Dojunkai apartments were constructed by the Japanese Government as a work of relief, after the Great Kanto Earthquake in Tokyo. These apartments were leading examples in concrete construction in Japan and were innovative in their exterior space design ideas and building organizational themes. Dojunkai apartments were designed not only as solutions to particular sites, but as possible models for the further development of well-planned, secure, and communal neighbourhood style residential developments. During 1920–1930, Japanese architects and designers were actively involved in experimenting with foreign concepts of urban remodelling and town planning. However while these town-planning concepts and theories were embraced by Japanese architects and town planners, the resultant apartment complexes suggest that they endeavoured to adapt and transform them to suit Japanese sensibilities and urban requirements. This paper examines the nature of these adaptations and transformations. The principles of exterior space design are deployed to examine and identify patterns in building arrangement and exterior space design for six selected Dojunkai apartments. This paper discusses the pre-existing models of urban planning in Japan to establish a relationship between the adopted foreign town-planning models and the pre-existing ideas of urban settlements in the Japanese society.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Dojunkai apartments, building arrangement and open-space design
Research Division:	Built Environment and Design
Research Group:	Architecture
Research Field:	Architectural history, theory and criticism
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in built environment and design
UTAS Author:	Beynon, D (Associate Professor David Beynon)
ID Code:	135402
Year Published:	2016
Web of Science® Times Cited:	1
Deposited By:	Architecture and Design
Deposited On:	2019-10-17
Last Modified:	2019-11-19
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