RIDGEWOOD ARCHITECTURE CLUB PRESENTS
JAPANESE
ARCHITECTURE
A LECTURE
R I D G E W O O D P R I M A R Y S C H O O L
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION ARCHITECTS
GENERAL FEATURES EDO AND ASUKA
HISTORIC PERIOD RELIGION & TEMPLES
INTRODUCTION
TO JAPANESE
ARCHITECTURE
Japanese architecture has traditionally been typified by wooden structures,
elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors
(fusuma) were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a
space to be customized for different occasions. People usually sat on cushions
or otherwise on the floor, traditionally; chairs and high tables were not widely
used until the 20th century.
Much in the traditional architecture of Japan is not native, but was imported
from China and other Asian cultures over the centuries.
The general structure is almost always the same: posts and lintels support a
large and gently curved roof, while the walls are paper-thin, often movable
and in any case non-carrying.
Arches and barrel roofs are completely absent. Gable and eave curves are
gentler than in China and columnar entasis (convexity at the center) limited.
GENERAL FEATURES
of Japanese traditional architecture
Heijō-kyō, modern day Nara, was founded in 708
as the first permanent capital of the state of
Japan. The layout of its checkerboard streets
and buildings were modeled after the Chinese
capital of Chang'an.
The city soon became an important centre of
Buddhist worship in Japan. The most grandiose
of these temples was Tōdaiji, built to rival
temples of the Chinese T'ang and Sui Dynasties
Some of the earliest structures still extant in
NARA Japan are Buddhist temples established at this
time. The oldest surviving wooden buildings in
PERIOD the world are found at Hōryū-ji, to the
southwest of Nara.
710 - 794
JAPANESE
RELIGION
Most of the Japanese (50% to 80% considering degrees of syncretism with
Buddhism, shinbutsu-shūgō) pray and worship ancestors and gods at Shinto
shrines or private altars, while not identifying as "Shinto" or "Shintoist" in
surveys. This is because these terms have little meaning for the majority of
the Japanese.
Scholars Isomae Jun'ichi and Jason Ānanda Josephson have challenged the
usefulness of the term "religion" in regard to Japanese "traditions". They
have shown that the Japanese term and concept of "religion" (shūkyō) is an
invention of the 19th century.
No data to display
DID
YOU 86% of homes in Japan are newly built because they
KNOW? have no resale value there. As soon as you purchase
the property, its value begins to decrease.
The most significant contributor to architectural
changes during the Asuka period was the
introduction of Buddhism. New temples became
centers of worship with tomb burial practices
slowly becoming outlawed.
Also, Buddhism brought to Japan and kami
worship the idea of permanent shrines and gave
to Shinto architecture much of its present
vocabulary.This last structure is of great
importance as an art-historical cache
The oldest surviving wooden buildings in the
world are found at Hōryū-ji, to the southwest of
Nara. First built in the early 7th century as the
ASUKA
private temple of Crown Prince Shōtoku
PERIOD
538 - 710
You can't really say
what is beautiful
about a place, but the
image of the place
will remain vividly
with you.
- TADAO ANDO
RIDGEWOOD ARCHITECTURE CLUB
THANK YOU!
R I D G E W O O D P R I M A R Y S C H O O L
