Architectural

Institute of Japan

Translated Paper

Design process of the Memorial Cathedral for World

Peace (1954), Hiroshima, by Togo Murano (Part 2):
Formal manipulations observed in the design of
Xavier Hall (1949)
Yoshito Tomioka and Chikako Tabata
Division of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, Mie University, Tsu-city, Japan

Correspondence
Yoshito Tomioka, Division of Architecture, Graduate
School of Engineering, Mie University, 1577 Kurima-
Machiya-cho, Tsu-city, Mie, 514-8507, Japan.
Email: tomioka@arch.mie-u.ac.jp
Funding information
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant/Award
Number: 18K04532
The Japanese version of this paper was published in
volume 88, number 805, pages 1125–1135, https://doi.org/
10.3130/aija.88.1125 of the Journal of Architecture and
Planning (Transactions of AIJ). The authors have obtained
permission from the editor of the Journal of Architecture
and Planning (Transactions of AIJ) for secondary publica-
tion of the English version in another journal. This paper
is a translation of the original Japanese version with
slight modifications and corrections.
Abstract
Xavier Hall, a timber structure designed as an auditorium, and believers’ hall by
Togo Murano Architect Office, were partially completed in 1949 on the property
of Nobori-cho Catholic Church in Hiroshima, widely known as the Memorial
Cathedral for World Peace. The building is important to understand the design
process of the cathedral because it had a fundamental influence on the planning
of the religious complex as a whole. For this paper, based on a chronological
analysis of sketches and drawings relevant to the building, morphological analy-
sis was performed through three problem-solving studies to reveal the architect’s
design thinking and strategy.
Keywords
architectural form, auditorium, degree of freedom in design, design method,
design process, transformability

Received July 30, 2023; Accepted September 5, 2023

doi: 10.1002/2475-8876.12407

plans for reconstruction. Here we would have a center for cul-

1. Research Objectives and a General Description of
the Work
This study aims to reconstruct the design process of the
Memorial Cathedral for World Peace in Hiroshima, which was
completed on August 6, 1954. This study analyzes the formal
manipulations of the original design sketches and drawings
prepared by architect Togo Murano and his associates. This is
the second paper in a series of four [Note 1]. This contribution
to the series analyzes the design process of Xavier Hall which
was designed parallel with the efforts on the cathedral by
Murano.
Xavier Hall, which was a timber structure that served as an
auditorium and believers’ hall, were built on the same property
as the cathedral. In 1947, Fr. Enomiya-Lassalle was inspired to
build an auditorium as an important component of his grand
reconstruction plan following catastrophic destruction. He
stated, “Finally a lecture-hall has a prominent place in our
ture work for the entire community . . .. In Japan it is the best
means of making contact with a large and very important part
of the population not yet Christian. This hall would be suitable
also for musical performances so much appreciated by the
younger generation of Japan” [Note 2].
This inspiration directly formed a part of the competition
guidelines, and it was eventually designed by Murano. As of
September 1949, only the auditorium section had been com-
pleted. The building was named to celebrate the 400th anniver-
sary of St. Francisco Xavier’s arrival in Japan. The extension
design was followed at least until July 1950; however, it was
never built [Note 3].
During the construction of the cathedral, Xavier Hall served
as a space for worship for the Nobori-cho congregation. After
the establishment of the Elizabeth Junior College of Music in
1952 and the dedication of the cathedral in 1954, Xavier Hall
became the official auditorium for the college. Subsequently,

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© 2023 The Authors. Japan Architectural Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Architectural Institute of Japan.

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TOMIOKA AND TABATA
FIGURE 1 Exterior view of Xavier Hall, ca. 1951, collection of Elizabeth University of Music
the building experienced several significant alterations, such as
changing a meeting room into a student canteen. The building
was demolished in 1978 to make room for the construction of
Building No. 1, which still exists today. The name “Xavier
Hall,” however, still adorns one of the halls on the campus of
the Elizabeth University of Music [Note 4]. Figure 1 shows an
exterior view circa 1951, and Figure 2 shows an interior view
from the 1970s.
From the beginning, the Memorial Cathedral for World
Peace was designed in parallel with the auditorium and
believer’s hall. As explained in the first paper in this series, as
soon as the site area reached 10 000 m2, the prepared site
plans were cut out to divide design tasks for the auditorium
and believer’s hall from that for the cathedral, were to be
worked by independent design teams [Note 5]. This paper
covers the process beginning from this point until the comple-
tion of the building in September 1949, and subsequent re-
design effort in 1950.
FIGURE 2 Interior view of Xavier Hall, ca. 1970s, collection of Elizabeth University of Music
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2. Study Materials and Chronological Order
We identified 300 graphic items relevant to the project in the
Museums and Archives, Kyoto Institute of Technology (hereaf-
ter, “KIT Museum”). Among them, 68 graphic items depict
the auditorium and believers’ hall only. These were grouped
by the “PART 2” boundary in Figure 6 in the previous paper.
The archive numbers of the graphic items are listed in Figure 3.
Date inscriptions were found on 13 items (19.1%) [Note 6].
As described in the previous paper, in the early design, the
cathedral was designed in parallel with the auditorium and
believers’ hall in the same sheets. In the upper part of Figure 3
(as indicated “PART 1” with white letters on a gray arrow
background), the representative drawings from this phase were
selected and listed to illustrate formal transitions of the audito-
rium and believers’ hall in the early design.
Many of the graphic items are plans, elevations, and sections
in a 1:200 scale, along with some detailed drawings in 1:50,
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FIGURE 3 Chronological order of design sketches and drawings and transition of formal features
1:20, and 1:1 scales. All were drawn in graphite on tracing
paper or on translucent Japanese paper.
The unit of measure used in the drawings changed through the
process. In the early design schemes, both metric and traditional
Japanese units of measure (ken, shaku, and sun) were used. For
some time after this, only metric measurements were used.
Finally, the architect returned to using traditional units in March
1949 and continued using them until the end. As there seem to
have been no significant changes in the dimensions of the build-
ing itself, these had caused only simple conversions [Note 7].
The analytical method used in this paper to determine the
chronology of the design sketches and drawings was the same as
that described in the first paper in this series. First, sets of draw-
ings were identified by inspecting date inscriptions, floor plans
of a same scheme, and so forth. Next, the basic chronological
order of graphic items was determined by referencing the date
inscriptions. Then, undated sketches and drawings were inserted
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TOMIOKA AND TABATA
within the chronology by examining their formal similarities
with dated ones. When determining the chronology, the analysis
focused on the changes in the units of measure, right- or left-
hand placement of the auditorium, and the placement of the main
entrance. Figure 3 depicts the chronological order of archive
numbers of graphic items accompanied with the changes in the
unit of measurement as well as the transition of formal features
that were classified by the compositional levels: site planning,
planning, elevation, section, and structure.
The date “November 20, 1948” appears on the drawings for
both the cathedral and the auditorium and believers’ hall,
implying that this date marked the deadline for the schematic
design of the project as a whole. After this date, detailed wall
sections with title stamps were followed until April 1949,
which seems to be the phase of working design. Subsequently,
title stamps were dismissed, and construction instruction draw-
ings were dominated such as the design of the sign plate and
TOMIOKA AND TABATA
real scale details. After these developments, the construction
of the part of believers’ hall was halted and remained to be re-
designed as an extension. In Figure 3, these phases are shown
in the column adjacent to the archive numbers on the right
[Note 8].
We identified three studies that present partial problem-
solving processes in the whole design: [Study 1] a study on
planning adopting to site arrangement using 1:200 scale plans;
[Study 2] a study on elevation using mainly 1:200 scale eleva-
tions; and [Study 3] a study on the structure and details using
1:200 sections and elevations, as well as 1:50 and 1:20 wall
sections and 1:1 instructional drawings. These are indicated
using thick gray boxes in Figure 3. The figure shows that these
studies progressed in parallel. The thick black dotted lines in
Figure 3 represent two significant changes during the process:
The upper line represents the border changing from a right- to
a left-hand composition, and the lower line represents the
change from a gable to a basilica section of the auditorium.
3. Comparing the Actual Rooms to the Competition
Guidelines
In KIT Museum, there is no literal document about this project.
We neither found any material that directly discusses the circum-
stances surrounding the design in Nobori-cho Catholic Church
nor in Elizabeth University of Music. Therefore, the most reli-
able information about the design requirements of the building
came from the document “Competition Guidelines for the Catho-
lic Peace Memorial Cathedral in Hiroshima” (hereafter, “compe-
tition guidelines”) published in March 1948. In the guidelines,
the required rooms were described in Section 3, titled “Audito-
rium,” of Chapter 8, titled “Design Requirements” [Note 9].
Figure 4 shows the comparison between the requirements
and the actual rooms in each plan. In the uppermost row, all
the required rooms are listed, while the archive numbers of
the plans with room identification are crossed according to the
proposed chronological order. The thick gray line dividing
the auditorium and believers’ hall is twisted because the posi-
tions of a small meeting room(s) and the boiler room have
changed through the process.
FIGURE 4 Rooms in the auditorium and believers’ hall in comparison with competition requirements
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Although the chart demonstrates a general coherence
between requirements and plans, the highest coherency is
between AN.5518–36 and AN.4994–36, 35 (the thick line
pointed to by the arrow) [Note 10]. The boiler room and the
gender-specific entrances first appeared in AN.5518–36
[Note 11], and after that, another small meeting room appeared
in excess of what was required by the guidelines. Subse-
quently, these differences increased. For example, the club
room was merged with the reading room for both men and
women, and more fathers’ rooms were introduced.
4. Analysis of the Formal Manipulation of the Design of
Xavier Hall
In this section, we analyze design transformations through an
examination of early design schemes, as well as Studies 1 and
2. The methodology used is same as explained in Part 1 of the
previous paper in this series.
4.1 Transformability of the auditorium and believers’ hall
presented in early design schemes
At the end of the previous paper, the following items were
raised to reveal the transformability during the process of early
design schemes [Note 12]. The following fixed formal features
were identified:
Fixed: a2) Enclosure of a corner of the property by the L-
shaped auditorium and believers’ hall.
Fixed: a6) L-shaped plan connecting the auditorium and
believers’ hall.
Additionally, the following feature became fixed at the end
of the early stages of the design process:
Decided: b3) The auditorium and believers’ hall set at the
southwest corner.
The techniques observed during the early stage of the design
process were as follows:
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FIGURE 5 Transformability of auditorium and believers’ hall in Part 1. (A) Site Plan, Plan, Partially Hardline, First Floor, AN.4996–20, KIT
Museum. (B) Site Plan, Plan, Partially Hardline, First Floor, AN.4996–24, KIT Museum. (C) Site Plan, Plan, Hardline, First Floor, AN.4996–82, KIT
Museum. (D) Site Plan, Plan, Hardline, First Floor, AN.5518–36, KIT Museum
Technique: c1) Emergence of architectural elements, includ-
ing a tower, colonnade, pond, and gate, which facilitated
the potential of outside space design.
Technique: c4) Potential of the dual-side entryway, mainly
from the colonnade surrounding the courtyard, supplanted
by a direct entry from the street.
Technique: c5) Changing plans reflecting right- or left-hand
compositions.
Technique: c6) Dimensional flexibility of the believers’
hall, changing the planning principle to a one-side corridor,
a center corridor, and a core plan with a different width
and aspect ratio.
Figure 5 illustrates the abovementioned transformability,
highlighting the important drawings of early design schemes
for part of the auditorium and believers’ hall. [A] represents
the right-hand placement of the auditorium, which has two
blocks of seating with a center aisle. It should be noted the
direct axial entrance from the street into the nave emerged dur-
ing this stage (red arrow). [B] represents the left-hand place-
ment plan with three blocks of seating and two aisles. [C]
represents the retrieved right-hand placement, which attempted
to connect the colonnade to the auditorium, believers’ hall,
and presbytery. [D] represents a plan to change the building
arrangement again to match the left-hand placement and place
it at the southwest corner of the property with a cloister that
surrounds a green garden.
As explained above, transformability of the auditorium and
believers’ hall during the early design can be summarized as
<exploring diverse site-planning possibilities facilitated by
techniques such as changing the buildings’ right- or left-hand
compositions, controlling the aspect ratio of the believers’ hall,
Jpn Archit Rev | 2023 | 5
TOMIOKA AND TABATA
experimenting with a direct entry from the street into the audi-
torium, and organizing instinct space using a courtyard, gar-
den, colonnade, and so forth while using an L-shape
composition to enclose a corner of the property>.
4.2 [Study 1] study on planning adopting to building
arrangement (summer 1948–March 1949)
As stated in Part 1 of the previous paper, immediately after
the site was enlarged to 100 m 9 100 m (10 000 m2) the
building arrangement of the cathedral, and the auditorium and
believers’ hall was fixed, and “Schemes I and II” were pre-
pared. The part of the auditorium and believers’ hall was cut
off sharply from the first and second floor plans of Scheme I
(AN.4994–36, 35), which marked a starting point for further
design that seemed to have been engaged by the independent
design team. Figure 6 shows the plans, which depict the subse-
quent process.
[A] represents the truncated plans for the first and second
floors. The auditorium, which features a right-hand placement,
is attached to the believers’ hall of thick and short profile
using center corridor planning. The auditorium again features
two blocks of seating with a center aisle, which was perhaps
designed to be used for temporal worship [Note 13]. The width
of the auditorium is 21.6 m, which was the maximum
width recorded during the design process. The direct entry
from the street was drawn freehand and was angled 45 degrees
facing the crossing. A small new meeting room was placed on
the second floor above the original meeting room. The original
meeting room could now serve as a foyer for the auditorium,
while the new meeting room could serve as a choir gallery for
temporal worship. Regarding seating capacity, the words “350
seats” are inscribed on the first floor plan. It is notable that this
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FIGURE 6 [Study 1] Plan sketches. (A) Cutout Plans, Hardline, First and Second Floor, AN.4994–36, AN.4994–35, KIT Museum. (B) Plan, Hardline,
First and Second Floor, AN.4994–43, KIT Museum. (C) Plan, Freehand Partially Hardline, First and Second Floor, AN.4994–28, KIT Museum

number is considerably smaller than the 500 seats required in
the competition guidelines. However, the total audience capac-
ity was almost equivalent to the requirement when counting
the potential capacity of the gallery space along both sides of
the second floor.
[B] represents another right-hand plan in hardline. The ori-
entation of the drawing is different from the others. The width
of the auditorium was shortened to 18 m, which would con-
tinue until the end. The backrooms were placed in the base-
ment under the stage and were connected to the orchestra pit
and stage with staircases on both sides. The entrance porch
was set axially on the facßade to the west. The usage of the
meeting room on the first floor was almost fixed as the foyer
in front of the auditorium. The believers’ hall was widened
and shortened [Note 14].
[C] is a mirror version of the left-hand plan of [B]. The
position of the first and second floor plans were swapped,
while the orientation was restored to its state in [A]. The draw-
ing [C] appears to be traced on the reversed copy of [B], as
we found a precise and coherent arrangement of each plan on
the sheets in our overlay attempt. The main differences
observed in [C] and [B] were as follows: The loading route
was moved to the backside of the stage, the buttress supports
were extruded outside behind the backstage wall (this change

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FIGURE 7 The architect’s comments left inscribed on AN.4994–28, KIT Museum

occurred simultaneously with the emergence of a temple motif
elevation of the backstage), and a new entrance was added at
the end of the believers’ hall, which had been made slightly
longer. The change from a right- to a left-hand composition
seemed to have been intended to facilitate the independent use
of the auditorium (convenient access from the music school)
and the believers’ hall (convenient access from the cathedral),
with separate entrances for each direction.
On the drawing [C], Murano left inscriptions discussing
impending agendas. Figure 7 shows the inscriptions and trans-
lations. Item 1 explains the decision to adopt a left-hand
placement of the auditorium. Items 2 and 6 discuss the need
for precise calculations regarding floor areas and capacity,
while Items 4 and 8 are related to structural planning. Items 5
and 10 pick up the details to be determined. Based on the
inscription, it can be deduced that the architect decided to pro-
ceed to determine precise specifications at the time of this
rough sketch, even though there were some structural decisions
and details left unfixed. In particular, Item 2 can be interpreted
as reflecting an intention to calculate the floor area for the part
of the believers’ hall behind the firewall in preparation for
converting it to an extension later on.

FIGURE 8 Transition in site plan (A) drawn after AN.4996-77, AN.4994-36, KIT Museum. (B) drawn after AN.4994-43 etc., KIT Museum. (C) drawn
after AN. 4995-58, KIT Museum

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FIGURE 9 [Study 2]: Elevation sketches. (A) Elevations, Freehand,

AN.4994–25, KIT Museum. (B) Elevations, Partially Hardline, AN.4994–
46, KIT Museum. (C) Elevations, Hardline, AN.4994–44, KIT Museum.
(D) Elevations, Hardline, AN.4994–45, KIT Museum. (E) Elevations,
Hardline, AN.4994–41, KIT Museum. (F) Elevations, Partially Hardline,
AN.4994–26, KIT Museum. (G) Elevations, Partially Hardline, AN.4994–
47, KIT Museum. (H) Elevations, Hardline, AN.4994–42, KIT Museum.
(I) Elevations, Partially Hardline, AN.4994–39, KIT Museum. (J) Eleva-
tions, Partially Hardline, AN.4994–23, KIT Museum. (K) Elevations,
Hardline, AN.4996–67, KIT Museum

Following this rough sketch, a hardline plan must be pre-

pared to complete the set of final drawings; however, there is
no such drawing in the KIT Museum.
Based on the abovementioned analysis, the transformability
of this study can be summarized as <sequential formal change
led by the possibility of right- and left-hand compositions as
well as the positions of an auditorium entrance, considering
the dimensions of the building and structural composition, con-
forming mainly to the conditions stated by the side of the
music school, while maintaining an L-shape plan for room
distribution>.
Figure 8 shows the transition of the site plan, highlighting
the changing relationship between the auditorium and
believers’ hall, on the one hand, and the cathedral and relevant
facilities, on the other hand.
[A] represents the site plan for Scheme I, at the beginning
of the separate design effort of Xavier Hall. The tower is posi-
tioned on the far-right side (southeast) of the cathedral. The
auditorium and believers’ hall were quite close to the cathe-
dral’s facßade [Note 15].
[B] was compiled by the authors by gathering information
from the drawings dated November 20, 1948, which is when
the schematic design was concluded. The tower is positioned
on the front-left side (northwest side) of the cathedral. The
kindergarten is positioned the closest to the cathedral com-
pared to all other plans. Moreover, with this design, the audito-
rium and believers’ hall still featured right-hand composition.
[C] is the site plan for AN.4995–58, and it is dated October
1, 1949. This building arrangement was assumed to have been
established much earlier because the auditorium and believers’
hall featured a left-hand composition until March 1949. This
mirrored swap might have been the result of an intention to
preserve enough intervals from the cathedral’s facßade and
to establish a closer connection between the stage and the
music school.

4.3 [Study 2] study on elevation (summer 1948–April 1949)

Study 2 is characterized by combined elevations of 1:200
scales on each side of the building, which progressed parallel
with Study 1. Figure 9 shows a series of representative figures.
The thick dotted lines are the same as in Figure 3; the upper
line represents the transition from right- to left-hand composi-
tion, and the lower line represents the change from gabled sec-
tions to basilica sections.
[A] is the one from the earliest rough sketches. The gabled
elevation is an enlarged figure picked up from reactive figures
by the authors. The massive appearance of 45-degree slanted
gables corresponds to the expressionist preference that was
much stronger than the final design.
In [B], vanished lines at a 45-degree slant remained on the
sheet, which was changed to rise 6/10 (approximately 31-
degree slant). The auditorium was shortened. A porch with

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three arches was added at the axial front of the auditorium

toward the south. At the connection between the
auditorium and the believers’ hall, a big window was added to
emphasize the fathers’ room on the second floor. [C] is the
identical hardline drawing as [B].
In [D], the entrance porch became an interior vestibule,
and while the central arch remained, two arches on the sides
were changed to square windows. [E] is almost identical in
appearance, although the height of the eaves was slightly
changed.
[F] is a rough sketch drawn to reflect the adoption of a left-
hand placement for the auditorium. It may have been drawn
by tracing mirrored copies of each figure in [E], while the
arrangement of the plans in the sheet does not conform to this
hypothesis. The three arched porches were revived temporarily.
The firewall was inserted to divide the believers’ hall, and the
building was shortened. On the roof above the stage, an
attempt at drawing crossing gables can be seen.
[G] is a rough drawing with inscriptions using Roman letters
(different handwriting from Murano’s). The inscription reveals
that the reviewer was considering the dimensions of the win-
dows [Note 16]. Here, the main windows were made bigger, a
change that continued in later drafts. The axial front porch was
removed, and the main entrance was moved to the point where
the believers’ hall connected. Dormers were placed on the
rooftop of the believers’ hall, which implies that the attic was
used for living space.
[H] is a hardline drawing almost identical to [G]. In this
stage, the unit of measure was changed from metric to the tra-
ditional Japanese units of ken (approx. 1818 mm), shaku
(approx. 303 mm), and sun (approx. 30.3 mm); this was a sim-
ple conversion, as all the lengths were nearly equal.
[I] is a rough sketch that appears to have been prepared to
significantly reduce construction costs. The gallery on the sec-
ond floor along the auditorium was eliminated, and this section
was changed to a basilica. A direct entrance was added to the
south side aisle, while a reception office was added to
the north aisle. The auditorium was further shortened, and the
number of bays was reduced to seven. These changes resulted
in an awkward mismatch of facßade surfaces between the audi-
torium and the believers’ hall, which was just depicted as it
was at this stage.
[J] is a hardline drawing with some rough freehand ele-
ments. The awkward difference between the facßade surfaces
was dealt with by inserting a stone imitated edged wall
between them. This reflects further efforts to save money by
reducing the height of the building. [K] represents the final
hardline drawing. FIGURE 10 [Study 3]: Section and elevation sketches. (A) Section,
Freehand, AN.4994–25, KIT Museum. (B) Section and Elevation, Hard-
Based on the observations above, the transformability of the line, AN.4994–41, KIT Museum. (C) Section and Elevation, Hardline
study can be summarized as <sequential formal changes Partially Freehand, AN.4994–47, KIT Museum. (D) Elevation, Hardline,
caused by the transition of the position and composition of AN.4994–42, KIT Museum. (E) Section, Hardline, AN.4996–68, KIT
street entry as open-air porch, vestibule, and recessed entry at Museum. (F) Elevation, Hardline, AN.4996–67, KIT Museum
the connection of two volumes, as well as the continued reduc-
tion of the building volume and height, and the adjustment of The left column of the figure shows the auditorium sections
lighting strength controlling the dimension of the windows, of the study. [A] is the earliest rough sketch, and it already
while maintaining the L-shaped composition placed at the displays the following formal features: (1) a shallow vault ceil-
southwest corner of the property>. ing and (2) a buttress structure that becomes wider at the top.
At the time, the problem that was posed was how to span a
4.4 [Study 3] study of structure and details (summer 1948– distance of up to 20 meters using only timber without steel
summer 1949) member which were expensive and rare in postwar Japan. The
Study 3 contains sectional and structural considerations that key is the rigidity at the shoulder of the transverse frame, and
initially progressed in 1:200 scaled sections with some reac- the buttress was the solution [Note 17]. This decision was sup-
tions in elevations, following the transitions in Studies 1 and ported and elaborated on [B] and [C], adapting to the changing
2. Figure 10 shows the representative sketches and drawings. spatial volume of the auditorium.

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TOMIOKA AND TABATA
FIGURE 11 Structural details drawn by “Takeda” ca. Feb. 1949, AN.4994–29, KIT Museum
[E] shows a significant change. The second floor galleries,
along with the auditorium, were removed (this change would
have reduced the audience capacity significantly), and the spa-
tial volume changed to a basilica profile. The span of the roof
structure was shortened to 13 meters, and the buttresses were
removed.
Back to the top of Figure 10, the backstage wall elevations
are lined up in the right column. [B] shows an initial plane
wall that was changed into a Greek temple motif with a pedi-
ment and attached columns drawn in [C] by freehand. The
attached columns served as structural buttresses to secure
the rigid structure against the lateral force on the backstage
wall. In the plan of Panel [C] in Figure 6 (AN.4994–28),
attached columns are appeared corresponding to the change.
This solution was maintained and elaborated on [D] and [F].
In both the right and left columns in Figure 10, one can
observe a constant effort to adjust the heights of the eaves in
the auditorium and believers’ hall. In [A], the heights of the
eaves in both buildings were the same. Then, the volume of
the auditorium was sequentially increased in [B], [C], and [D],
and the structure of each of the buildings became more inde-
pendent. This transition suddenly stopped in [E]. According to
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the elimination of the second floor galleries [Note 18], the vol-
ume was significantly reduced. Finally, in [F], the height of
the eaves of the two buildings became identical as in [A],
coincidentally.
Along with this consideration, two series of wall sections were
prepared in February and March of 1949. Figure 11 is a wall
section from the former series around February in 1:50 scale
signed by” Takeda.” It depicts the structure above the stage and
the basement under it when the backstage wall was plain.
Figure 12 is one from the latter series of 1:20 scale wall sec-
tions of the same part dated March 5, 1949. In addition to
structural components, more details were elaborated on, such
as the stage lighting balcony, opening trims, the ceiling, and
more. The section of the temple motif on the backstage wall
appears on the left.
It is natural to assume that the construction began based on
the set of drawings that had been issued [Note 19], including
AN.4995–47 (interior details), dated March 5, 1949 [Note 20],
AN.4996–67 (elevation), dated April 1, 1949, and AN.4995–48
(exterior details) [Note 21].
At the KIT Museum, there are 27 detailed drawings at a 1:1
scale of window trimmings, frames, handrails, ceilings, eaves
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FIGURE 12 Wall section and details, Mar. 5, 1949, AN.4995–49, KIT Museum

FIGURE 13 Window details in 1:1 scale. (A) with elaborated window trim, AN.4996-64, KIT Museum. (B) with normal window trim, AN.4996–65,
KIT Museum

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FIGURE 14 Drawing of believers’ hall extension, July 14, 1950, AN.4996–69, KIT Museum
courses, finishing constructions, and so forth. Figure 13 com-
pares the elaborate windows for the facßade and the simpler
version for the others. Both presented a technique to apply
tapers to window frames to make them appear sharper and
more delicate, as well as letting in as much light as possible.
In the elaborated design shown in [A], deep grooves surround-
ing the window are meant to cast a shadow to emphasize the
shape of the window and to make the window surface flush
with the surrounding wall.
Based on the observations above, the transformability of the
study can be summarized as <sequential formal change caused
by structural considerations introducing buttresses for the audi-
torium and a temple motif reinforcement for the backstage
wall, and eventually reducing the auditorium’s volume while
making it a basilica shape by eliminating second floor galleries
mitigating structural difficulties, then elaborated details for
every important part in the design>.
4.5 The revisited design of the believers’ hall extension
In the L-shaped building, the northern part of the believers’
hall behind the firewall was reserved to make into an exten-
sion, and it was not built during the initial construction attempt
despite the design having been nearly completed. As the
entrance and reception office were at the side of the audito-
rium, the functionality of the auditorium was sufficient without
the extension.
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In July 1950, almost a year after the completion of the audi-
torium, the drawings for the extension were redrafted.
Although we could locate only three drawings (including Fig-
ure 14) at the KIT Museum, a set of comprehensive drawings
seems to be prepared with missing ones. The design itself was
almost identical to the original design, with no significant
changes. However, despite the comprehensiveness of the
design, it was never built.
4.6 Transition of transformability throughout the whole process
Figure 15 shows the transformations observed across all the
studies.
Through the early schemes indicated on the left, the decision
had been made to place the L-shaped building at the southwest
corner of the property. Based on this scheme, independent
design development began for the auditorium and believers’
hall. The techniques developed through the early schemes were
integrated into these designs, such as a center aisle between
two blocks of seating to make the space suitable for temporal
catholic worship, direct entry from the street side, and axial
porch entry to the auditorium. These merging relationships
were indicated using colored arrows in the figure.
On this basis, the design entered a relatively stable refine-
ment process; however, the right- and left-hand placement still
drifted. The aspect ratio of the believers’ hall was made more
flexible to adapt to each situation. Eventually, the left-hand
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FIGURE 15 Transformation observed throughout the design of Xavier Hall
composition was fixed for several reasons, such as the need to
segregate the music school facilities and to reserve enough
space for cathedral construction and, later, the believers’ hall
as an extension ([C] in Figure 8). From a functional viewpoint,
the availability of the facility both from the property and the
street which was facilitated by the direct street entry technique
in the early schemes ([A] in Figure 5) was a successful adapta-
tion for the situation.
As for structural design, techniques such as inserting a tem-
ple motif supporting the backstage wall, building buttresses in
the transverse section of the auditorium, and reducing the
excessive span by changing the volume by making it a basilica
were developed and applied subsequently to achieve a humble
and affordable timber structure.
As shown in a series of isometric figures in the middle row
in Figure 15, the building volume decreased as the design pro-
cess progressed. This was likely motivated by the need to
reduce costs due to the state of fundraising efforts, as well as
shortages in construction materials in postwar Japan.
The formal feature of an <L-shaped plan enclosing a cor-
ner of the property> which had been maintained throughout
the entire design process of Xavier Hall was fundamentally a
technique to enclose Kei-dai (precincts seen in temples and
shrines in Japan), which was dominated by the cathedral at
the center. As shown in Figure 5, Murano’s intention was
clear and confident in the early stages of the design. How-
ever, what ended up being built was a small porch put
inward along the body of the auditorium, and the substantial
possibility and effectiveness of his intention were not fully
expressed.
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TOMIOKA AND TABATA
5. Concluding Remarks
This study analyzed the sketches and drawings held at the KIT
Museum that are relevant to the design of Xavier Hall to
determine their chronological order. Based on this, this study
also explained the architect’s formal manipulations and the
transition of transformability through the design process.
Acknowledgments
We thank the Museum and Archives, Kyoto Institute of Technology,
especially Professor Hiroshi Matsukuma, Nanami Kotera, Hana Kawa-
guchi, and others who helped us investigate and use the materials.
We are also grateful to Kazuaki Aoba, a representing architect on the
steering committee of building preservation, and others who allowed
us to inspect every corner of the cathedral. We appreciate Sr. Teruko
Onojima, S.H., who provided an eyewitness account of the changes
to the buildings and land use on the property of the Nobori-cho
Catholic Church. We are grateful to Isao Hashimoto, a curator at the
Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims,
for his kind help in sourcing important documents. We also thank
Professor Yuji Kawano, Chancellor, and President of the Elizabeth
University of Music, for his kindness in providing information and
photographs of Xavier Hall. We are also indebted to Kaho Furuta
and Izumi Uchikawa, graduates from our laboratory, who engaged in
the collection and classification of the research materials. We also
express immense gratitude to those who were engaged in the preser-
vation and classification of these sketches and drawings for many
years, recognizing their cultural value. This paper was written as part
of a research project funded by JSPS KAKENHI, grant number (C)
18K04532. The authors would like to thank Enago for language
review on the English version.
TOMIOKA AND TABATA
Disclosures
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request
from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due
to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Notes
Note 1) Refer to Part 1 by the authors, Ref. [1].
Note 2) Cited from the first chapter of Ref. [2]. In the original
English manuscript and its Japanese translation by Hiroshima National
Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims, this passage appears
in the ninth paragraph of the third sub-chapter. In the German edition
from 1989, it appears in the fifth paragraph. In the Spanish edition
from 2015, it appears in the eighth paragraph. The earliest manuscript
of the book was written in English and is now held in the Hiroshima
Municipal Archives. The book was published first in 1948 in Spanish
in Argentina, which Fr. Enomiya-Lassalle visited during his world-
wide pilgrimage in 1946–1947. According to the Vorwort and Nach-
wort in the 1989 German edition, the manuscript was written in 1947.
The first chapter has three sub-chapters titled “What I have seen,”
“What I have heard,” and “What I have thought.” The Japanese trans-
lation of the first sub-chapter was published as early as pp. 1020-
1024 in Ref. [3], and pp. 35-44 in Ref. [4]. The second and third
sub-chapters were recently translated by Hiroshima National Peace
Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims and were published online
being the ones among tremendous volume of eyewitness accounts by
people in Hiroshima. The Japanese spellings for the name Fr.
Enomiya-Lassalle S.J. diverge very widely, including “Rasa-ru,”
“Rassa-ru,” “Rassaru,” “Ra-Saa-ru,” “Fu-go,” “Fu-go,” and more. This
required additional persistence when searching for relevant documents.
Fr. Enomiya-Lassalle passed away in 1990, soon after the German
edition was published.
Note 3) Ishimaru wrote that “an extension was added to the audito-
rium and completed in September 1949” (p. 92, Ref. [5] in Japanese),
implying that it was actually built. However, the building seems to
have never been built because it is not recorded in any photograph.
Refer to the aerial shots of the property taken on May 26, 1962, Octo-
ber 23, 1966, September 29, 1967, May 21, 1969, August 1, 1972, Jan-
uary 14, 1975, and October 15, 1981, all of which are available in
Maps and Aerial Photographs Reference Service, Geospatial Informa-
tion Authority of Japan: https://www.gsi.go.jp/tizu-kutyu.html
Note 4) This description was based on the information appearing in
pp. 77–82, pp. 23–52, and pp. 132–133, in Ref. [6], and pp. 32-41
in Ref. [7].
Note 5) Refer to p. 2630, Ref. [1].
Note 6) The date of AN.4994–38 was identified as February 23, 1949
by the inscription of “23 24 25 26 27 (Sun.) 28 1 2 3 4,” which is sup-
posed to be a calendar until an impending deadline. In 1949, February
27 was a Sunday. This inscription supposes a certain deadline around
March 4. Relatively high number of drawings in KIT Museum were
dated March 5 and 6.
Note 7) In Japan, traditional units of weight and measure (Syaku-
Kann-Ho) were retired by the 1921 amendment to the Weights and
Measures Law. However, they remained widely in use among people
and in industry even after this. More strict legal constraints regarding
the use of the metric system were instituted with the inauguration of
the Measurement Law in 1951.
Note 8) According to observations by the authors, Murano’s office fol-
lowed several habits in dealing with drawings: (1) Schematic design
drawings were used as a part of working design drawings; (2) detailed
design was conducted through wall sections even during the schematic
design phase; (3) drawing titles were depicted like “design drawing of
building name,” and no distinction was made between schematic and
working design phases. Refer to pp. 1341–1342, Ref. [8].
Note 9) Refer to p. 6, Ref. [9].
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Note 10) The authors believe this fact is additional supporting evi-
dence for the hypothesis stated in Note 18 in the previous paper (Ref.
[1]), which states that Murano’s design effort in Study 1 of the early
design schemes (Part 1) was a trial design to prepare for the competi-
tion guidelines.
Note 11) The second floor plan, which corresponds to AN.5518–36, is
missing. Although we suppose the fathers’ and seminarians’ rooms
might have been placed according to what was stated in the competi-
tion guidelines, we did not place a marker in Figure 4 because we
could not prove this from the graphic materials available.
Note 12) Refer to p. 2630, Ref. [1].
Note 13) Eventually, the chairs of the auditorium were made as move-
able long benches as pictured in Figure 2. Some of these were still used
as auxiliary seats in the cathedral and as benches in relevant facilities.
Note 14) Shortly before November 20, 1948, the date inscribed on
AN.4994–43, ordinance no. 6, titled the “Temporary Fire Prevention
Act,” was inaugurated (Ref. [10]) by the Ministry of Construction on
October 27, 1948. In Article 12, it was stated, “Any building larger
than 600 m2 in land coverage . . .must be divided into parts less than
600 m2 by inserting firewall(s).” According to the authors’ calculation,
the land coverage of the auditorium part as depicted in AN.4994–43
was approximately 670 m2, which would have violated the regulation.
After the volume reduction to the basilica profile, according to our cal-
culation that was roughly performed from elevations, because no plan
is available, the coverage was around 600 m2.
Note 15) On this occasion, the architect was supposed to attempt a
reversed arrangement (right- to left-hand placement) of the auditorium
and believers’ hall using the cutout plans on tracing paper (AN.4994–
36, 35: Figure 6, [A]).
Note 16) The inscription in Roman letters reads “9.0 syaku 9 4.5
syaku 0.80 m Madodai” that is “approximately 2.7 m 9 1.35 m, win-
dow sill height: 0.8 m.” The dimensions correspond to those in the
drawing. This appears to be a critical comment made by a foreign
reviewer who was familiar with traditional Japanese measurements
(most likely Br. Gropper). This attempt to calculate the window area
was also found in the later drawings for the cathedral (AN.4994–76,
83). We will discuss this further in Part 4.
Note 17) The structure of the former St. Ignatius church in Kojimachi,
which was designed by Br. Gropper (1949, demolished), also featured
repetitive pointed arches made from wooden buttresses with 16 m
spans. Refer to Ref. [11].
Note 18) In [E] (AN.4996–68), the design alteration of the section
was made by correcting the same sheet, and a tracing of the former
profile remains. In the title stamp, the date inscription corresponds
March 6, 1949, which is identical to AN.4994–42. The sectional
change must have been made after the date, in late March.
Note 19) There number “2” appears on AN.4996–67, “4” on
AN.4995–48, and “3” on AN.4995–47, which is well before the others.
Moreover, “1” is missing from the KIT Museum collection, which pur-
ports to be a comprehensive collection of plans.
Note 20) In the title stamp of AN.4995–47, an inscription of “5. 3.
1948” (March 5, 1948) is visible. However, the date must be incorrect
because this date occurs before the competition. The authors corrected
the mistake to March 5, 1949.
Note 21) Ishimaru wrote, “Shimizu Construction Limited began work-
ing at the auditorium in late 1948, maybe in November or December” (p.
90, Ref. [5]). However, it is strange because plan AN.4994–41 depicts a
right-hand placement measured in metric. It seems that it would have
been impossible to start excavation at the time, although efforts to negoti-
ate a contract and estimation efforts could have possibly started.
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How to cite this article: Tomioka Y, Tabata C. Design
process of the Memorial Cathedral for World Peace
(1954), Hiroshima, by Togo Murano (Part 2): Formal
manipulations observed in the design of Xavier Hall
(1949). Jpn Archit Rev. 2023;6:e12407. https://doi.org/
10.1002/2475-8876.12407