| Osaka Prefectural Shijonawate High School was established in 1903, the 36th year of the Meiji Era. Designed by the prefectural buildings department, the Honkan, the main building, was built from 1934 to 1936. A three-story school building with reinforced concrete, as well as a beautiful white exterior, could rarely be seen in Osaka in those days. It was renovated from 2002 to 2004.The Honkan is a gallery type building and it consists of three sections: a northern 40-meter-long section oriented in an east-west direction, a 30-meter-long section in an east-west direction, and a southern 83-meter-long section oriented east and west. Its design expresses dignity and stateliness and symbolizes local education, while implementing functionality, efficiency, and practicality. Among its characteristics are the orderly structure of its elevation surface with columns, round-shaped windows at the entrance, a column at the carriage porch, and vaulted corridor ceilings. In contrast to its linear exterior, delicacy can be found in the design of the interior. This is a good example of school buildings built at the beginning of the Showa Era, which were colored by modernism representing “toughness.” |
