Nanzan Gakuen Reiners Hall

The First Building of Nanzan Gakuen

The Nanzan Gakuen Reiners Hall (南山学園ライネルス館) is the main school building of 1932 in Gokenyacho, Showa Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on September 2, 1998 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a reinforced-concrete building with 4 storeys above ground and 1 below, and a building area of 529 square metres; registration number 23-0014.

The Main Building at the Founding

Reiners Hall was built as the main building of the school at its founding, when it was Nanzan Middle School (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to Nagoya City, Nanzan Gakuen was founded in 1932 by the German priest Reiners, and the building is named after him (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Nanzan University gives the founder's name as Father Joseph Reiners.

It was designed by the Swiss architect Max Hinder (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Nagoya City). The city notes that it stands at the southern tip of a site levelled out of the Nanzan hills.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes the ochre walls that Hinder favoured, the round columns of the entrance porch, the horizontal joints on the pilasters, and the triangular notches in the parapet, which it calls unique; it was registered as a model of design. Nagoya City describes a symmetrical front in ochre terrazzo, with a design marked by discipline and restraint.

What to Look For

Look for the round columns of the porch, the horizontal joints cut into the pilasters, and the triangular notches in the parapet (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The ochre terrazzo and the symmetrical front are also worth noting (Nagoya City).

Visiting

It is a school building of the Nanzan Gakuen Educational Corporation (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official information on visits was found. Nagoya City designated Reiners Hall, with the auditorium and Pius XI Hall, as an important townscape building on February 27, 1996.