East Asia

exam 3

Wooden structural frame, rigorous use of module construction, gently curved roofs with overhangs, hip and gable roof, large roofs, pagodas, freestanding gateways

Chinese and Japanese Architecture commonalities

wooden structural frames

wood members assemble into a frame of posts/columns, beams, brackets

rigorous module of construction

establishes the rhythms and proportions of the building

curved roofs with large overhang

protects lightweight walls and projects water farther from building

hip and gable roof

Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves

pagoda

jian

the use of unit, or modular system in plan is called

dougong (cap and block)

a structural element of interlocking wooden brackets, one of the most important elements in traditional Chinese architecture

The pieces are fitted together by joinery alone without glue or fasteners, due to the precision and quality of the carpentry.

early dougong brackets (857 CE)

later dougong brackets (1052 CE)

Yingxian wooden pagoda

Oldest and tallest all-wood pagoda in the world

The Forbidden City

Beijing, China (1406 to 1420 CE)

Designed to communicate imperial Chinese power

- main gate and workers quarters

- the house proper

- the kitchen and back of house

chinese courtyard house

three sections of a single module:

Chinese courtyard house

Japanese Architecture - Torii

a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred. (minimalist)

Chinese Architecture - Paifang

a traditional Chinese gate structure, historically erected to honor virtuous people, mark neighborhood boundaries, or serve as grand entrances to temples, tombs, and gardens. (highly ornamented)

always wood

general structure is the same

walls are paper thin

sliding doors

gable and eave curves gentler than in china

japanese architecture

complex bracket systems called tokyō,

(dougong in Chinese architecture)

japanese roofs supported by

ken

traditional japanese unit of length, equal to six japanese feet or one tatami length

hus a tatami mat is half a square ken

Hōryū-ji Temple and Pagoda (7th century CE)

Great Buddha Hall at Tōdai-ji

Nara, Japan (1709 CE)

A pervasive characteristic of Japanese architecture

an understanding of the natural world as a source of spiritual insight

the natural, asymmetrical layouts, long verandas, multiple sliding panels

Union with ___ _______ was also an element of Japanese architecture. Architecture seemed to conform to nature. The symmetry of Chinese-style temple plans gave way to ___________ ______ that followed the specific contours of hilly and mountainous topography. The borders existing between structures and the natural world were deliberately obscure. Elements such as ____ _______ and ________ _______ ______ offered constant vistas on nature—although the nature was often carefully arranged and fabricated rather than wild and real.

zen garden

"dry landscape" garden, creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and uses gravel or sand that is raked to represent ripples in water.

tatami

rectangular mat used as a floor covering in Japanese houses

the standardized size of the mat has created an important modular unit in the development of Japanese architecture

Irregular plan that takes advantage of the landscape contours and views (extroverted to landscape)

Tatami as modulator of rooms

fluid, screens or movable paper

walls

Inner space divisions are_____, and

room size can be modified through

the use of ______ or _______ ______.

Shoji

sliding outer partition doors and windows made of a latticework wooden frame and covered with a tough, translucent white paper. When closed, they softly diffuse light throughout the house.

Fusuma

Vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side to redefine spaces within a room, or act as doors.

wooden understructure, black lacquer, finger catch

Fusuma consists of ______ _____, covered in cardboard and a layer of paper or cloth on both sides. They typically have a _____ ____ border and a round _____ _____.

mountains, forests, animals

fusuma were historically painted with scenes from nature such as ________, _____ or ________