Japanese Architecture Research Articles

The Effect of Wood on Japanese Architecture: The Sample of The Horyu-Ji Temple

Traditional Japanese architecture consists of natural wood, hay, earthenware, and similar types of materials. Japanese architecture has a linear structure. The main purpose of Japanese architecture is to be unified. Many of the materials used here have a higher moisture protection function than those made of plywood or spinning. The structure has a breathing mechanism that naturally preserves good air and moisture. The fact that Japan is rich in vegetation has a great effect on the formation of natural materials. There is a bond in Japanese architecture that respects the harmony between human and nature. Human beings are a part of nature. This article refers to the oldest wooden building in the world. The first world cultural heritage in Japanese architecture, and the temple of Horyu-ji, which has been standing for over 1300 years. The aim is to investigate the aesthetic, ethical awareness and ethnology of traditional wood used on Japanese architecture. While the structure and varieties of wood refer to the findings on the buildings, it is an attempt to approach the "lifestyle and values" of the wood form and structure.

SUCCESSION OF DESIGN PHILOSOPHY OF ANTONIN RAYMOND AND JUNZO YOSHIMURA THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF DETAIL DESIGN OF OPENING IN HOUSING

Antonin Raymond (1888-1976) and one of his disciples, Junzo Yoshimura (1908-1997), are major architects who contributed significantly to the development of modern architecture in Japan. Both attached considerable importance to openings in architecture. This paper discusses how an architectural design philosophy succeeds across several architects by studying the design philosophies of Raymond and Yoshimura on openings as an example.

The Metabolist Imagination: Visions of the City in Postwar Japanese Architecture and Science Fiction by William O. Gardner

The Metabolist Imagination: Visions of the City in Postwar Japanese Architecture and Science Fiction by William O. Gardner

The Metabolist Imagination: Visions of the City in Postwar Japanese Architecture and Science Fiction by William O. Gardner

The Metabolist Imagination: Visions of the City in Postwar Japanese Architecture and Science Fiction by William O. Gardner

Prospects and opportunities for using foreign experience for the development of intellectual transportation systems in Ukraine

The study aims to determine the prospects and possibilities of using foreign experience for the development of intelligent transport systems in Ukraine. The article deals with the history of the emergence of intelligent transport systems in the world. We have investigated the prerequisites and promising directions for developing the global market of intelligent transport systems: traffic management, road safety, and supervision; cargo management; automotive telematics; parking management; automated vehicles. The main players in the field of business in this market have been identified. It is systematized for the adaptation of countries that are developing due to the features of the European ITS architecture, the US ITS architecture, the Japanese national ITS architecture, which are designed to improve the lives of citizens. Variants of using information and navigation systems in the framework of European projects on the example of cities are proposed. In the example of the European Union, the stages of implementation of the ITS architecture are considered, and how this affects the congestion of roads in large cities. The creation of a unified architecture of ITS allows you to control: the level of transport safety in transport and road traffic; energy consumption and environmental impact; networks of logistics systems for passenger service and cargo handling; management of transport, road construction, and repair works, parking places, collection of road tolls, equipment for improving personal services of road users. We have substantiated the necessity of using an integrated approach to improve the digitalization and intellectualization of transport systems, taking into account their advantages and disadvantages, has been substantiated. Conceptual approaches to the digitization of transport are generalized, closely related to logistics IT systems and the network of local roads. The theoretical basis of the level of intellectualization of the Ukrainian transport systems in comparison with foreign ones has been studied, the expediency of the possibility of developing this sphere in Ukraine with the implementation of the project "Transparent infrastructure" has been proved. The organizational and economic principles of the use of intelligent transport systems of the countries of the world for solving a wide range of problems have been determined: transmission of information in real-time for travelers, namely, traffic schedules, information on delays; entrance fee for the passage of vehicles to the area of the city; accident management; an electronic collection of duties. The legislative framework and the National Transport Strategy of Ukraine for the period up to 2030 are considered. The real results of the development of transport systems that are already being implemented in Ukrainian cities are displayed. A network of "smart roads" will be built in Ukraine. To implement this task, high-quality fiber-optic communications are needed, which will pass along the roads, which will allow the introduction of intelligent transport systems. The use of the world's leading experience in the implementation of intelligent transport systems is strategic for Ukraine, determines its competitiveness in the world market, and meets the requirements of integrating the national transport network into the Trans-European transport network.

Utopia and Nostalgic Return

The term ‘traditional Japanese architecture’ often causes confusionbecause people want the architecture of a certain period to eithercontinue endlessly, or to be substituted by some kind of facsimile.This paper maintains that the roots of Japanese architecture continueand that these roots make themselves evident at times of upheavaland renewal.Japan consists of a number islands which have had periods ofisolation both internationally, and nationally from ‘political lockdown’within. And yet these periods of isolation have often produceda veritable zenith in the houses of what Bruno Taut called “thepeasants”, and the author has chosen to call ‘commoners (minka)’.One example this is the Japanese tea house, which came about at atime of heightened military dominance. Castles were the strongholdsof power complete with large rooms in which the rituals of statedemanded order by rank. Beside this show of power came the humbletea house, used for the simple tea ceremony, sometimes between as few as two people.
 The roots of this humble hut, if we can call itsuch, carried with it the same structural principles as the minka, orcommoner’s house. A non-loadbearing structure of post and lintelconstruction for the sole purpose of concentrating on “the sound ofboiling water”. Out of the dream of power came the need for humility.The warrior’s power lay in the control of space; the tea master’s in thecontrol of time. The architecture responds. The building is an event

It is time to look back on postmodernism

It is time to look back on postmodernism

In praise of light and shadows

The interaction of light and shadow has always fascinated architects, and even more so since Le Corbusier’s famous quote from 1923, published in Vers une Architecture, in which he describes architecture as “the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light”. This game, which thus motivated the painters of Purism and Cubism – among whom Le Corbusier would come to be included – contributed in great part to the definition of the aesthetic ideals of the artistic avant-garde in the West in the first half of the 20th century. Associated with the purity of crystal, with the idea of total transparency, and with the blurring of the boundaries between the interior and the exterior, this very same game served as the conceptual premise of (and later as a critical challenge to) the architecture of the Modern Movement. The counterpoint to the purist and crystalline impetus of modernism would emerge, and indeed one of many, by way of “In Praise of Shadows”, a reference to the book written in 1933 by Junichiro Tanizaki. In this work, the author examines how Oriental culture (in contrast with Western culture) has always sought to shield the interior space from the invasion of light and from exterior views by use of trees, porches, patios, shutters, and translucent sliding doors or dividers (the Japanese shôji). It is not by accident that many of these traditional elements would once again come to be adopted by Western architecture from the late 1950s onward in its search for vernacular values deriving from a broad variety of cultures. Having studied in these seminal years of critical review of the Modern Movement and coinciding with the publication of the Survey on Regional Architecture in Portugal – (Inquérito à Arquitetura Popular em Portugal) (1955-1961), the young architect Álvaro Siza learned from Fernando Távora – his former teacher and mentor – to appreciate not only the effect of light on forms (Távora himself admitted to being an avid admirer of Le Corbusier), but also to stroll about the shadows in traditional habitats (Távora would gather important teachings from Japanese architecture during his grand tour in 1960 and filtering it through another great influence of his: Frank Lloyd Wright). These different “phantom-characters” would come to also occupy the imagination of the young Siza, and to them he added references to Alvar Aalto, Bruno Taut or Adolf Loos, at the moment of considering the relationship between the individual and the collective space, between the domestic and the monumental scale, between the window and the city. The photographic work of Mark Durden and João Leal focusing on Álvaro Siza’s work in Porto – now published by Scopio Newspaper – goes in search of not only this same game of shadows upon the target surfaces of the façades and the interiors of the buildings but also the multiplicity of transparencies and penumbras that unfold through their ample glazed windows. [...]

전통적 일본 건축의 유형적 패러다임

전통적 일본 건축의 유형적 패러다임

A Study of the Effects of Adjacent Cu/Cu-Zn Alloy Components on Wood in Historic Architecture: IC, HPLC, and FTIR-ATR Analyses of Degraded Cu(II)/Zn(II) Impregnated Wood

ABSTRACT The whitening of wood adjacent to metal components is commonly observed in historic Japanese architecture. A field investigation of the Old Iwasaki-ke Suehiro-bettei Villa led the researchers to believe that this phenomenon is related to significant fine particles of copper/zinc oxalate in wood tissues. In this study, aimed at verifying the effects of Cu(II)/Zn(II) ions on wood, a model experiment was carried out with wood powders of Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) and Keyaki (Zelkova serrata), with different levels of Cu(II)/Zn(II) ion contents (percentage of dry weight: 0.00%, 0.05%, 0.50%, 2.50%). The samples were exposed under the conditions of 60°C and a relative humidity (RH) of 90%. The degradation of the exposed samples was evaluated every 30 days using ion chromatography (IC) analysis for oxalate ion concentration, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis for monosaccharide concentrations with water extract samples prepared from the exposed samples, and Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR) analysis to track spectral changes of the exposed samples. After 90 days of exposure, a significant detection of oxalate ions and monosaccharide content was confirmed in the samples with metal content, especially in the samples with 2.50% Cu content. The presence of oxalate ions was attributed to metal-promoted degradation of polysaccharide constituents in the wood.

The Vision of Paradise for People in Difficulties: The Solution Shown by a Russian Architect

The Eastern Orthodox is a minority in Japan. However, it played an important role in the modernization of architecture. This paper aims to review their early architectural activities, and further to uncover the influences they received from the Russian architect whose name was Mikhail Aref'evich Shchurupov.The architecture of Orthodox Church in Japan began from the conversion of existing private houses to chapels. The eclectic chapels followed them. The Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo, designed by Shchurupov, made an epoch in the history of architecture in Japan. Needless to say, its greatest impact was on the Orthodox Church itself. The believers opened their eyes to the authentic western architecture. The churches at each stage can be seen in Kashiwa, Ishinomaki, and Odate.Shchurupov left a number of churches in Russia. Three of them, still existing around St. Petersburg, show the trajectory on which he explored the lightweight and inexpensive structure to build churches for the economically challenged parishes facing difficult geological conditions. At first, he showed a structural rationalism. Then, he tried to build a dome with wood. At last, he reached to the steel structure.At the Orthodox Churches, the division of interior space is emphasized and visualized. Each space symbolically plays various roles during the liturgy, and gives the believers the pseudo experience of the visit of heaven, which enables them to pass the faith across generations. The fact that the early believers in Japan projected the vision of paradise to the nave of their chapel means that they had reached the essence of church architecture.Shchurupov's architectural features were suitable to the Orthodox Church in Japan in various difficulties as a religious minority. His idea and concept reflected in the Resurrection Cathedral enabled the believers in Japan to maintain their worship facilities for a long time.

Analysis of the Differences between Chinese and Japanese Traditional Wooden Architecture

Buddhism has been the link between China and Japan for more than 1,500 years in terms of architectural technology. With the introduction of Buddhism, Japan has been absorbing and transforming traditional Chinese wooden construction technology into a part of its own culture. The history of Japanese architecture is mostly the process of ingesting and assimilating Chinese architectural culture. The study of Chinese and Japanese wooden architecture is an important supplement to the history of east Asian architecture. This paper starts from the origin of Chinese and Japanese traditional wooden architecture, compares the differences between Chinese and Japanese traditional wooden architecture technology, and analyses the reasons for the differences between Chinese and Japanese traditional wooden architecture from the perspective of natural environment and construction technology.

Liquid Cities

In Japanese architecture and science fiction from the 1960s through the 1990s, we can trace an enduring question: “how to make substantial architecture when substantial things are losing their meaning.”

The Ambiguity of Visual Perception and Cloudiness in SANAA’s Architecture

A new strand of distinctive contemporary Japanese architecture represented by SANAA’s work is recognized as an extreme expression of materiality and formal austerity. SANAA’s architecture could easily be misunderstood as merely dematerialized abstract space, the outcome of an idealized vision. By analyzing the materiality and luminance quality of the Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, Switzerland (2010) and the Louvre-Lens Museum in Lens, France (2012), this paper investigates the visual experience in SANAA’s work. It argues that visual perception within the buildings is profoundly ambiguous, and the ambiguous perception of space encourages active bodily engagement to explore and confirm that perception.

Studies on Museums in the Historical Study of Modern Architecture in Japan

Studies on Museums in the Historical Study of Modern Architecture in Japan

How to Support Social Resilience in Tsunami-Devastated Communities: Iwanuma Case Study

This paper describes the post-disaster reconstruction in the Tohoku region after the 2011 earthquake. Nine years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami occurred, and many efforts have been made since to rebuild the devastated territories. Some Japanese architects and urban planners have seen the recovery as a window of opportunity to aim for more resilient cities. Nevertheless, building disaster-resilient communities remains a challenging task. This short paper presents the initiatives made to improve refugees’ social conditions in disaster-relief housing, using the case study of Iwanuma’s relocation project. Concluding remarks suggest that many efforts have been made to improve the social aspect of disaster-relief housing in Japan, for example through the development of community spaces or the pursuit of friendlier dwellings.

Josiah Conder, Notes on Japanese Architecture, translation (Japanese) with preface

Josiah Conder, <i>Notes on Japanese Architecture</i>, translation (Japanese) with preface

The narration of architectural space as a way of constructing the spatial atmosphere: Two readings of contemporary Japanese architecture

The aesthetic comprehension of space is a process transforming the user into an experiencer, and narrator. In Japanese architecture, spatial narration is a method of constructing a bridge between the experiencer and space. This paper examines the role of spatial narration as a design tool for spatial atmosphere by considering two acclaimed projects of contemporary Japanese architecture.

Japan's Postwar Building: Japanese Architecture and the West (1953)

Japan's Postwar Building: Japanese Architecture and the West (1953)

THE DEVELOPMENT OF “SHIBUI” INTO A GLOBAL TERM OF ARCHITECTURE

Japanese professionals tend to harbor ambiguous feelings toward the overseas usage of the term Shibui in architecture, since despite being colloquially uttered in their language, they themselves have rarely used it as an actual architectural term. This divide in understanding seems to be a serious one, suggesting a potential miscommunication throughout the global sphere of architectural discussion. Based on materials mainly written in Japanese, English, and German since the 1920’s, this paper investigates the global reality of intercultural exchanges about this term, and how Japanese architects largely chose to sidestep them.