Myonichikan, Jiyu Gakuen School
Tokyo, Japan 1921
This design for an all-girls school in Ikebukuro, a district of Tokyo—a collaboration between Wright and his chief assistant on the Imperial Hotel, Arata Endo—is a large U-shaped plan with three long buildings built around an open courtyard. Endo completed the building after Wright’s departure from Japan and designed a 300-seat auditorium addition. By 1934, the school had moved to a new campus outside of Tokyo. By the early 1990s the Wright building, now known as known as Myonichikan, was falling into disrepair. Its land was valued at more than $200 million and the building was threatened with demolition before an international coalition of preservationists came together to successfully advocate for its preservation. After a two-year restoration, Myonichikan opened to the public in 2001 for regular tours and event rentals.
For more information:
jiyu.jp/tatemono/index-e.html