Happy Women's Map　宮城県　日本初の女性建築家　土浦 信子　女史

-国際女性建築家会議日本支部 / Union Internationale des Femmes Architectes Japan

土浦 信子　女史
Ms. Nobuko Tuchiura
1900 -  1998
宮城県仙台市　生誕
Sendai-city, Miyagi-ken

土浦信子女史は日本女性初の建築家です。同じく建築家の夫・土浦亀城とともにフランク・ロイド・ライトの元で修業、モダンデザインならびに都市住宅の先駆けをたくさん手掛けました。
Ms. Tsuchiura Shinko is Japan's first female architect. Alongside her husband, architect Tsuchiura Kameki, she trained under Frank Lloyd Wright and worked on numerous pioneering projects in modern design and urban housing.

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信子は1900年に宮城県仙台市で政治家・吉野作造の長女として生まれます。母・たまのは信子を育てながら仙台で小学校勤務を続け、父・作造が東京帝国大学で政治学を勉強するのを支えました。信子が6歳の時に、父は母と末の妹を連れて、袁世凱の長男・袁克定の家庭教師として天津に赴任、北洋法政專門学堂で教鞭を執ります。信子が10歳の時にようやく母らと再会するも父は欧米留学へ。ようやく帰国して東京大学で政治史講座を担当する父のもとに母と７人きょうだいそろって上京します。信子は東京女子高等師範学校附属高等女学に入学。その頃、父・作造の講演を聞いたことがきっかけで自宅に出入りするようになっていた東京大学建築科の学生・土浦亀城と知り合います。21歳から夫・亀城とともに帝国ホテル設計を任されていたフランク・ロイド・ライトの手伝いをします。やがて建設費の問題でライトは帝国ホテル設計の任を解かれアメリカに引き上げます。夫の大学卒業を待って信子23歳のときに夫婦で渡米、カリフォルニア州ロサンゼルスとウィスコンシン州スプリンググリーンにあるライトの事務所で2年あまり働きます。信子26歳のときに夫婦で帰国。信子は基本的な製図の知識と技術は身に付けるも正規の建築教育を受けておらず、アメリカの通信教育で建築設計の勉強を続けます。夫・亀城は大倉土木（現・大成建設）に勤めはじめます。信子33歳のときに夫婦で土浦亀城建築設計事務所を開設、自邸を含む多くの住宅を設計します。ライトの厳格なスタイルはじめ国際的・近代的なスタイルを反映、ブロック積みを木枠の漆喰パネルに置き換え、材料や間取りの標準化といった建設の効率化・経済性を通じて日本住宅全般の改善に努めます。信子35歳のときに竣工した夫婦の邸宅は、採光と換気を考慮した大きな開口部や、合理的に考えられた間取り、水洗トイレやボイラーを始めとする最新設備を備えた住宅で、当時の雑誌記事等にも積極的に取り上げられます。信子は「日本唯一の女建築家」と注目を集めるとともに、主婦向けの雑誌で現代のインテリアデザインまたライフスタイルについて解説して人気を集めます。しかしながら信子はまもなく建築の仕事を途中であきらめ、写真・抽象画の政策に従事するようになります。彼女の作品のほとんどは夫の名前で登録され、信子が女性として建築分野で直面したであろう課題については何も示されていませんが、当時はまだ女性は穢れており神聖な建築現場から排除すべしという風潮がありました。1998年逝去。

Shinko was born in 1900 in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, as the eldest daughter of the politician Sakuzo Yoshino. Her mother, Tama, raised Shinko while continuing to work at an elementary school in Sendai, while her father, Sakuzo, studied political science at the University of Tokyo. Shinko was six years old when her father, along with her mother and younger sister, was assigned to Tianjin as a private tutor to Yuan Keding, the son of Yuan Shikai, and taught at the Beiyang Law and Politics Specialized School. When Shinko was ten years old, she finally reunited with her mother and siblings, as her father went abroad for further studies. Upon his return to Japan and appointment as a professor at the University of Tokyo, Shinko, her mother, and seven siblings moved to Tokyo. Shinko enrolled in the Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School Affiliated High School. During this time, she had the opportunity to get to know Kameki Tsuchiura, a student from the University of Tokyo's architecture department who often visited her home after hearing her father Sakuzo's lectures. At the age of 21, Shinko assisted her husband, Kameki, with the design of the Imperial Hotel, a project led by Frank Lloyd Wright. However, due to issues related to construction costs, Wright was eventually removed from the Imperial Hotel project, leading to Shinko and her husband's departure to the United States. At the age of 23, Shinko and her husband moved to the United States, where they worked in Frank Lloyd Wright's office in California and Spring Green, Wisconsin, for over two years. Shinko continued her architectural studies through correspondence courses in the United States while waiting for her husband to complete his university education. Her husband then began working for Okura Construction (now Daisei Construction). At the age of 33, Shinko and her husband established the Tsuchiura-Kameki Architectural Design Office. They designed numerous residences, including their own home, which was completed when Shinko was 35 years old. The house incorporated modern architectural features, such as large openings for light and ventilation, efficient layouts, and state-of-the-art facilities like flush toilets and boilers. These innovations were highlighted in contemporary magazines. Shinko gained recognition as Japan's 'only female architect' and became popular for her explanations of modern interior design and lifestyle in women's magazines. However, Shinko eventually abandoned her career in architecture and shifted her focus to photography and abstract painting. Most of her works were registered under her husband's name, and there is no record of the challenges she may have faced as a woman in the field of architecture. During that era, women were often excluded from the sacred construction sites as they were considered impure. She passed away in 1998.

-国際女性建築家会議日本支部　Union Internationale des Femmes Architectes Japan

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