Shinohara
Shinohara
Shinohara
ArchitecturalInstitute
of Japan
Japan
of
UniversityofKyoto,
Japan
Abstract
itsrelationship
a survey
of
the influence
of
on
the residential
architecture
milieu
of
space
related
to the tendencies ofmilieu
in the spatial
physicaland mental
environment,
Reference to Society (through
tradition and modernity),
to Nature (in
the perception of
concepts)
reveaied
landscape),
and to Space(physical
space of the city and mental
space of architectural
the infiuenceofmilieu. The data was compiled
from the architecVs discoursein writing and drawings,
The
architecture
has been stressed through the modelization
ofhousing
spatial
infiuence
of milieu on residential
structures
with
and urban
social,
pattems.
conception
1.Introduetion
1.1 Aim
of
keywerds
The aim
between
considering
the
of
the
presentation of
and
this study
architectura]
conception
in which
and
a
milieu,
building is
and
"
natural
environment
(seeFig,1,), Based
to analyze
CMdo),
and
on
cultural
this fact,the
environment,
author
decided
work
Space",a
Space",and a "Menta1
Space" (see
Lefebvre,1974).
1.2Methedology and choice of the case study
The influence of milieu can be observed
in the
architect's conception
of space and in his way of
"Social
"Physical
analysis
and comparisons
ofhis
we
can understand
(see
Boudon, 1992).
Throughout his career as a professor-architect,
ShinoharaKazuo always triedto definethe relationship
between thinking and designing in his practiceof
architecture.
In hislaboratory,
at the [[bkyoinstitute
of
rlbchnology,
he concentrated on the space ofresidential
architecture,
as a type of architecture
on a human scale
interacts
with
society.
For more than
that
Japanese
thirty years,he developed spatial
and
philosophical
between his
concepts
out of the confrontation
architecture
and itssocial, cultural, and physical
contexts.
History
Naturul
Legislation
environment
e-mail/
Cultural
ClimaLe
cnyironment
44
Economy
Topography
October Z 2005
(Received
,'
acceptedDecember
13,2005)
Journal ofAsian
confronted
by Milieu Tendencies
200612015
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of Japan
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of
house
(minkaor
commoner's
machiya)
and
the
"modern"
illustrate
the particular
relationship
betweenarchitecture,
garden and landscape
(seeFig.2.).Japan started to open to western culture
in the Meiji era but itwas not until after the Second
WorldWar thatsome Western building
methods
were
widely
adopted.
The declineof craftsmanship
and the
architectonic
of
the engawa
"glass
i,
"coordinates
the prehistoricJ6mon
found in thecharacter
which
had an underground
era
of
to 300
(prior
BC),
and
can
be
earthen-floor.
of
16
2.4 Japanese
spaee
methodology
thepithouse (tateanaJ'u'kyo),
In order to moderate
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of Japan
Japan
of
Shinohara'sdiscourserevealed five
"coordinates
can be classified as
of
irrationality":
First,
the "division''
composition
(bunkatsu)
plan:
itconsists of dividingthe whole shape of a room in
- by using sliding doors
order
to make
smaller
rooms
It is the opposite
of western
or height difference.
analysis
concepts,
of
which
(renketsu)
"connection"
architecturets
composition
of spatial units
rooms)
(closed
of the minka
and J6mon era's prehistoric
Japanesepithouse.With itscubic shape and itsclear
Japaneseplanning (division
1 frontality)
the "House
in White" is closer to Yayoi tradition.In other words,
one could see in these two houses the two pulsesof
aesthetics
describedin Friedrich Nietzsche's The birth
of Tragedy (Nietzsche,
1872).The "House
of Earth"
belongs to the Dionysiac side of the irrational
and
fbrces of nature,
and
the
in White"
obscure
incarnates
the plastic
beautyof theApolloniantradition
fbrms,
ofGreece's
white
pure
In "House
in White", the
of
irrationality"
are presentedand abstracted in the white,
high-ceilingedmain room,
Compared to previous
houses,Shinohara emphasized
the organicity of the
ddikokubashira (central
the
pillar),By contrasting
bark
with
the
white
walls,
he
wanted
pillar'sorganic
to stress a new
relationship
to nature, which
he called
atmosphere
"House
together(Shinohara,
1996);
it comes
from the
(sh6mensei):
"division",
It is a two-dimensional
picture-like
elevation
seen from a perpendicular direction.In
traditionalarchitecture,
a representative
frontality
is
thatof the upper stage of NishiHonganji's Hall (k6no
ma)
inKyoto (Shinohara
1964;Inoue,1969);
"Wastefu1
it is an extra
space"
(mudana kfikan):
space
that has no particular
functionin the house. It
nature''
hasbeenproposed against the minimal measurement
construction
ofman-made
Uink6shizen
of rational and functional
architecture. According to
no k6chiku),
as a relationship between
nature and manShinohara,space must be
and involve
made construction.
human scale, in such a way that even a small room
can providean impressionof spaciousness
(Shinohara,
(1)Division
1960).
"Style''
(2)Frontality
and
ornament:
they are the artistic
tv6shiki)
(3)Wastefulspaee
expressions
of an epoch.
They correspond
to some
(4)Centralpillar
social and aesthetic rules that partakeof architecture
(S)Connectiellwindow
connected
"Frontality"
"coordinates
''the
"immeasurable"
1960).
(Shinohara,
elements
minka,
(6)Zcnithalwindow
(7)fraversality
"Organicity"
of
of
the
the
the
)
Fig.3.ConceptualModel
of
''House
inWhite" (1966)
tradition;(2)"simplification"
and
and
of
style;
"abstraction"
reinterpretation
housesthatrepresents Shinohara's
the traditionofJapanese
space.
of
"House
The "Yamashiro
House" (yamashiro
san no ie)of
1967 is characterized by a central square shape and
"conneetion
the necessary
space"
1971).
(Shinohara,
Thissquare isan open-air interior
elevated
90
garden
centimeters
from the street and the carport - which is
connected to all the rooms.
In 1968, the
central
square
space
of
"Suzusho
"construction
"Black
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Architectural Institute
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of
open-square
cube,
(1)Houseinwhite(2)YamashiroHeuse(3)SuzushoHouse
I)iyidedrrminroom
Sqllareaccurtyard
Fig.4. Precess
of
an
(3)Connection window
(4)Zenithalwindow
AEntrance
(4)lncompleteHouse
Squarcdintoriorspace
ofAbstraction
(1)Cube(2)
Fissure kge
/'x
....,...-1,/;>
Cuhicinteiorspacc
Fig.5.ConceptualModel
InterierCubic Space
House" (1970)
''Incomplete
;-
l -,
r...f
rt
""Se
d'construction
of
...
to the destruction
.rPun"M'"
of the natural landscapein Japan - due to the quick
expansion
of cities - and an attempt
to find another
Interiorspace
/
relationship to nature insidearchitecture (Shinohara,
1971), Indeed,during the period of high economic
Fig,6.Patternofthe Urban House inthe Seventies
growth between 1955 and 1973 the city of Tokyo
Shinohara modelized
the Cube in l970
perspective,
grew from about 6 million to 12 million inhabitants. after a series of abstractions of Japanesespaces, and
In the seventies,
a levelof prosperity
Japan reached
an adaptation to contemporary
expression, But, in the
equivalent
to most industrialized
and modernized
"House
same
way
as the
in Whited',the model of the
countries,
but itslandscape was totally changed
"Incomplete
House" was gradually transfbrmed by the
becauseof the expansion of theeityscape. In the urban
influence
ofmilieu.
environment,
the reference to nature became diMcult
After the
House", the Cube lost its
and some architects started to create introverted
houses
central and introverted
Fig.7.).
First,
in
position(see
designedto protect
their occupants from city activity as
the "Shino
House"
san
no
ie),
the
Cube
was
(shino
they searched
foranother relationship
to the changing
moved
to the periphery in order to have physical
"construction
milieu,
Shinohara's
concept of
ofman"Cubic
contact
with the outside. And then in the
made
nature"
was
an answer
to thisquest.
Forest"(chokuh6tai
no mori),
the fissure
connects
the
In the seventiest patternof the urban house
cubic
entrance
hall
to
a
main
room
composed
by
a
Fig.6,)- which corresponds
to the structure of the
double
cube
with
large
lateral
openings.
The
design
House" -, the densification
of the land is
houses mirrored
thisdeterioration
of
fo11owedby the disappearanceof the exterior garden of the fo11owing
the interiorCube model
until itstota1disappearance
in
and engawa.
The house is closed to the cityscape
In
the
in Itoshima"(itoshima
no ju'taku),
the
and the traditionalinnergarden (nakaniwa)
has been
"House
in
Itoshima",
Shinohara
Kazuo
reversed the
replaced by an interior
space
inthe centre of the house,
A six-meter
high,central, white, concrete
cube,
lit concept of the enclosed Cube and designedan exterior
by a two meter-diameter
domed skylight, dominates cubic frame opened to an ideallandscapeofmountain
The fissureand Cube compose
a
the
house".The use of a three dimensional and water (sansui).
kind of spatial instrumentthat borrows the landscape
cube
isa means to eliminate
and
Fig,8,),
(shakkei)
(see
the main features
ofthe Japanesespatiality,
"construction
of man-made
nature"
was
a reaction
"Incomplete
(see
''Incomplete
"House
"Incomplete
"frontality"
d'division",
ShinoharaKazuo
succeeded
in creating
(cube)
air conditioning
zenithal
"valleys"
and
dome
4. Towards
landscape
of a
space
topology
(fissure),
with
meehanical
light,
which isfiltered
by
Fig.5.).
(see
and neutral
opening
a mental
and
new
milieus
18
of
JAABEyol.5no.IMay2006
and
enclosed
cube
is
ofman-made
architectural
to the
comparable
nature"
nature
inside
an
Enclosed Garden
to concentrate
domesticatedand
the expression
reinterpreted
by
idealnature,
in a delimitated
of an
man
space,42
Literarymilieu
House"
"Tanikawa
was
designed
under
(tanikawa
san
noju"taku,
1974),
influence
the literary
of the client -
thepoetTanikawa Shuntar6-
and
Shinohara's
intention
BenoTtJacquet
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Architectural Institute
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of Japan
Japan
of
[ig]
Hcuse" (2)''Shino
Hnuse''
(1)''Illcornplete
CcntralCube
Forcgt'' (4)"House
in lksh{ma"
(3)"thhic
Tramslatcdthhe
DeiiblcCube
Fig.7.Variations
ofthe Cube
Open-aircubicframe
Opening to Landscape
and
Shinohara
wanted
to
create
(1)Cube(2)Fissure(3)Connectianto1andscape
t.t.2)lttl
//,F
(1)<
Fig.8.Spatialinstrumentof
to experiment
inItoshima"
''House
philosophicalreferences,
"Machine
such
as Gilies Deleuze's concept
of
litteraire"
1964),These literary
references
(Deleuze,
an
original
feature
to
the
architectural
work.
The
gave
topography and the landscape were also physically
involveclin the design process.Shinohara invented
several
some
with
concepts
such
as:
"naked
space"
no
(ragy6
"traversality"
kfikon),
machine"
kihai),
(kfihan
According to Tanikawa, Shinohara designed
(6don).
"winter
a
house" that is likea "pioneer
cabin" and a
"summer
house" that "does
not need to be a house"
1975).In the "summer
room",
the fiooris
(Shinohara,
lefinaked: earthen and inclined.
This space isernptied
of everything
but the wooden
structure
pillars that
"spatial
sustain
the roog
and a
Fig,9,),
bench(see
l:/.ene
g\.X/i,iasc:
1sttt
ee!..
te,;i,:,:a,g,i;
03,kh:S,
encounter
lutermectiate level/creatlon
`'spatial
a]d
Lower leyel/separation
frorn .......----""'
the
street
(cantileyer);
workingspace(studio)
Fig.1O.ConceptualModel
Suburhs
House"
(1974)
5. Conclusion
In thisstudy, the evolution
design of Shinohara Kazuo
milieu
the discourse
on Japanesecities
changed, This was partlybeeause of the slow down in
urbanization
and partlybecause the architect became
voL5
no.1
May 2006
A'
of
theresidential housing
diffbrent
tendencies: (tradition,
and
(the
to landscape)and periods:
and the mid-seventies),
to diffbrent
types of relationship to
the opening
which
ll
Mountain/--"x....
modernism,
JAABE
r'r
//rfA
,1spacc,
three
of'"Ihnikawa
D/
City
I{owse
inUehara" (1976)
of"House
1 '"x
irllefi'o'
r'
lt
../../.t,
ttttt
(1)Summerroom
artificial
landscape('`savagespace')
r-/''
Winter room
Trasrersality
'""""'----.
illterior
an
machine"
meamng.
l,,,. (2)
f
E.
(3)
2'ttL
'i')'
tc'f'
of
"Zero-degree
correspond
ofthese
tendencies ofthe
milieu.
Benoit Jacquet19
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Library Service
Architectural Institute
ArchitecturalInstitute
of Japan
Japan
of
no kOkan wo
6dan suru toki",
thatthereisan evident influence 17) Shinohara,K. (1975)
Shinkenchiku.Ibkyo: Shinkenchiku-sha,October 197S.
ofmilieu in Shinohara's
architectural design,giventhat
18) Shinohara,
K. C1979) SavageMachineas an Exercise",
The
eaeh series ofhouses
are characterized by unique space
Architect.
Tbkyo: Shinkenchiku-sha,
MaTeh 1979.
Jt\Jan
stmctures
and concepts, and a particular
19) Shinohara,
K. (1981)
an Architecture", The JQpan
perceptionof
Arehitect.
Tbkyo: Shinkenchiku-sha,September 1981,
the landscape.
20) Shinohara,K. (1996)
Shinohara Kazuo, Tbkyo: TOTO Shuppall
This study
focused on the transformation
of
"ouses and People ofJZu)an.
Londoll-Tekyo:
21)
Taut, B, (t937)
architecture,
on the variability
and
evolution
of urban
-Sanseido.
Gridford
but italso revealed
some
constant
features,
patterns,
There is constancy
in designpattern(the
square
shape,
the structural pillarsystem), inrelation to man-made
The
survey
"Ragy6
revealed
"The
"Towards
in some
and
nature,
the
space,
spatial concepts
(the
"division"
of
"traversality").
rationalist
2- The
and
creation
functionalist
post-war streams);
landscape
insidethe
of an artificial
house, in relation
"physical
space",
growth;
3- The architectural
of
the cityscape
"mental
The
that express
understanding
space",
relationship
between
architecture
interacts
inside
this comprehension
and
and
Shinohara'speculiar
of
and
milieu
Society,
Nature,
Space.
References
'(1999)
of
''Nihon
"Mtakuron",
''JOtaku
''The
"Jatakuron",
20
JAABEyoL5no.IMay20e6
BenoitJacquet