Furniture Design Ideas

The act of stepping down from the veranda and walking in the garden begins with the roji. The roji in its early form consisted merely of a walkway leading to the tearoom, and thus could hardly be called a garden (Figures 38.1-38.2). By definition, the roji (“dewy ground”) is a path, not a garden, which […]

M iegakure (“hide-and-reveal”) refers to a number of techniques used to configure garden scenes in sequence as visitors walk through a garden. The term was first used in regard to the techniques employed in the small, rustic walkways, known as roji, that lead to teahouses. Effects are created that provide a sense of depth and […]

The shinden-zukuri main hall was composed of the build­ing core, or moya, surrounded by outer aisles, or hisashi. The spans between the pillars of the hisashi were fitted with shitomido shutters, which in their open position left the exterior facade of the hisashi totally open, creating a panoramic interior/exterior architectural space. The hisashi were used […]

Of the garden’s six basic compositional elements, the white sand area, which had played a primary role in the Zen temple south garden, was relegated to a secondary role on the east side of the Kojo-in guest hall, and the pond, islands, and artificial hills, which had been omitted from the Zen temple garden, were […]

With the rise in importance placed on class rank in feudal warrior society, the main hall, which was used for formal audiences, was subdivided along the east-west axis in the sixteenth century, and developed a formalized order that served as a spatial representation of social hierarchy. The easternmost position, being closest to the entrance, was […]

The simplification of the formal south garden began in the twelfth century with the cessation of imperial cere­monies and the concomitant loss of the shinderis original function. The genesis of the contemplation garden (kansho niwa) began with the abbreviation of the four basic com­positional elements specific to the south garden—the white sand area, the pond, […]

In the late Heian period, the most significant change to occur in shinden-zukuri architecture was the division of the interior of the shinden, directly under the roof ridge, into north and south halves partitioned by sliding doors (munewakedo). The south side (hare) served as the formal ceremonial space, and the north side (ke) was for […]

As was noted earlier, Higashisanjo Palace was based on a bilaterally symmetrical formula but acquired an asym­metrical layout to conform to its two-cho site. Small and medium-sized residences, with their greatly restricted sites, were one generation further removed, built with shinden-zukuri as their prototype. These were a simplifiedform of the original, which emphasized the most […]

T he next wave of continental cultural influence, fol­lowing the importation of Tang culture in the Nara and early Heian periods, was that of the Song dynasty (960-1279) during Japan’s Muromachi period, when Chinese paintings and wares were imported in astound­ing quantities. Yoshida Кепко expresses the tenor of the times in this passage from his […]

Shinden-zukuri buildings were single-room residences in which living space was defined with furnishings. There were no distinct rooms, and the relationship between people and furniture was fluid. The architectural interior and exterior were partitioned by shitomido latticed shutters and tsumado paneled doors, both of which swing on hinges. In their open position, these fixtures leave […]