木造モダニズムシリーズの第五回目として、今回は、建築家吉村順三氏の若き時代の作品である木造教会を取り上げます。この教会はマスコミ等で紹介されることは今回が初めてですが、吉村の思想などが色濃く反映されている作品といえます。
三里塚教会は第二次世界大戦後にこの地に入植した開拓農民によって、木造平屋として建てられました。入植後荒地を開墾し、ようやく農地として作物が育つようになった時に、当時信徒代表だった戸村氏によって現在の場所に新たにチャペルが建設されました。それが今回取り上げる教会です。新教会建設時に旧教会は保育所として新しい教会横に移築され接続されました。(現在は残っていません)この教会は、これら開拓農民にとっての心のよりどころとして、日曜ごとの礼拝だけでなく、毎日の集会の場、言い換えれば集落の広場的な存在だったようです。
その後、にわかに成田空港の計画が決定され、空港建設の補償として、県営地に新しく教会を建設するために旧教会は取り壊される予定でしたが、戸村氏は農民たちの手による思い出深い教会を残すべく「解体の為にやって来た人々を前に両手を開げてそれを阻止した」と言われています。成田空港反対闘争中もその後も、この三里塚教会は現在に至るまで、使われ続けてきました。
この小さな木造教会には鐘楼があるのですが、予算がなく鐘そのものはとうとう設置されませんでした。しかし、その素朴でシンプルな力強い空間には、吉村氏だけでなく戸村氏をはじめとする農民たちの熱き思いが満ち満ちています。イスに残されたキズ跡、使い込まれた床板等を見ていると、この建物が見続けてきた「歴史的時間・空間」を思わざるを得ません。
私達は、日本の玄関口として成田国際空港を利用していますが、この背景にはこの様な人々の「生活」があり、それをささえてきた「建物」が存在していることもまた忘れてはならない様に思います。
建築物という「もの」が残る背景には、様々な要素があります。その作品性の高さはいうまでもないのですが、それを作った人々や使い続けてきた人々の強い思いも「残る」という為の大きな要素ということができます。今回の展示を通じて「残る」建築、「残されなければならない」建築など「もの」と「こと」の関係性を考える良い機会になることを期待します。
In the 5th of the series called Modernism in Wooden Structure, we will cover a wooden church that is an early work by an architect, Junzo, Yoshimura. Although this will be the first time this church has received media coverage, I believe the church is heavily tinged with Yoshimura’s philosophy.
The Sanrizuka Church was built as a wooden flat building by farmers who settled there to exploit the land after the World War II. Barren wasteland was reclaimed by the settlers, and at long last, became farmland that could yield crops. It was at that time that Mr. Tomura, then the leader of the congregation, built a new chapel at the current location. That is the church that we are going to cover this time. When the new church was built, the old church was moved to the side of the new church as a children’s center and got connected to the new one. (It no longer exists.) The pioneer farmers found a home in this church. Apparently, it was not just a place to go to for a service on Sunday but was an everyday gathering place, or something like a town square for their community.
Later on, out of the clear blue sky, a plan to build Narita Airport was decided, and the plan was to tear down the old church to build a new church on prefectural land in compensation for building the airport there. Mr. Tomura, however, was said to have “thwarted it by flinging his arms apart in front of the people who came to dismantle it” because he wanted to keep the church that held a lot of memories and was built by the hands of the farmers. This Sanrizuka Church continued to be used even during the opposition movement against the construction of Narita Airport and thereafter.
This wooden church has a bell tower, but the bell itself was never installed because of lack of funds. This simple and sophisticated space is infused with fervent intentions of not only Mr. Yoshimura but of Mr. Tomura and all the other farmers.
Looking at scratches left on church chairs and well-used flooring, it is hard not to think about the “historical time and space,” which this building has witnessed.
A lot of people use Narita Airport as the gateway to Japan, but we should never forget the fact that there existed “lives” of those people and has existed the “building” that has been supporting them in the backdrop.
There is a variety of factors in the background when a “mono, or a thing” called a building remains. Not to mention its high quality of design, strong intentions of those who have built it and those who kept using it can also be considered one of big factors for it to “remain.” I hope this exhibit provides us with a good opportunity to think about the relationship between “mono (a tangible thing)” and “koto (an intangible thing)” such as a building “that remains” and a building “that has to remain.”