The pop-up card of former Toyo Kinema (improved version)
In 2014, I created a pop-up card of former Toyo Kinema and uploaded the pattern.
This photo is from that time.
I first learned about this building in “Lost Modern Architecture 2, Cultural Facilities Edition" (written by Terunobu Fujimori and photographed by Akihisa Masuda, 2010, Kodansha).
So I decided to make the card, I looked for photos of the building on the Internet. I found that the first floor had been reconstructed after the movie theater was closed, and most of the photos were taken after the reconstruction. I made the card by comparing these photos and imagining what the building looked like when the theater was working.
This year, I found a book titled “Terunobu Fujimori’s Classic Movie Theater" (written by Terunobu Fujimori, photos by Satoshi Chuma, 2019, Seigensha), which includes a description of the Toyo Kinema.
The book included three different blueprints: the first, second, and implementation plan, so I decided to reform the pop-up card using the implementation plan as a reference.
According to the book, when Mr. Fujimori was researching pre-war architecture in Tokyo during the Showa era, he found the Toyo Kinema and published an article as an unidentified movie theater. Then he was contacted by the designer, Kenji Kominato, and the salesman, Torao Nakane, and was able to talk to them.
The balcony (arrow) on the second floor is where the actress stood to greet and show her face as a fan service.
The building was originally designed by Nishimura-gumi, but the owner did not like it. Kominato, who was in charge of the wiring work, had designed the Grand Kinema before, so he voiced his opinion and was given the task of designing the building.
When he saw the Asahi Shimbun building in Yurakucho, which had a good reputation at the time, he felt that he could design freely. He also looked through architectural books on Germany and other foreign countries, as well as books on Islamic architecture. Kominato said that the jagged patterns were influenced by Islam.
I heard that more details are written in “The Adventures of an Architectural Detective: Tokyo Edition" (written by Terunobu Fujimori, Chikuma Shobo, 1986), but unfortunately I have not been read it yet.
Now that I have recreated the card. But the eaves at the top of the entrance do not move smoothly, so it has to be a little careful when opening and closing the card.
So I decided to make a color version and reinforce it with some separate parts.
Here is the finished product.
I used three separate parts. The balcony on the left, the eaves in the center and the wall behind it, and the arc-shaped wall on the right are supported from behind.
The words “Toyo Kinema" on the wall were also written in a way that resembles the actual lettering. However, I couldn’t find any photos of the roof, so I colored the edges of the roof in my imagination.
After reinforcing it with the parts, It is now possible to open and close smoothly.
(Notice)
The main site will be updated a day late. Tomorrow, on the 31st, I will upload three pop-up cards of the buildings in Tokyo, including the old Toyo Kinema. But the downloadable pattern will be for a different building, not the former Toyo Kinema.