This proposal was created for a designated design competition that took place in 1991. We placed special significance on this design competition in comparison to an ordinary design competition, and we tackled the project with special energy and effort. As for what is of special significance, there are generally speaking three main point. The first is the peculiarity of the location. The site is in Yotsuya, and the building itself is a Tokyo landmark that citizens have been familiar with for a long time. One could say that it would unacceptable if the tower and pointed roof of Saint Ignatius Church disappeared from the beautiful setting of the outer moat in Yotsuya. How should those things be continued and reinforced in a new building together with the ever changing look of the stores and houses?
Second was the problem of cultural incarnation (enculturation). It goes without saying that the present architecture of Saint Ignatius Church was created on the basis of western forms. Moreover, it also does not have to be said beforehand that due to the fact that the chapel has a western form it has become widely recognized and familiar to the people. However, it has been 500 years since Christianity was transmitted to Japan, and at present when it has penetrated deeply and widely into Japanese culture, it cannot be but a mere novel piece of foreign culture. So what kind of form should this possess in Japanese culture? Is it possible to have a Japanese and still old universal Catholic form? This question is a problem that is being asked anew as a question of "cultural incarnation" inside the Catholic church today. What kind of architectural shape would such a form have?
Third is the problem of space to cope with the new forms of congregations that today's Catholic church is searching for. In churches up to now, as can typically be seen in medieval cathedrals, the church is made into a long flat rectangle, and there is an altar located up high in the innermost part at one end. The believers have faced that and generally lined up lengthwise. However, in the Catholic church, particularly from the 1960s, there has been a tendency to reaffirm and strengthen the meaning of mass, which they said is "everyone surrounding a single altar," as was done in the days of the early church. Such a tendency, in particular, is shown in the fact that the priest who up to that point had faced the altar and turned his back toward the believers, now faces the believers with the altar in between, and the priest and the believers literally conduct mass surrounding a single altar. However, in addition, church is both a space for praying together and also a space for praying silently alone in contemplation.
The screening committee was made up of members who selected a renowned theologian as the chairman; no architects were included among the committee members. Along with the feeling that we wanted to respond as architects to the immensity of the significance of this design competition, we thought that the theologians would like to know how to appraise architecture, and thus together with putting all our energy into preparing a proposal, we aimed at a presentation that even a beginner could understand.
However, we were greatly disappointed because the point of view of the judgement shown in the evaluation report was so inferior. It should probably be said that in that evaluation there was neither a consistent viewpoint nor logic. However, this confirmed again it was irrational to expect such things of theologians, that the evaluation of architecture should be carried out centering around architects who have firmly established themselves as experts, and at the same time the importance of properly informing society of the meaning of architecture.
The church lot faces the intersection in front of Yotsuya Station, and it touches the entrance of Sophia University's Yotsuya Campus. The old church possesses a simple gable facade and a belfry; it has become widely familiar to ordinary people, not just believers in the Catholic faith. The interior also, in addition, was a space filled with silent prayer in which pointed arches overlapped, and which was wrapped in the light from stained glass windows.
However, there was also the fact that this church was built with wood in an age when there were insufficient building materials; as its decrepitude became marked, experiments to preserve it that were eagerly studied made it clear that would be impossible. In addition, there was also the fact that a larger church had become necessary due to the increase in believers and the liveliness of church activities; finally, it was decided to rebuild the church and carry out a reconsolidation of the entire site, including laity hall.
The church was made into the shape of an octagon. Perfectly octagonal walls envelop the people, and a gently floating roof covers the top. The octagon that occupies the center is both a traditional shape of the church in ancient times and a geometrical form of modern architecture that is simple and clear. This shape is also structurally stable; thick concrete walls create an appropriate inner space in the church that is protected from the noisy environment of the city. The seats are arranged in a fan shape, and the believers come to surround the altar together inside a single space.
The interior of the church becomes a space that is filled with light. Skylight descending from the central octagonal dome envelops the people, light from high windows under the eaves brightly illuminates the ceiling, and low windows draws one's glance to the periphery. In this space filled with light, quietness and brightness appropriate for praying coexist, and while there simultaneously exists a surrounding calm one can also feel the expanse of the sky. This is a space with a feeling of stability that is enveloped walls western walls, but we also aimed at achieving a gentle Japanese space covered with a lightly undulating roof.
The arrangement of the entire site aims at achieving a church that is open to the public. The church and the tower are arranged to face the intersection, and the plaza that surrounds them we made into the shape of two hands spread widely open to the outside. The church and the tower are well visible from far away, and if one gets closer, the state of people gathered on the inside can be felt through small peepholes and high windows overflowing with light. The plaza, while possessing a calm consistency, is an an easy to become familiar with space that can be seen from the road or the front of the station. From the front where arbor has been left, abundant greenery continues to the grassy square and the laity hall covered with trees and the pargola.
We thought that because new buildings receive the history of the location and the community, they should be things that buttress memories. This was particularly the case with this church, only more so, since it was decided to rebuild something that was loved and held dear. Thus the facade and tower of the main church were designed using the motif of the old church that had been familiar to the people for a long time. In addition, we proposed reusing the magnificent stained glass in various places. In the central plaza, which is surrounded by the church and the laity hall, the foundation stones for the old church that were soaked in prayer should have been left as they lie as paving stones, and all the buildings should have been built around a large one of these. All of these proposals were completely incomprehensible, and they ended up being ignored.
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