Japanese Architecture: from farmhouse to imperial villa

Question 1

Key characteristics of Japanese architecture

Answer 1

• Irregularity
  
  • Assymetry desirable
  • Natural form of the object
  • Things left unfinished, room for anticipation + imagination
• Suggestion
  
  • Minimalism, monochrome
  • Prioritises beginning and end
• Simplicity
  
  • Harmonious proportions + pleasant atmosphere
• Perishability
  
  • Beauty in aging, texture, natural form

Question 2

What is tatami?

Answer 2

Rice straw mats, covered with woven rush, 3 feet x 6 feet, at least 2 inches thick

Question 3

What is a shoji?

Answer 3

Fixed or sliding screen with translucent Paper, proportions of the grid, made of thin timber strips, are variable

Question 4

What is a fusuma?

Answer 4

Sliding panel with black lacquer frame and inset finger grip.

Layers of opaque paper pasted to both sides of a wood grid that resembles that of the shoji.

Fusuma are generally 6 feet high (1.8m), i.e. the same as the length of a tatami.

Question 5

What is a nageshi?

Answer 5

Horizontal member/beam, which also houses grooved tracks for shoji and fusuma

Question 6

Planning in Japanese architecture

Answer 6

• Tatami forms an instant floor
• Built on modualar system - tatami forms key unit of measurement, same length as the fusuma
• Harmonious, rational - but also flexible
• Floor space encompasses several gradations of texture
• Tatami, silk mat, timber decking on engawa (veranda)

Question 7

Yoshimura house

near Osaka, Japan

c. 1620

Answer 7

• Minka, or farm house
• Barns and stable integral part of house
• TWO spaces
  
  • Earthen floor, free plan
  • Raised living area, modular
• Tall rooves, thatched w/ timber shingles
• Gabled, peaked roof
  *

Question 8

Castle of the White Egrets

Himeji, Japan

1609

Answer 8

• Can be shut off, trap invaders
• Has its own compound
• Tiered elevation
• Fortified, but also aesthetically pleasing
  
  • Achieves sense of balance through layering, balance

Question 9

Katsura detached palace

Kyoto, Japan

c.1616‐1660

**Japanese Villa

Answer 9

• Built over two generations
• Grown over time
• Deep humility in the building
• Architecture is not grant - understated, rural vernacular
• Gardens
  
  • Anticipation, picturesque, suggestion, contemplation
  • Constantly changing surfaces - smaller + larger stones
  • Series of gates, almost like frames for painting
• Moon viewing platform
  
  • All landscape, no buildings
  • Changing of surfaces again

Question 10

Key characteristics of the Japanese Villa?

Answer 10

• Country retreat for contemplation
• Irregular, sprawling plan
• Interior space dictated by tatami modular plan
• Sober architecture combined with extensive, picturesque gardens
• e.g Sumiyoshi Pine, able to grow naturally
• Deck act as extensions of interior space - viewing platform
• In Katsura Palaca, tea house viewed only at the last moment