No_10_October_1969 — Page 30

Inner court of Yamato Bunkakan Museum, designed by Isoya Yoshida and built in 1960

subdue or completely shut out nature. Instead, the landscape is harmoniously integrated with the interior and the building is designed to be opened wide if it is so desired.

Unlike the trends of other socie- ties, traditional Japanese architecture never experienced a radical change in form, materials, methods or philoso- phic approach. The utmost attention has always been given to human scale while monumental structures and per- fectly symmetrical building and land- scaping arrangements have been as- siduously avoided. Openness, flexibi-

lity of plan, and an organic integration of the building with the natural en- vironment have long been the core of Japanese architecture. Instead of adopting a change merely for the sake of novelty, the Japanese laboured long the thoughtfully to combine some of China's basic architectural concepts with their own artistic expression.

Modular architectural planning, currently popular in western architec- ture, had reached a high stage of development in Japan 500 or more years ago. Out of this modular ap- proach evolved an aesthetic system of

planning called Kiwari in which the proportions of all the components of a structure are determined on the basis of the spacing and sizes of the column used.

The principal floor unit in this method is the tatami a stiff, fibrous, straw-covered mat 2 or more in. thick and measuring approximately 3 by 6 ft. In Japan today, as has been the practice for centuries, all room sizes are determined in multiples of this tatami unit. Kiwari, with its standardi- zation of building materials, has great- ly facilitated home construction in Japan by enabling unskilled workmen to quickly assemble a house. Yet, the method has not precluded any of an endless variety of design possibilities.

While Shinto shrines played an important part in the shaping of Japan's architectural tradition, the most dominant influence is generally conceded to be the Zen tea-ceremony. The straight-forward style of the tea- houses harkening back to the ear- liest farmhouses was architecturally significant but the major contribution of the tea-ceremony was its basic philosophy of eliminating the unessen- tial in any artistic endeavor and re- ducing it to its purest aesthetic form.

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The best illustration of these prin- ciples - a structure now regarded as the prototype of traditional Japanese architecture is the Katsura Imperial Villa near Kyoto. Begun in the early 17th century, the rambling, single storey villa was built in three sections over a span of 38 years. Designed by

National Indoor Gymnasium, Tokyo, designed by Kenzo Tange for the swimming, diving and basketball events of the 18th Olympiad in 1964. The roofs of both structures, the main gymnasium and the annex, are supported by steel cables

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Far East BUILDER, October 1969

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