JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE

Name: Minh Tu, Nguyen

Course: Interior Design Detailing
Code: IDIA 303
Japanese architecture has a very long history that reflects
Japanese culture, climate and history. The most recent
discovery dated the first presence of people in Japan from
the Old Stone Age. Due to the evidence was found, ancient
people made their dwellings with wooden frame work and
covered with the branches of trees. The floor sunk into the
ground about 16-40 inches and the dimension is about 13-
20 feet width.
In the Neolithic time, huts appeared in some area of Japan.
They were built at the ground level with a structure, which
supported the roof and define the interior space by walls.
Until the pre-Christian centuries, huts (image 1) were
elevated from above the ground level due to the weather.
However, the architectural method was kept the same. A
long horizontal beam ran across the hut to hold the roof
and it was supported by the crossed poles along the roof
line.
In Asuka Period (A.D.552-645), Japanese culture and archi-
tecture was influenced by Chinese. Budism was introduced Under Shotoky emperor, Buddism was supported by the royal
to Japan and religious architecture started to form. Moreo- and a numerous of Buddist temples were constructed. One of
ver, Chinese architectural techniques, urban planning and the oldest wooden temples was Horyuji (image 2) , built in 607,
house arrangement were also brought to Japan, along with near Nara. It was used as the private temple for Prince Shotoku
rice cultivation. As the spread of rice cultivation in Japan, and consisted 41 buildings, including five-story-pagoda (Goju-
the population increased faster and more complex. They no-to), main worship hall (Kondo), lecture hall, and an inner
had more children and needed more space in the house. gate. The plan followed Chinese monastery layout with the
Thus, the houses were expanded in order to have more principal entrance gate facing south and all main components
space for living and storing rice. In the fifth century, some aligning symmetrically through a north-south axis. Kondo was
emperial residential building was erected in Asuka and built in the style of Chinese worship halls in Tang dynasty. It is
Fujiwara. Together with public houses, residential houses, two-story high with a rectangle plan, lifted up by a stone plat-
and temples, emperial building created an early appearance form. There are wenty –eight pilasters holding up the ceramic
of a capital. tiled-hip-gablet roof.
 In 784, the emperor Kwammu decided to move his residence to
Nagaoka (Kyoto nowadays) and a new capital was contructed.
In 794, the first foundation of the city was laid and a new urban
begun. The layout was not really different from that of Nara
with a 3.1 by 2.8 mile rectangle plan. However, Kyoto’s palaces
(image 4), private dwellings and temple network had its own
character, representing the original Japanese taste and culture.
Although the buildings were still inspired by Chinese models,
the use of materials, construction methods and techniques had a
big turn with brick roofing tiles, thatch and tree bark roof cover-
ing, wooden structure, with motar and stone wall elements. The
building were supported by a system of pilasters underneath.
Heijokyo, modern day Nara was the first capital of the state,
The walls were extended from the main supports as the curtains,
founded in 710 with a reactangle plan. Its structure and
dividing the interior space. The measurement unit used at that
architecture were inspired by Chinese T’ang palace. It con-
time was ken, approximately 10 feet long. The buildings were
tains a complex of buildings with a garden in the central
placed symmetrically on a central axis with a larg inner garden.
and main building facing South. A few years later, it be-
Under Chinese influence, the garden also had a lake, connecting
came an Buddhist centre and many monasteries were built.
two shores by a small wooden or stone bridge. The lake was usu-
One of the most grandiose temples in Heijokyo at that time
ally designed with rocks, which symbolized mountains. Nowa-
was Toshodaiji (image 3), founded in 770 by Ganjin, a Chi-
days, this style of garden is quite popular, called Feng Shui lake.
nese priest was summoned to Japan from Tang dynasty in
It harmonizes between nature and man-made things, between
order to re-establish the rules of Buddhism as well as train
architecture and landscape, between vegetation and the other
the priests . It is a combination of Chinese and Japanese
tectonics such as fountain, ponds, streams or rocks. In Asia,
architecture,using wood and stone. The Kondo (main hall)
they believe it will bring health and good luck to the occupants
has 8 pilars in front of the hall and four statues of Shinen-
in the house. An example for the residential architecture in
nozo in four corners of the hall. The network of temples in
Heian period was Byodoin (image 5). The pavilion was built in
Japan represent a big development of architecture, art and
the 11th century with a series of halls and galleries facing to the
craft as well as signalled a deep penetration of Buddhism
lake. The interior was painted and decorated with polychrome
and Chinese culture into Japan.
lacquer, mother –of –pearl and gilded copper. The beams were

usually painted with lacquer or decorated with thin metal
sheets. Japanese architecture became more decorative,
leading to a new direction in the history of Japanese ar-
chitecture. The wooden structure originally left raw, was
now painted in red or cinnabar and decorated with many
details. Beams and hips now were curved and became
more complex. The eaves were now supported by brackets
and also placed between the pillars and architraves. In the
mean time, two new architectural styles were introduced
to Japan, which are Indian style (Tenjikuyo) and Chinese
style from Southern China (Karayo). During the civil wars,
a large number of temples were destroyed and now were
reconstructed in Tenjikuyo style with large beams placed
“rigidly orthogonal manner” and an increase of bracket
orders. On the other hand, Karayo style used the old rec-
tangular plan with the main elements placed symmetrically
along the central axis. However, Karayo buildings had some
sculptural decoration, and typical yoke arch at the portico,
which softened the ninearity of the structure and made the
buildings became more artistic and decorative.
In Muromachi period (1333-1573), Buddhism became less
important and the number of pagodas also declined. Along with
Zen, a new style of Yan and Ming dynasties was introduced to
Japan with a luxurious and ostentatious tendency. Gold and
bright colours in interiors were used to symbolize the wealth
and richness of the upper class in the society at that time. One
of the finest buildings in this building was a three –story build-
ing, Kinkakuji, which was founded in the end of 14th century.
Its interior was richly decorated with lacquer and inlaid -golden
pattern. The second and top roof were covered by the austere
bark. Another example for luxurious and decorative architecture
in this period was the silver pavilion, Ginkakuji in 15th century,
which was founded for a circle of artists and monks.
The tea ceremony and tea tradition were introduced to Japan by
Zen masters and became popular, following by the new formu-
lation of tea hall and tea pavilion planning in residential archi-
tecture. The slender rafters and pillars supported the whole roof
structure. The outer walls were also achieved with sliding door
structure and created the wide broad open surfaces. Together
with organic architectural style, garden design also developed.
The central garden with lake, bridge and islands were no longer
preffered, but rather than Ryoanji garden, which can be viewed
from different points of the building. The art of object place-
ment in the garden was also varied, for example water with sand
symbolized for ford or rocks standing in the water symbolized
for islands.
In 1542, the first European landed in Japan and brought their
Western civilazation together with them to Japan. Then, Japa-
nese culture and architecture were no longer influenced by
Chinese but toward the Western styles. The floor plans, which
had been raised on a stone platform, were now constructed on
the ground level. The buildings had larger scale with thicker
walls and higher level. Wooden structure was replaced by the
reinforced mansionry structure standing on the massive stone
foundation. Some examples of the architecture in Momoyama
period (1573-1614) were the castles of Matsumoto (image 6),
Kumamoto and Hijemi.
In Yedo period (1615- 1867), the castle of Yedo (Tokyo nowa-
days) was chosed to become a new seat of the Tokugawa shogu-
nate. In first half of the 17th century, a number of feudal lords
were invited to collaborate with the government to build their
new residences in Yedo and made it become the largest city of
the country in a century with a complex network of roads and
canals. It represented not only the place of state administration
but also the biggest trading centre. In 1700, the population in
Yedo reached to more than million. As the result, more residential
buildings were required. The houses were placed on a big stone
platform, which was approximately 28 to 48 inches thick. Wooden
flooring and pilasters structure were used to support a roofing
framework with horizontal beams above. The interior space was
divided by the sliding walls or partitions, while exterior walls
were constructed in mansonry and plaster. This type of residential
building was called sukiya, which remarked a big development of
Japanese architecture.
The city of Yedo was repeatedly fired and reconstructed, lead-
ing to a new development of a simplified architecture. In 1868,
the Meiji restoration transformed Japan into a modern nation,
inspired by the Western economy, politics and architecture. Tradi-
tional wooden construction was completely abandoned and new
modern techniques of Western architecture was applied largely.
Many new buildings were constructed in the new style, which
had wooden frameworks,covered by stone or stucco. From 1870,
many European and American architects were invited to Japan to
set up a programme of modernization for Japanese urban plan-
ning and teach their own work to some Japanese universities of
architecture. Under their guidance, a number of buildings were
constructed in Western historical styles such as Renaissance,
Neoclassical, Romanesque and Gothic. Then, the first generation
of Japanese architects and civil engineer, who were trained by the
Western counterparts, started to produce their works and took
over gradually the building activities. In 1923, a big amount of
reinforeced buildings in Tokyo were collapsed due to
the earthquake. Then, the new construction materials to
against the earthquake were employed in a form of massive
solidity and heaviness of structure.
In 1920, an organization of young modern architect was
founded, known as Bunriha. Their works were heavily
influenced by the Vienna Secessionists at the beginning.
Then, they drew their influence from European movements
to wards the International style of Modernism and made
their independent contributions to the modern architec-
ture. A few years later, their activities were supported and
collaborated by the famous foreigner architects such as
Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and
Luwig Mies van der Rohe. As the result, the modern tech-
nique formed by the wooden framework was readopted
and replaced by the metal structure.
After the World War II, a numerous of cities were rebuilt,
signaling a beginning of a new urban’s construction. On
another hand, the Japanese population grew rapidly after
the war and required a large-scale city expansion along
with urban planning. In the 1960s, the economy of Japan
grew rapidly and the number of huge buildings also in-
creased. In 1970s, after the economic crisis, the building
activities slowed down as the Japanese economic growth.
Then in 1980, Japanese economy onces again increased,
leading a big requirement in real estates and office build-
ings.
Tsukuba Center Building was built in 1983 by architect
Arata Isozaki. The building contains a oval-shaped, sunken
plaza and gazed around on the east side, at the hotel the
facade of the concert hall. Except the oval plaza, the other
parts of the buildings were unattractive and its central
concept lacks of the symbol of authority, official dom or the
sovereign. The building is a combination of many complex
structures, concrete details and fragments. However, there
is no relationship beween all of them and the harmony is
also absent.
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art was built by
Kisho Kurokawa in 1988. The design was based on the phisolo-
phy of symbiosis. The building is located on Hijiyama hill and
sloped along the hill, in the middle of a forested area. The exhi-
bition place of this building is set underground. A central plaza
with an open partio, corridor , stone garden and stairway well
combined the interior and exterior space of the building, creat-
ing a harmony of building and the landscape. The materials for
this building are mainly stones, such as natural stones, polished
stones, finished stones, marble stones and tiles.
Spiral building by Fumihiko Maki was built in 1985. The
entrance lobby is located on the first floor, which is designed
for the temporary exhibitions. Below a mezzanine level is a
cafe, which is located in the middle of the building. Follow-
ing along the ramp along the wall to the shops and toward to
the second floor to the esplanade, if continuing the direction,
we will be led to the third floor, where the big theatre with
more than 300 seats is . On the forth floor is the working
studios and an outdoor restaurant with garden is located on
the fifth floor, where you can have an overview of the build-
ings around. Each of the space has its own character and
was designed for different art and design related activities or
functions. The 6th to 9th floor of the bulding is for private
owner’s clubs, beauty salons, cafes and some other kinds of
entertainment.
National Museum of Modern Art was built in 1986 in Kyoto.
The main entrance of the building is on the east side, which
leading to the lobby on the first floor. From the lobby, we can
enter easily to the restaurant, gallery, an auditorium and a large
office on the same floor or to the other office space and library
on the second floor. The third and forth floors are used for the
exhibition galleries, while the storage and mechanical space
are located at the basement. Three staircases at the corners of
the building connects the exhibition spaces on the third and
forth floor. The service spaces are located on the west side of the
building. The bulding was built mainly by stone, concrete, glass,
and metal panels.

Galleria Akka in Osaka was designed by Tadao Ando in
1988. His design is an idea of spaces and lighting, produc-
ing an abstract void in the four story concrete enclosure.
His buildings in Japanese urban are like the fragments of
the landscape. A series of staircases along the building cre-
ated a large vertical empty space in the middle of the build-
ing, bringing natural light into the building from the glass
roof above. The top floor bridge is suspended into the air,
creating a missing end feeling of the space.
Another work of Tadao Ando was the Church with Light in
Osaka Perfecture. The church is a solid concrete cube with
three spheres. The interior space is divided into a chapel and
an entrance area by a 15 degree sloped wall. The furniture were
mainly made from wood, while the entire structure was built
in concrete and left in its original state. The use of these two
materials represents the true value of architecture’s quality in
the economic time, when the architecture are treated as a com-
mercial product in order to exist. There are only a few spaces left
open, so that the sun light becomes brillian when it contrasts to
the dark in the building. The shifting across of light on the wall
shows the relationship between the humanity and nature, be-
tween the religion and priests.

Rotunda is a five-story building, located on a busy high-
wat in Yokohama. It was designed by Riken Yamamoto and
constructed in 1987. The first three floors are for the retail
shops, offices and apartments and the other two levels are for
residence. It is a new idea of which he called “city as pho-
tography”, to explain his idea, he said “the place for dwelling
rests on top of.....things which constitute, metaphorically
speaking, the particular ‘lay of the land’, that is , something
like a topography. What I am trying to say is that the place
for dwelling here rests on a topography called the city”.On
the top are eight-meter-high steel columns and covered by
Teflon –fiber fabric. It creates a huge space underneath and
evokes the tent in the ancient time.
References:
Botond Bognar, The New Japanese Architecture, New York 1990.
Mario Buddsgli, Oriental Architecture, Milan 1981, pp. 162-188
Horyu-ji Temple, Nara http://www.taleofgenji.org/horyuji.html
Kirin Plaza in Osaka was designed by architect Shin Takamatsu
in 1987. The design evokes Japanese floor lamps. The building
contains the utilities for entertainment such as cockatail bar,
pubs, restaurant, galleries and an auditorium. The facade was
carved carefully with mysterious alchemy, matching with the
luxury glittering blacstone floor. It shows the beauty of freedome
and luxury world as well as the relationship between urban
dweller and architecture or between the voyeur and exhibition-