Find your spiritual connection and sense of awareness with Japanese Architecture 1.0

Welcome back, to my awaited post on Japanese Architecture. To be truly honest, this is going to be a slightly shorter post since I'll be splitting the topic into two parts. But I've been waiting to approach this topic due to my love of Japanese architecture and its spiritual and conscious approach to its construction.

As a highly spiritual country, Japan holds a strong faith in ancestral spirits with Buddhism being one of the main faiths of the culture. This faith is incorporated into the design of their architecture.

Inside a Japanese home, lies a specific feature called the Tokonoma. This is an empty space in a wall which has the purpose of spiritual connection between one's ancestors. Due to the sacredness of this feature only minimalistic and sincere decorations are displayed within the Tokonoma. Such as a bouquet of flowers or calligraphy reserved for spiritual messages.

*Own sketch of a Tokonoma

Then this got me thinking, let's apply this information to western culture. Britain has a heavy influence of Christianity, from the birth of the Church of England. In this way, how come we haven't incorporated religious and personal features such as this in our architecture?

'The impermanence of all things and the permanence of change'

Buddist belief from Kamo No Chomei, Hojoki 1212

This sense of adaptability and lack of permanence is incorporated into their structures. The Kyoto House, a Japanese Country house, Illustrates aspects of this mindset:

Doors & Windows - Are made with mobility in mind, allowing one to easily move and transfer the doors and windows from various slots. To accommodate different layouts and environments in the Kyoto house.

Rooms - Are minimalistic, with limited furniture that can be moved. Each room is an area of space that can be used for various purposes due to this minimalism. For example, the space for a bedroom could also be utilised as a living room.

Another element of Buddhism is 'giving back' as an act of Karma to the community and environment. In this way, entrances and doorways are made transparent to share space with neighbours & garden spaces, minimising the divide between human civilisation and the world. The very same transparent windows and doors 'oshiire' hold a sliding feature 'Shoji', which reduces the amount of space taken by typical (western) doors that 'swing' open.

Further linking back to western architecture. Lecturer Metalkova-Markova (2022) states a key point, that raises awareness of certain faults in western architecture.

"Westerners heat their houses we heat our bodies" (Metalkova- Markova, M. 2022)

Here, I think a clear comparison is made. Whilst, Westerners prioritise themselves over the environment by heating houses which sometimes use unnecessary amounts of energy. The Japanese prioritise the environment first, before themselves, taking conscious methods of heating.

This raises the question of do we as westerners apply any features in our structures which present the same awareness towards the environment and the community as the Japanese? Or is our capitalist tendencies overpowering our consciousness. Place your answers or theories in the comment section.

References

Religion in Japan. (n.d.). Japan Guide. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e629.html

Metalkova-Markova, M. (2022). Outline of Japanese Residential architecture [Slides]. University of Portsmouth. https://moodle.port.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/3092288/mod_resource/content/1/Milena%20-%20Japanese%20Architecture_default.mp4

Buddhism Zone. (2019, July 23). THE CORE BELIEFS OF BUDDHISM. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://buddhismzone.org/the-core-beliefs-of-buddhism/#:%7E:text=THE%20CORE%20BELIEFS%20OF%20BUDDHISM%201%20Reincarnation.%20This,merely%20believing%20in%20doctrines%20is%20beside%20the%20point.

Tokonoma | Japan Experience. (n.d.). Japan Experience. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://www.japan-experience.com/plan-your-trip/to-know/understanding-japan/tokonoma

The Gion House, Kyoto. (n.d.). [Photography]. Pinterest. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/86/00/70/860070567ba801808c05183c94f84f6b.jpg