the Old University Library. The unicorn gargoyle that once adorned the roof of the Grand Hall is now placed at the entrance of the Chutobu Junior High School, serving as the only remaining relic that tells of the Grand Hall's existence.

(Hiroshi Watanabe, Office of Facilities and Property Management)