ARBEL

JAPAN ACHITECTURE
HISTORY OF JAPAN
Japan's location on islands at the outermost edge of Asia has had a profound influence on its history. Just close
enough to mainland Asia, yet far enough to keep itself separate, much of Japanese history has seen alternating
periods of closure and openness. Until recently, Japan has been able to turn on or off its connection to the rest of
the world, accepting foreign cultural influences in fits and starts. It is comparable with the relationship between
Britain and the rest of Europe, but with a much wider channel.
Recorded Japanese history begins in the 5th century, although archaeological evidence of settlement stretches back
50,000 years and the mythical Emperor Jimmu is said to have founded the current Imperial line in the 7th century
BCE. Archaeological evidence, however, has only managed to trace the Imperial line back to the Kofun
Period during the 3rd to 7th centuries CE, which was also when the Japanese first had significant contact with
China and Korea. Japan then gradually became a centralized state during the Asuka Period, during which Japan
extensively absorbed many aspects of Chinese culture, and saw the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism and
Confucianism. The popular board game of Go is also believed to have been introduced to Japan during this period.
The first strong Japanese state was centered in Nara, which was built to model the then Chinese capital Chang'an.
This period, dubbed the Nara Period was the last time the emperor actually held political power, with power
eventually falling into the hands of the court nobles during the Heian Period, when the capital was moved
to Kyoto, then known as Heian-Kyo, which remained the Japanese imperial residence until the 19th century.
Chinese influence also reached its peak during the early Heian Period, which saw Buddhism become a popular
religion among the masses. This was then followed by the Kamakura Period, when the samurai managed to gain
political power. Minamoto no Yoritomo, the most powerful of them, was dubbed shogun by the emperor and ruled
from his base in Kamakura. The Muromachi Period then saw the Ashikaga shogunate come to power, ruling
from their base in Ashikaga. Japan then descended into the anarchy of the Warring States period in the 15th
century. Tokugawa Ieyasu finally reunified the country in 1600 and founded the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal
state ruled from Edo, or modern-day Tokyo. A strict caste system was imposed, with the Shogun and
his samurai warriors at the top of the heap and no social mobility permitted.
During this period, dubbed the Edo Period, Tokugawa rule kept the country stable but stagnant with a policy of
almost total isolation (with the exception of Dutch and Chinese merchants in certain designated cities) while the
world around them rushed ahead. US Commodore Matthew Perry's Black Ships arrived in Yokohama in 1854,
forcing the country to open up to trade with the West, resulting in the signing of unequal treaties and the collapse
of the shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1867, during which the imperial capital was relocated from Kyoto to
Edo, now re-named Tokyo. After observing Western colonization in Southeast Asia and the division and weakening
of China, which the Japanese had for so long considered to be the world's greatest superpower, Japan vowed not to
be overtaken by the West, launching itself headlong into a drive to industrialize and modernize at frantic speed.
Adopting Western technology and culture wholesale, Japan's cities soon sprouted railways, brick buildings and
factories, and even the disastrous Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which flattened large parts of Tokyo and killed
over 100,000 people, was barely a bump in the road.
From day one, resource-poor Japan had looked elsewhere for the supplies it needed, and this soon turned into a
drive to expand and colonize its neighbors. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 saw Japan take control of Taiwan,
Korea and parts of Manchuria, and its victory against Russia in the 1904–5 Russo-Japanese war cemented its
HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

position of strength. With an increasingly totalitarian government controlled by the military, Japan launched a full-
scale invasion of China via Manchuria in 1931 and by 1941 had an empire stretching across much of Asia and the
Pacific. In 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, destroying a large portion of the US Pacific fleet but
drawing America into the war, whose tide soon started to turn against Japan. By the time it was forced to surrender
in 1945 after the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1.86 million Japanese civilians and military
personnel had died, well over 10 million Chinese and other Asians had been killed, many in atrocities committed by
the Japanese military machine, and Japan was occupied for the first time in its history. The Emperor kept his throne
but lost his god-like position in the imposed constitution. Converted to pacifism and "democracy", with the US
taking care of defense, Japan now directed its prodigious energies into peaceful technology and re-emerged from
poverty to conquer the world's marketplaces with an endless stream of cars and consumer electronics to attain the
second-largest gross national product in the world.
But frenzied growth could not last forever, and after the Nikkei stock index hit the giddy heights of 39,000 in 1989,
the bubble well and truly burst, leading to Japan's lost decade of the 1990s that saw the real estate bubbles
deflate, the stockmarket fall by half and, adding insult to injury, the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 that
leveled parts of Kobe and killed over 6,000 people. The economy has yet to fully recover from its doldrums, with
deflation driving down prices, an increasingly unsupportable burden of government debt (nearing 200% of GDP)
and an increasing polarization of Japanese society into "haves" with permanent jobs and "have-
not" freeters drifting between temporary jobs. This has resulted in Japan losing its position as the world's second
largest economy to its larger neighbour, China. Japan still enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world.
JAPANESE TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE

Much in the traditional architecture of Japan is not native, but was imported from China and other Asian cultures
over the centuries. Japanese traditional architecture and its history are as a consequence dominated by Chinese
and Asian techniques and styles (present even in Ise Shrine, held to be the quintessence of Japanese architecture)
on one side, and by Japanese original variations on those themes on the other.
Partly due also to the variety of climates in Japan and the millennium encompassed between the first cultural
import and the last, the result is extremely heterogeneous, but several practically universal features can
nonetheless be found. First of all is the choice of materials, always wood in various forms (planks, straw, tree bark,
paper, etc.) for almost all structures. Unlike both Western and some Chinese architecture, the use of stone is
avoided except for certain specific uses, for example temple podia and pagoda foundations.
The general structure is almost always the same: posts and lintels support a large and gently curved roof, while the
walls are paper-thin, often movable and never load-bearing. Arches and barrel roofs are completely absent. Gable
and eave curves are gentler than in China and columnar entasis (convexity at the center) limited.
The roof is the most visually impressive component, often constituting half the size of the whole edifice. The
slightly curved eaves extend far beyond the walls, covering verandas, and their weight must therefore be
supported by complex bracket systems called tokyō, in the case of temples and shrines. Simpler solutions are
adopted in domestic structures. The oversize eaves give the interior a characteristic dimness, which contributes to
the building's atmosphere. The interior of the building normally consists of a single room at the center called moya,
from which depart any other less important spaces.
Inner space divisions are fluid, and room size can be modified through the use of screens or movable paper walls.
The large, single space offered by the main hall can therefore be divided according to the need. For example, some
walls can be removed and different rooms joined temporarily to make space for some more guests. The separation
between inside and outside is itself in some measure not absolute as entire walls can be removed, opening a
residence or temple to visitors. Verandas appear to be part of the building to an outsider, but part of the external
world to those in the building. Structures are therefore made to a certain extent part of their environment. Care is
taken to blend the edifice into the surrounding natural environment.
The use of construction modules keeps proportions between different parts of the edifice constant, preserving its
overall harmony. (On the subject of building proportions, see also the article ken).
Even in cases as that of Nikkō Tōshō-gū, where every available space is heavily decorated, ornamentation tends to
follow, and therefore emphasize, rather than hide, basic structures.
Being shared by both sacred and profane architecture, these features made it easy converting a lay building into a
temple or vice versa. This happened for example at Hōryū-ji, where a noblewoman's mansion was transformed
into a religious building.
PREHISTORIC PERIOD
During the three phases of the Jōmon period the population was primarily hunter-gatherer with some primitive
agriculture skills and their behaviour was predominantly determined by changes in climatic conditions and other
natural stimulants. Early dwellings were pit houses consisting of shallow pits with tamped earth floors and grass
roofs designed to collect rainwater with the aid of storage jars. Later in the period, a colder climate with greater
rainfall led to a decline in population, which contributed to an interest in ritual. Concentric stone circles first
appeared during this time.
During the Yayoi period the Japanese people began to interact with the Chinese Han dynasty, whose knowledge
and technical skills began to influence them. The Japanese began to build raised-floor storehouses as granaries
which were constructed using metal tools like saws and chisels that began to appear at this time. A reconstruction
in Toro, Shizuoka is a wooden box made of thick boards joined in the corners in a log cabin style and supported on
eight pillars. The roof is thatched but, unlike the typically hipped roof of the pit dwellings, it is a simple V-
shaped gable.
The Kofun period marked the appearance of many-chambered burial mounds or tumuli (kofun literally means "old
mounds"). similar mounds in Korean Peninsula are thought to have been influenced by Japan. Early in the period
the tombs, known as "keyhole kofun" or zenpō-kōen fun (ja:前方後円墳, lit. square in front, circular in back tomb-
mound), often made use of the existing topography, shaping it and adding man-made moats to form a distinctive
keyhole shape, i.e. that of a circle interconnected with a triangle. Access was via a vertical shaft that was sealed off
once the burial was completed. There was room inside the chamber for a coffin and grave goods. The mounds were
often decorated with terracotta figures called haniwa. Later in the period mounds began to be located on flat
ground and their scale greatly increased. Among many examples in Nara and Osaka, the most notable is the Daisen-
kofun, designated as the tomb of Emperor Nintoku. The tomb covers 32 hectares (79 acres) and it is thought to
have been decorated with 20,000 haniwa figures.
Towards the end of the Kofun period, tomb burials faded out as Buddhist cremation ceremonies gained popularity.
ASUKA AND NARA ARCHITECTURE

The most significant contributor to architectural changes during the Asuka period was the introduction
of Buddhism. New temples became centers of worship with tomb burial practices quickly became outlawed. Also,

Buddhism brought to Japan kami worship, the idea of permanent shrines and gave to Shinto architecture much of
its present vocabulary.
Some of the earliest structures still extant in Japan are Buddhist temples established at this time. The oldest
surviving wooden buildings in the world are found at Hōryū-ji, northeast of Nara. First built in the early 7th
century as the private temple of Crown Prince Shōtoku, it consists of 41 independent buildings; the most important
ones, the main worship hall, or Kon-dō (金堂, Golden Hall), and the five-story pagoda), stand in the centre of an
open area surrounded by a roofed cloister (kairō). The Kon-dō, in the style of Chinese worshiphalls, is a two-story
structure of post-and-beam construction, capped by an irimoya, or hipped-gabled, roof of ceramic tiles.
Heijō-kyō, modern day Nara, was founded in 708 as the first permanent capital of the state of Japan. The layout of
its checkerboard streets and buildings were modeled after the Chinese capital of Chang'an. The city soon became
an important centre of Buddhist worship in Japan. The most grandiose of these temples was Tōdai-ji, built to rival
temples of the Chinese T'ang and Sui Dynasties. Appropriately, the 16.2-m (53-ft) Buddha or Daibutsu (completed
in 752) enshrined in the main hall is a Rushana Buddha, the figure that represents the essence of Buddhahood, just
as Tōdai-ji represented the centre for imperially sponsored Buddhism and its dissemination throughout Japan.
Only a few fragments of the original statue survive, and the present hall and central Buddha are reconstructions
from the Edo period. Clustered around the main hall (the Daibutsuden) on a gently sloping hillside are a number of
secondary halls: the Hokke-dō (Lotus Sutra Hall), and the storehouse, called the Shōsō-in, and the
adjoining Kōfuku-ji. This last structure is of great importance as an art-historical cache, because in it are stored the
utensils that were used in the temple's dedication ceremony in 752, as well as government documents and many
secular objects owned by the Imperial family.
HEIAN PERIOD
Heavy materials like stone, mortar and clay were abandoned as building elements, with simple wooden walls,
floors and partitions becoming prevalent. Native species like cedar(sugi) were popular as an interior finish because
of its prominent grain, while pine (matsu) and larch (aka matsu) were common for structural uses. Brick roofing
tiles and a type of cypress called hinoki were used for roofs. It was sometime during this period that the hidden
roof, a uniquely Japanese solution to roof drainage problems, was adopted.
The increasing size of buildings in the capital led to architecture reliant on columns regularly spaced in accordance
with the ken, a traditional measure of both size and proportion. The Imperial Palace Shishinden demonstrated a
style that was a precursor to the later aristocratic-style of building known as shinden-zukuri. The style was
characterised by symmetrical buildings placed as arms that defined an inner garden. This garden then
used borrowed scenery to seemingly blend with the wider landscape.
The chief surviving example of shinden-zukuri architecture is the Hō-ō-dō (鳳凰堂, Phoenix Hall, completed
1053) of Byōdō-in, a temple in Uji to the southeast of Kyōto. It consists of a main rectangular structure flanked by
two L-shaped wing corridors and a tail corridor, set at the edge of a large artificial pond. Inside, a single golden
image of Amida (circa 1053) is installed on a high platform. Raigo (Descent of the Amida Buddha) paintings on the
wooden doors of the Hō-ō-dō are often considered an early example of Yamato-e, Japanese-style painting, because
they contain representations of the scenery around Kyōto.
The priest Kūkai (best known by the posthumous title Kōbō Daishi, 774–835) journeyed to China to study Shingon,
a form of Vajrayana Buddhism, which he introduced into Japan in 806. At the core of Shingon worship are the
various mandalas, diagrams of the spiritual universe that influenced temple design. The temples erected for this
new sect were built in the mountains, far away from the court and the laity in the capital. The irregular topography

of these sites forced their designers to rethink the problems of temple construction, and in so doing to choose more
indigenous elements of design.
At this time the architectural style of Buddhist temples began to influence that of the Shintō shrines. For example,
like their Buddhist counterparts the Shintō shrines began to paint the normally unfinished timbers with the
characteristic red cinnabar colour.
During the later part of the Heian Period there were the first documented appearances of vernacular houses in
the minka style/form. These were characterized by the use local materials and labor, being primarily constructed
of wood, having packed earth floors and thatched roofs.
KAMAKURA AND MUROMACHI PERIODS

During the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and the following Muromachi period (1336–1573), Japanese
architecture made technological advances that made it somewhat diverge from its Chinese counterpart. In
response to native requirements such as earthquake resistance and shelter against heavy rainfall and the summer
heat and sun, the master carpenters of this time responded with a unique type of architecture, creating
the Daibutsuyō and Zenshūyō styles.
The Kamakura period began with the transfer of power in Japan from the imperial court to the Kamakura
shogunate. During the Genpei War (1180–1185), many traditional buildings in Nara and Kyoto were damaged. For
example, Kōfuku-ji and Tōdai-ji were burned down by Taira no Shigehira of the Taira clan in 1180. Many of these
temples and shrines were later rebuilt by the Kamakura shogunate to consolidate the shōgun's authority.
Although less elaborate than during the Heian period, architecture in the Kamakura period was informed by a
simplicity due to its association with the military order. New residences used a buke-zukuri style that was
associated with buildings surrounded by narrow moats or stockades. Defense became a priority, with buildings
grouped under a single roof rather than around a garden. The gardens of the Heian period houses often became
training grounds.
After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, the Ashikaga shogunate was formed, having later its seat in the
Kyoto district of Muromachi. The proximity of the shogunate to the imperial court led to a rivalry in the upper
levels of society which caused tendencies toward luxurious goods and lifestyles. Aristocratic houses were adapted
from the simple buke-zukuri style to resemble the earlier shinden-zukuri style. A good example of this ostentatious
architecture is the Kinkaku-ji in Kyōto, which is decorated with lacquer and gold leaf, in contrast to its otherwise
simple structure and plain bark roofs.
In an attempt to rein in the excess of the upper classes, the Zen masters introduced the tea ceremony. In
architecture this promoted the design of chashitsu (tea houses) to a modest size with simple detailing and
materials. The style informed residential architecture with lighter, more intimate buildings relying on slender
rafters and pillars with sliding inner partitions fusuma and outer sliding walls shōji . Although woven grass and
straw tatami mats first began to appear in the Kamakura period, they were often thrown all over the floor. In the
Muromachi period they began to have a regular size and be closely fitted together. A typically sized Chashitsu is 4
1/2 mats in size.
In the garden, Zen principles replaced water with sand or gravel to produce the dry garden (karesansui) like the
one at Ryōan-ji.

AZUCHI-MOMOYAMA PERIOD
During the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600) Japan underwent a process of unification after a long period of
civil war. It was marked by the rule of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, men who built castles as symbols of
their power; Nobunaga in Azuchi, the seat of his government, and Hideyoshi in Momoyama. The Ōnin War during
the Muromachi period had led to rise of castle architecture in Japan. By the time of the Azuchi-Momoyama period
each domain was allowed to have one castle of its own. Typically it consisted of a central tower or tenshu (天守, lit.
heaven defense) surrounded by gardens and fortified buildings. All of this was set within massive stone walls and
surrounded by deep moats. The dark interiors of castles were often decorated by artists, the spaces were separated
up using sliding fusuma panels and byōbu folding screens.
The shoin style that had its origins with the chashitsu of the Muromachi period continued to be refined. Verandas
linked the interiors of residential buildings with highly cultivated exterior gardens. Fusuma and byōbu became
highly decorated with paintings and often an interior room with shelving and alcove (tokonoma) were used to
display art work (typically a hanging scroll).
Matsumoto, Kumamoto and Himeji (popularly known as the White Heron castle) are excellent examples of the
castles of the period, while Nijō Castle in Kyōto is an example of castle architecture blended with that of an imperial
palace, to produce a style that is more in keeping with the Chinese influence of previous centuries.
EDO PERIOD
The Tokugawa shogunate took the city of Edo (later to become part of modern-day Tōkyō) as their capital. They
built an imposing fortress around which buildings of the state administration and residences for the
provincial daimyōs were constructed. The city grew around these buildings connected by a network of roads and
canals. By 1700 the population had swollen to one million inhabitants. The scarcity of space for residential
architecture resulted in houses being built over two stories, often constructed on raised stone plinths.
Although machiya (townhouses) had been around since the Heian period they began to be refined during the Edo
period. Machiya typically occupied deep, narrow plots abutting the street (the width of the plot was usually
indicative of the wealth of the owner), often with a workshop or shop on the ground floor. Tiles rather than thatch
were used on the roof and exposed timbers were often plastered in an effort to protect the building against
fire. Ostentatious buildings that demonstrated the wealth and power of the feudal lords were constructed, such as
the Kamiyashiki of Matsudaira Tadamasa or the Ōzone Shimoyashiki.
Edo suffered badly from devastating fires and the 1657 Great Fire of Meireki was a turning point in urban design.
Initially, as a method of reducing fire spread, the government built stone embankments in at least two locations
along rivers in the city. Over time these were torn down and replaced with dōzō storehouses that were used both
as fire breaks and to store goods unloaded from the canals. The dōzō were built with a structural frame made of
timber coated with a number of layers of earthen plaster on the walls, door and roof. Above the earthen roofs was a
timber framework supporting a tiled roof. Although Japanese who had studied with the Dutch at their settlement
in Dejimaadvocated building with stone and brick this was not undertaken because of their vulnerability to
earthquakes. Machiya and storehouses from the later part of the period are characterised by having a black
coloration to the external plaster walls. This colour was made by adding India ink to burnt lime and crushed oyster
shell.

The clean lines of the civil architecture in Edo influenced the sukiya style of residential architecture. Katsura
Detached Palace and Shugaku-in Imperial Villa on the outskirts of Kyōto are good examples of this style. Their
architecture has simple lines and decor and uses wood in its natural state.
In the very late part of the period sankin-kōtai, the law requiring the daimyōs to maintain dwellings in the capital
was repealed which resulted in a decrease in population in Edo and a commensurate reduction in income for the
shogunate.
MEIJI, TAISHO, & EARLY SWOWA PERIODS

Towards the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, Western influence in architecture began to show in buildings
associated with the military and trade, especially naval and industrial facilities. After the Emperor Meiji was
restored to power (known as the Meiji Restoration) Japan began a rapid process of Westernization which led to the
need for new building types such as schools, banks and hotels. Early Meiji Architecture was initially influenced by
colonial architecture in Chinese treaty ports such as Hong Kong. In Nagasaki, the British trader Thomas
Glover built his own house in just such a style using the skill of local carpenters. His influence helped the career of
architect Thomas Waters who designed the Osaka Mint in 1868, a long, low building in brick and stone with a
central pedimented portico. In Tōkyō, Waters designed the Commercial Museum, thought to have been the city's
first brick building.
In Tokyo, after the Tsukiji area burnt to the ground in 1872, the government designated the Ginza area as model of
modernisation. The government planned the construction of fireproof brick buildings, and larger, better streets
connecting the Shimbashi Station and the foreign concession in Tsukiji, as well as to important government
buildings. Designs for the area were provided by the British architect Thomas James Waters; the Bureau of
Construction of the Ministry of Finance was in charge of construction. In the following year, a Western-style Ginza
was completed. "Bricktown" buildings were initially offered for sale, later they were leased, but the high rent
meant that many remained unoccupied. Nevertheless, the area flourished as a symbol of "civilisation and
enlightenment", thanks to the presence of newspapers and magazine companies, who led the trends of the day. The
area was also known for its window displays, an example of modern marketing techniques. The "Bricktown" of
Ginza served as a model for many other modernisation schemes in Japanese cities.
One of the prime examples of early western architecture was the Rokumeikan, a large two-story building in Tokyo,
completed in 1883, which was to become a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period.
Commissioned for the housing of foreign guests by the Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru, it was designed by Josiah
Conder, a prominent foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan (o-yatoi gaikokujin). The Ryōunkaku was Japan's
first western-style skyscraper, constructed in 1890 in Asakusa. However traditional architecture was still
employed for new buildings, such as the Kyūden of Tokyo Imperial Palace, albeit with token western elements such
as a spouting water fountain in the gardens.
In contrast to Waters's neoclassical style building, Japanese carpenters developed a pseudo-Japanese style known
as giyōfū chiefly using wood. A good example of which is Kaichi Primary School in Nagano Prefecture built in 1876.
The master carpenter Tateishi Kiyoshige travelled to Tōkyō to see which Western building styles were popular and
incorporated these in the school with traditional building methods. Constructed with a similar method to
traditional (kura (倉)) storehouses, the wooden building plastered inside and out incorporates an octagonal
Chinese tower and has stone-like quoins to the corners. Traditional namako plasterwork was used at the base of
the walls to give the impression that the building sits on a stone base. Another example was the First National Bank
building in Tokyo, built in 1872.

The Japanese government also invited foreign architects to both work in Japan and teach new Japanese architects.
One of these, the British architect Josiah Conder went on to train many of the most prominent of the Japanese Meiji
era architects, including Kingo Tatsuno, Tatsuzō Sone and Tokuma Katayama. Tatsuno's early works had a
Venetian style influenced by John Ruskin, but his later works such as the Bank of Japan (1896) and Tōkyō
Station (1914) have a more Beaux-Arts feel. On the other hand, Katayama was more influenced by the
French Second Empire style which can be seen in the Nara National Museum (1894) and the Kyōto National
Museum (1895).
In 1920, a group of young architects formed the first organization of modernist architects. They were known as
the Bunriha, literally "Secessionist group", inspired in part by the Vienna Secessionists. These architects were
worried about the reliance on historical styles and decoration and instead encouraged artistic expression. They
drew their influence from European movements like Expressionism and the Bauhaus and helped pave the way
towards the introduction of the International Style of Modernism.
In the Taishō and early Shōwa periods two influential American architects worked in Japan. The first was Frank
Lloyd Wright who designed the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (1913–1923) and the Yodokō Guest House (1924), both of
which used locally quarried Ōya stone. Wright had a number of Japanese apprentices under his tutelage, such
as Arata Endo, who constructed the Kōshien Hotel in 1930.
The second was Antonin Raymond who worked for Wright on the Imperial Hotel before leaving to set up his own
practice in Tōkyō. Although his early works like Tōkyō Women's Christian College show Wright's influence, he
soon began to experiment with the use of in-situ reinforced concrete, detailing it in way that recalled traditional
Japanese construction methods. Between 1933 and 1937 Bruno Tautstayed in Japan. His writings, especially those
on Katsura Imperial Villa reevaluated traditional Japanese architecture whilst bringing it to a wider audience.
As in the Meiji era experience from abroad was gained by Japanese architects working in Europe. Among these
were Kunio Maekawa and Junzo Sakakura who worked at Le Corbusier's atelier in Paris and Bunzō Yamaguchi and
Chikatada Kurata who worked with Walter Gropius.
Some architects built their reputation upon works of public architecture. Togo Murano, a contemporary of
Raymond, was influenced by Rationalism and designed the Morigo Shoten office building, Tōkyō (1931) and Ube
Public Hall, Yamaguchi Prefecture (1937). Similarly, Tetsuro Yoshida's rationalist modern architecture included
the Tōkyō Central Post Office (1931) and Ōsaka Central Post Office (1939).
Running contrary to modernism in Japan was the so-called Imperial Crown style (teikan yōshiki). Buildings in this
style were characterised by having a Japanese-style roof such as the Tōkyō Imperial Museum (1937) by Hitoshi
Watanabe and Nagoya City Hall and the Aichi Prefectural Government Office. The increasingly militaristic
government insisted that major buildings be designed in a "Japanese Style" limiting opportunities for modernist
design to works of infrastructure such as Bunzō Yamaguchi's Number 2 Power Plant for the Kurobe Dam, (1938).
A large number of buildings from the Meiji, Taishō and Shōwa eras were lost during and after World War II, such as
the Rokumeikan. Taniguchi Yoshirō (谷口吉郎, 1904–79), an architect, and Moto Tsuchikawa established Meiji
Mura in 1965, close to Nagoya, where a large number of rescued buildings are re-assembled. A similar museum is
the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum.
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
The colonial authorities constructed a large number of public buildings, many of which have survived. Examples
include the large-scale concept of what is today Ketagalan Boulevard in central Zhongzheng District of Taipei that
showcases the Office of the Governor-General, Taiwan Governor Museum, Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei Guest
House, Judicial Yuan, the Kangyo Bank and Mitsui Bussan Company buildings, as well as many examples of smaller
houses found on Qidong Street.
In Korea under Japanese administration, public buildings such as train stations and city halls were also constructed
in various styles. Although the former Chosen Sotoku-fu building was removed, preserving measures were taken
for the former Seoul station building (the former Keijo station) and the headquarters of the Bank of Korea (the
former Bank of Chosen, designed by Tatsuno Kingo).
With the conquest and establishment of the puppet state Manchukuo, massive funds and efforts were invested into
the master plan of the capital city of Hsinking. Many of buildings built during the colonial era still stand today,
including those of the Eight Major Bureaus of Manchukuo, the Imperial Palace, the headquarters of the Kwantung
Army and Datong Avenue.
LATE SHOWA PERIOD

After the war and under the influence of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, General Douglas
MacArthur, Japanese political and religious life was reformed to produce a demilitarised and democratic country.
Although a new constitution was established in 1947, it was not until the beginning of the Korean War that Japan
(as an ally of the United States) saw a growth in its economy brought about by the manufacture of industrial
goods. In 1946 the Prefabricated Housing Association was formed to try and address the chronic shortage of
housing, and architects like Kunio Maekawa submitted designs. However, it was not until the passing of the Public
Housing Act in 1951 that housing built by the private sector was supported in law by the government. Also in 1946,
the War Damage Rehabilitation Board put forward ideas for the reconstruction of thirteen Japanese cities.
Architect Kenzō Tange submitted proposals for Hiroshima and Maebashi.
In 1949, Tange's winning competition entry to design the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum gave him
international acclaim. The project (completed in 1955) led to a series of commissions including the Kagawa
Prefectural Office Building in Takamatsu (1958) and Old Kurashiki City Hall (1960). At this time both Tange and
Maekawa were interested in the tradition of Japanese architecture and the influence of local character. This was
illustrated at Kagawa with elements of Heian period design fused with the International Style.
In 1955, Le Corbusier was asked by the Japanese government to design the National Museum of Western Art in
Tōkyō. He was assisted by his three former students: Maekawa, Sakakura and Takamasa Yoshizaka. The design was
based upon Le Corbusier's museum in Ahmedabad, and both of the museums are square and raised on piloti.
Due largely to the influence of Tange, the 1960 World Design Conference was held in Tōkyō. A small group of
Japanese designers who came to represent the Metabolist Movement presented their manifesto and a series of
projects. The group included the architects Kiyonori Kikutake, Masato Ōtaka, Kisho Kurokawa and Fumihiko Maki.
Originally known as the Burnt Ash School, the Metabolists associated themselves with idea of renewal and
regeneration, rejecting visual representations of the past and promoting the idea that the individual, the house and
the city were all parts of a single organism. Although the individual members of the group went in their own
directions after a few years the enduring nature of their publications meant that they had a longer presence
overseas. The international symbol of the Metabolists, the capsule, emerged as an idea in the late 1960s and was
demonstrated in Kurokawa's Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tōkyō in 1972.
In the 1960s Japan saw both the rise and the expansion of large construction firms, including the Shimizu

Corporation and Kajima. Nikken Sekkei emerged as a comprehensive company that often included elements of
Metabolist design in its buildings.
The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo saw a large boost to new design. Venues were constructed and the Yoyogi
National Gymnasium, built between 1961 and 1964 by Kenzo Tange, became a landmark structure famous for its
suspension roof design, recalling traditional elements of Shinto shrines. Other structures include the Nippon
Budokan, the Komazawa Gymnasium and many others. The Olympic Games symbolised the re-emergence of Japan
after the destruction of World War II, reflecting the new confidence in its architecture.
During the 1960s there were also architects who did not see the world of architecture in terms of Metabolism. For
example, Kazuo Shinohara specialised in small residential projects in which he explored traditional architecture
with simple elements in terms of space, abstraction and symbolism. In the Umbrella House (1961) he explored the
spatial relationship between the doma (earth-paved internal floor) and the raised tatami floor in the living room
and sleeping room. This relationship was explored further with the House with an Earthen floor (1963) where a
tamped-down earthen floor was included in the kitchen area. His use of a roof to anchor his design for the House in
White (1966) has been compared with Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Houses. Shinohara explored these abstractions
as "Three Styles", which were periods of design that stretched from the early sixties to the mid seventies.[55]
A former employee of Kenzo Tange was Arata Isozaki who was initially interested in the Metabolist Movement and
produced innovative theoretical projects for the City in the Air (1961) and Future City (1962). However he soon
moved away from this towards a more Mannerist approach similar to the work of James Stirling. This was
particularly striking at the Oita Branch for Fukuoka Mutual (1967) with its mathematical grids, concrete
construction and exposed services. In the Gunma Prefectural Museum (1971–74) he experimented with cubic
elements (some of them twelve metres to a side) overlaid by a secondary grid expressed by the external wall
panels and fenestration. This rhythm of panelling may have been influenced by Corbusier's detailing on the
Museum of Western Art in Tōkyō.
Japanese cities where they lack European-like piazzas and squares often emphasise the relationship of people with
the everyday workings of the street. Fumihiko Maki was one of a number of architects who were interested in the
relationship of architecture and the city and this can be seen in works like Ōsaka Prefectural Sports Centre (1972)
and Spiral in Tōkyō (1985). Likewise, Takefumi Aidaja:相田武文 (member of the group known as ArchiteXt)
rejected the ideas of the Metabolist Movement and explored urban semiology.
In the late seventies and early eighties Tadao Ando's architecture and theoretical writings explored the idea
of Critical regionalism – the idea of promoting local or national culture within architecture. Ando's interpretation
of this was demonstrated by his idea of reacquainting the Japanese house with nature, a relationship he thought
had been lost with Modernist architecture. His first projects were for small urban houses with enclosed courtyards
(such as the Azuma House in Ōsaka in 1976). His architecture is characterised by the use of concrete, but it has
been important for him to use the interplay of light, through time, with this and other materials in his work. His
ideas about the integration of nature converted well into larger projects such as the Rokkō Housing 1 (1983) (on a
steep site on Mount Rokkō) and the Church on the Water (1988) in Tomamu, Hokkaidō.
The late eighties saw the first work by architects of the so-called "Shinohara" school. This included Toyō
Itō and Itsuko Hasegawa who were both interested in urban life and the contemporary city. Itō concentrated on the
dynamism and mobility of the city's "urban nomads" with projects like the Tower of Winds (1986) which
integrated natural elements like light and wind with those of technology. Hasegawa concentrated on what she

termed "architecture as another nature". Her Shōnandai Cultural Centre in Fujisawa (1991) combined the natural
environment with new high-tech materials.
Highly individualist architects of the late eighties included the monumental buildings of Shin Takamatsu and the
"cosmic" work of Masaharu Takasaki. Takasaki, who worked with the Austrian architect Günther Domenig in the
1970s shares Domenig's organic architecture. His Zero Cosmology House of 1991 in Kagoshima
Prefecture constructed from concrete has a contemplative egg-shaped "zero space" at its centre.
EARLY HEISEI PERIOD

The Heisei period began with the collapse of the so-called "bubble economy" that had previously boosted Japan's
economy. Commissions for commercial works of architecture virtually dried up and architects relied upon
government and prefectural organisations to provide projects.
Building on elements from the Shōnandai Culture Centre, Itsuko Hasegawa undertook a number cultural and
community centres throughout Japan. These included the Sumida Cultural Centre (1995) and the Fukuroi
Community Centre (2001) where she involved the public in the process of design whilst exploring her own ideas
about the filtration of light through the external walls into the interior. In his 1995 competition win for Sendai
Mediatheque, Toyō Itō continued his earlier thoughts about fluid dynamics within the modern city with "seaweed-
like" columns supporting a seven-story building wrapped in glass. His work later in the period, for example, the
library to Tama Art University in Tōkyō in 2007 demonstrates more expressive forms, rather than the engineered
aesthetic of his earlier works.
Although Tadao Ando became well known for his use of concrete, he began the decade designing the Japanese
pavilion at the Seville Exposition 1992, with a building that was hailed as "the largest wooden structure in the
world". He continued with this medium in projects for the Museum of Wood Culture, Kami, Hyōgo Prefecture
(1994) and the Komyo-ji Shrine in Saijo (2001).
The UK practice, Foreign Office Architects won an international competition in 1994 to design the Yokohama
International Port Terminal. It is an undulating structure that emerges from the surrounding city and forms a
building to walk over as well as into. Klein Dytham Architecture are one of a handful of foreign architects who
managed to gain a strong foothold in Japan. Their design for Moku Moku Yu (literally "wood wood steam"), a
communal bathhouse in Kobuchizawa, Yamanashi Prefecture in 2004 is a series of interconnected circular pools
and changing rooms, flat-roofed and clad in coloured vertical timbers.
After the 1995 Kōbe earthquake, Shigeru Ban developed cardboard tubes that could be used to quickly construct
refugee shelters that were dubbed "Paper Houses". Also as part of that relief effort he designed a church using 58
cardboard tubes that were 5m high and had a tensile roof that opened up like an umbrella. The church was erected
by Roman Catholic volunteers in five weeks. For the Nomadic Museum, Ban used walls made of shipping
containers, stacked four high and joined at the corners with twist connectors that produced a checkerboard effect
of solid and void. The ancillary spaces were made with paper tubes and honeycomb panels. The museum was
designed to be disassembled and it subsequently moved from New York, to Santa Monica, Tōkyō and Mexico.
Historian and architect Terunobu Fujimori's studies in the 1980s into so-called architectural curios found in the
city inspired the work of a younger generation of architects such as the founders of Atelier Bow-Wow. Yoshiharu
Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kajima surveyed the city for "no-good" architecture for their book Made in Tokyo in 2001.
Their work in turn seeks to embrace its context rather than block it out. Although their office in Tōkyō is on a tight
site they have welcomed the city in with huge windows and spacious porches.
Sou Fujimoto's architecture relies upon a manipulation of basic building blocks to produce a
geometric primitivism. His buildings are very sensitive to the topographical form of their context and include a
series of houses as well as a children's home in Hokkaidō.
Two former employees of Toyō Itō, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa formed a collaborative partnership in 1995
called SANAA. They are known for creating lightweight, transparent spaces that expose the fluidity and movement
of their occupants. Their Dior store in Shibuya, Tōkyō, in 2001 was reminiscent of Itō's Mediatheque, with cool
white acrylic sheets on the external facade that filter the light and partially reveal the store's contents. Their
dynamic of fluidity is demonstrated by the Rolex Learning Centre at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,
completed in 2010. This building has an undulating floor plane set under a continuous concrete shell roof that was
poured in one go over two days. The plan is like a biological cell punctuated with tables and courtyards alike. In
2009 they designed the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London that comprised a reflective, floating aluminium roof
supported by slender columns.
GEOGRAPHY
The Japanese islands are covered by mountains, most of them heavily forested, and crisscrossed by short, swift
rivers. Only a few of the rivers are navigable. Relatively little of Japan's land mass is suitable for agriculture -- only
about 15 percent, the same land that is also most suitable for living. The population and areas of agriculture are
therefore concentrated together
CHINESE INFLUENCE
Japanese architecture has as long of a history as any other aspect of Japanese culture. Originally heavily influenced
by Chinese architecture, it has developed many differences and aspects which are indigenous to Japan. Examples of
traditional architecture are seen at temples, Shinto shrines, and castles in Kyoto and Nara. Some of these buildings
are constructed with traditional gardens, which are influenced from Zen ideas.

GEOLOGICAL
Japanese interior design is very efficient in the use of resources. Traditional and modern Japanese interiors have
been flexible in use and designed mostly with natural materials. The spaces are used as multifunctional rooms. The
rooms can be opened to create more space for a particular occasion or for more privacy, or vice versa closed-off by
pulling closed paper screens called shōji.
Japanese Zen interior designs draw inspiration from elements of nature as they have immense respect for nature.
Their designs have a strong connection with natural elements such as wood, plants, natural lighting and more.
A large portion of Japanese interior walls are often made of shōji screens that can be pushed open to join two
rooms together, and then close them allowing more privacy. The shōjiscreens are made of paper attached to thin
wooden frames that roll away on a track when they are pushed. Another important feature of the shōji screen,
besides privacy and seclusion, is that they allow light through. This is an important aspect to Japanese design.
Paper translucent walls allow light to be diffused through the space and create light shadows and patterns.
Tatami mats are rice straw floor mats often used to cover the floor in Japan’s interiors; in modern Japanese houses
there are usually only one or two tatami rooms. Another way to connect rooms in Japan’s interiors is through
sliding panels made of wood and paper, like the shōji screens, or cloth. These panels are called fusuma and are used
as an entire wall. They are traditionally hand painted.
Tatami are the basis of traditional Japanese architecture, regulating a building's size and dimensions. They
originated in ancient Japan when straw was laid on bare earth as a softener and warmer. In the Heian Period (794–
1185), this idea developed into moveable mats that could be laid anywhere in the house to sit or sleep on before
becoming a permanent floor covering in the fifteenth century. Tatami are suitable for the Japanese climate because
they let air circulate around the floor.
Bamboo is prominently used and even expected in the Japanese house, used both for decorative and functional
purposes. Bamboo blinds, sudare, replace shoji in summer to prevent excess heat inside and also offer greater
ventilation. Country dwellings and farmhouses often use it for ceilings and rafters. The natural properties of
bamboo, its raw beauty with the knots and smooth surface, correspond to Japanese aesthetic ideals of
imperfection, contrast and the natural.
The use of paper, or washi, in Japanese buildings is a main component in the beauty and atmosphere of the
Japanese interior, the way variation of shadow combines to create a "mystery of shadows". A range of papers are
used for various purposes in the home.
Wood is generally used for the framework of the home, but its properties are valuable in the Japanese aesthetic,
namely its warmth and irregularity.
A recessed space called tokonoma is often present in traditional as well as modern Japanese living rooms. This is
the focus of the room and displays Japanese art, usually a painting or calligraphy.
CLIMATE
Most regions of Japan, such as much of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, belong to the temperate zone with humid
subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) characterized by four distinct seasons. However, its climate
varies from cool humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) in the north such as northern
Hokkaido, to warm tropical rainforest climate(Köppen climate classification Af) in the south such as Ishigaki in
the Yaeyama Islands.

RELIGION
Shintoism and Buddhism are the primary religions of Japan.
Shintoism is an ethnic religion that focuses on ceremonies and rituals. In Shintoism, followers believe that kami, a
Shinto deity or spirit, are present throughout nature, including rocks, trees, and mountains. Humans can also be
considered to possess a kami. One of the goals of Shintoism is to maintain a connection between humans, nature,
and kami. The religion developed in Japan prior to the sixth century CE, after which point followers built shrines to
worship kami.
Buddhism developed in India around the 6th and 4th centuries BCE and eventually spread through China and
Korea. It arrived in Japan during the 6th century CE, where it was initially unpopular. Most Japanese people were
unable to understand the difficult philosophical messages present in Buddhism, however they did have an
appreciation for the religion's art, which is believed to have led to the religion growing more popular. Buddhism is
concerned with the soul and life after dying. In the religion a person's status was unimportant, as every person
would get sick, age, die, and eventually be reincarnated into a new life, a cycle called saṃsāra. The suffering people
experienced during life was one way for people to gain a better future. The ultimate goal was to escape the cycle of
death and rebirth by attaining true insight.
A large majority of Japanese people profess to believe in both Shinto and Buddhism. Japanese people's religion
functions mostly as a foundation for mythology, traditions, and neighborhood activities, rather than as the single
source of moral guidelines for one's life.
About one million, or slightly under 1%, of Japan's population are Christians. A larger proportion of members of
the Japanese diaspora practice Christianity; about 60% of Japanese Brazilians and 90% of Japanese
Mexicans are Roman Catholics, while about 37% of Japanese Americans are Christians (33% Protestant and
4% Catholic).

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
DESCRIPTION
What is generally identified as the Japanese aesthetic stems from ideals of Taoism, imported from China in ancient
times. Japanese culture is extremely diverse; despite this, in terms on the interior, the aesthetic is one of simplicity
and minimalism.
The specific idea that a room’s true beauty is in the empty space within the roof and walls came from Laozi, a
philosopher and the founder of Taoism, who held to the "aesthetic ideal of emptiness", believing that the mood
should be captured in the imagination, and not so heavily dictated by what is physically present. Japanese design is
based strongly on craftsmanship, beauty, elaboration, and delicacy. The design of interiors is very simple but made
with attention to detail and intricacy. This sense of intricacy and simplicity in Japanese designs is still valued in
modern Japan as it was in traditional Japan.
Interiors are very simple, highlighting minimal and natural decoration. Traditional Japanese interiors, as well as
modern, incorporate mainly natural materials including fine woods, bamboo, silk, rice straw mats, and
paper shōji screens. Natural materials are used to keep simplicity in the space that connects to nature. Natural
color schemes are used and neutral palettes including black, white, off-white, gray, and brown.
Impermanence is a strong theme in traditional Japanese dwellings. The size of rooms can be altered by interior
sliding walls or screens, the already mentioned shōji. Cupboards built smoothly into the wall hide futon, mattresses
pulled out before going to bed, allowing more space to be available during the day. The versatility of these
dwellings becomes more apparent with changes of seasons. In summer, for example, exterior walls can be opened
to bring the garden and cooling breezes in. The minimal decoration also alters seasonally, with a different scroll
hanging or new flower arrangement.
The Japanese aesthetic developed further with the celebration of imperfection and insufficiency, characteristics
resulting from the natural ageing process or darkening effect. Shinto, the indigenous religious tradition of Japan,
provides a basis for the appreciation of these qualities, holding to a philosophy of appreciation of life and the
world. Sei Shōnagon was a trend-setting court lady of the tenth century who wrote in ‘The Pillow Book’ of her
dislike for "a new cloth screen with a colourful and cluttered painting of many cherry blossoms", preferring instead
to notice "that one’s elegant Chinese mirror has become a little cloudy". Her taste was not out of place in the
ancient Japanese court. In the twelfth century a Buddhist monk, Yoshida Kenkō, exerted his influence on Japanese
aesthetic sensibility resulting from his philosophy of life. He asked, "Are we to look at cherry blossoms only in full
bloom, the moon only when it is cloudless? ...Branches about to blossom or garden strewn with faded flowers are
worthier of our admiration." The incomplete is also praised by Kenkō, "uniformity and completeness are
undesirable". Underpinning or complementing these aesthetic ideals, is the valuing of contrast; when imperfection
or the impoverished is contrasted with perfection or opulence, each is emphasised and thus better appreciated

OPENINGS
A torii (鳥居, literally bird abode, Japanese pronunciation: [to.ɾi.i]) is 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
sacred.
Genkan (玄関) are traditional Japanese entryway areas for a house, apartment, or building—something of a
combination of a porch and a doormat. It is usually located inside the building directly in front of the door. The
primary function of genkan is for the removal of shoesbefore entering the main part of the house or building.
A Shoji. In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent
paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo

DECORATION
Painting has been an art in Japan for a very long time: the brush is a traditional writing and painting tool, and the
extension of that to its use as an artist's tool was probably natural. Japanese painters are often categorized by what
they painted, as most of them constrained themselves solely to subjects such as animals, landscapes, or figures.
Chinese papermaking was introduced to Japan around the 7th century. Later, washi was developed from it. Native
Japanese painting techniques are still in use today, as well as techniques adopted from continental Asia and from
the West. Schools of painting such as the Kano school of the 16th century became known for their bold brush
strokes and contrast between light and dark, especially after Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu began to use this
style. Famous Japanese painters include Kanō Sanraku, Maruyama Ōkyo, and Tani Bunchō
Calligraphy
The flowing, brush-drawn Japanese rendering of text itself is seen as a traditional art form as well as a means of
conveying written information. The written work can consist of phrases, poems, stories, or even single characters.
The style and format of the writing can mimic the subject matter, even to the point of texture and stroke speed. In
some cases, it can take over one hundred attempts to produce the desired effect of a single character but the
process of creating the work is considered as much an art as the end product itself.
This calligraphy form is known as 'shodō' (書道) which literally means 'the way of writing or calligraphy' or more
commonly known as 'shūji' (習字) 'learning how to write characters'. Commonly confused with Calligraphy is the
art form known as 'sumi-e' (墨絵) literally means 'ink painting' which is the art of painting a scene or object.

Sculpture
Traditional Japanese sculptures mainly focused on Buddhist images, such as Tathagata, Bodhisattva, and Myō-ō.
The oldest sculpture in Japan is a wooden statue of Amitābha at the Zenkō-ji temple. In the Nara period, Buddhist
statues were made by the national government to boost its prestige. These examples are seen in present-
day Nara and Kyoto, most notably a colossal bronze statue of the BuddhaVairocana in the Tōdai-ji temple.
Wood has traditionally been used as the chief material in Japan, along with traditional Japanese architecture.
Statues are often lacquered, gilded, or brightly painted, although there are little traces on the surfaces. Bronze and
other metals are not used. Other materials, such as stone and pottery, have had extremely important roles in the
plebeian beliefs.
Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e, literally "pictures of the floating world", is a genre of woodblock prints that exemplifies the characteristics
of pre-Meiji Japanese art. Because these prints could be mass-produced, they were available to a wide cross-section
of the Japanese populace — those not wealthy enough to afford original paintings — during their heyday, from the
17th to 20th century.
Ikebana
Ikebana (生け花, 活花, or 挿花) is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It has gained widespread international
fame for its focus on harmony, color use, rhythm, and elegantly simple design. It is an art centered greatly on
expressing the seasons, and is meant to act as a symbol to something greater than the flower itself.

JAPAN STRUCTURES
Yakushi-Ji Temple in Nara with its East and West Pagodas is dedicated to Yakushi-Nyorai, the Buddha that was
originally from China. The Yakushi Triad statues, located in the Main Hall, were once covered in gold
LOCATION: 457 Nishinokyocho, Nara, Nara Prefecture 630-8563, Japan
Himeji Castle contains 83 buildings made in wood. This great structure is also known as “White Heron”, because
of the white plaster that covers its walls.
LOCATION: 68 Honmachi, Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture 670-0012, Japan

THAILAND ARCHITECTURE
HISTORY OF THAILAND
Thailand (/ˈtaɪlænd/ TY-land), officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam, is a country at the
center of the Southeast Asian Indochinese peninsula composed of 76 provinces. At 513,120 km2 (198,120 sq mi)
and over 68 million people, Thailand is the world's 50th largest country by total area and the 21st-most-populous
country. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, a special administrative area. Thailand is bordered to the north by
Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the
west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the
Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. Although
nominally a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, the most recent coup in 2014 established a de
facto military dictatorship.
Tai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 11th century; the oldest
known mention of their presence in the region by the exonym Siamese dates to the 12th century. Various
Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon, the Khmer Empire and Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai
states such as Ngoenyang, the Sukhothai Kingdom, Lan Na and the Ayutthaya Kingdom, which rivaled each other.
European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya, one of the great powers in the
region. Ayutthaya reached its peak during cosmopolitan Narai's reign (1656–88), gradually declining thereafter
until being ultimately destroyed in 1767 in a war with Burma. Taksin quickly reunified the fragmented territory
and established the short-lived Thonburi Kingdom. He was succeeded in 1782 by Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, the first
monarch of the Chakri dynasty and founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom, which lasted into the early 20th century.
Through the 18th and 19th centuries, Siam faced pressure from France and the United Kingdom, including forced
concessions of territory, but nevertheless it remained the only Southeast Asian country to avoid direct Western
rule. Following a bloodless revolution in 1932, Siam became a constitutional monarchy and changed its official
name to "Thailand". While it joined the Allies in World War I, Thailand was an Axis satellite in World War II. In the
late 1950s, a military coup revived the monarchy's historically influential role in politics. Thailand became a major
ally of the United States and played a key anti-communist role in the region. Apart from a brief period of
parliamentary democracy in the mid 1970s, Thailand has periodically alternated between democracy and military
rule. In the 21st century, Thailand endured a political crisis that culminated in two coups and the establishment of
its current and 20th constitution by the military junta.
Thailand is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy under a military junta. Thailand is a founding member
of Association of Southeast Asian Nations and remains a major ally of the US.Despite its comparatively sporadic
changes in leadership, it is considered a regional power in Southeast Asia and a middle power in global affairs.
With a high level of human development, the second largest economy in Southeast Asia, and the 20th largest by
PPP, Thailand is classified as a newly industrialized economy; manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading
sectors of the economy.

Age of Tawaravadee (B.E.12-16)
The architecture of Tawaravadee appears in the central region of Thailand. It used clay bricks and sometimes
laterite. The construction of pagodas had a square base and an inverted-bell shape topped with a spire.
Age of Sriwichai (B.E.13-18)
The architecture of Sriwichai is notable for the stupa-style Buddha which has a square base and an octagonal top.
Age of Lopburi (B.E.12-18)
The architecture of Lopburi adopted the style of the Khmer and can be seen in the Shrines of Ganesh. This style
preferred to use brick, sandstone, and laterite. Originally brick and sandstone were used to build houses or castles
and laterite for bases.
Age of Chiang Saen (B.E.16-23)
Most religious places were built during the age of Chiang Saen. The builders received and integrated art and
culture from other territories such as Sukhothai, Tawaravadee, Sriwichai, and Burma.
Age of Sukhothai (B.E.19-20)
The art of Sukhothai began in B.E. 1780 when King Indraditya established the Sukhothai Kingdom. The identity of
the architecture inSukhothai is decorations in order to display the Buddhist faith by building the buildings in
symbolic shapes.
Age of Authong (B.E.17-20)
The architecture of Authong integrated the art of Tawaravadee and Khmer civilization such as the building style of
Phra Prang in Wat Sri Rattana Mahathat, Lopburi.
Age of Ayutthaya (B.E.20-23)
The identity of architecture in this period is designed to display might and riches so it has great size and
appearance. The temples in Ayutthaya seldom built eaves stretching from the masterhead. The dominant feature of
this style is sunlight shining into buildings. During the latter part of the Ayutthaya period, architecture was
regarded as a peak achievement that responded to the requirements of people and expressed the gracefulness of
Thainess. But the development of architecture had to stop because Ayutthaya as defeated in the war in Burma in
B.E.2310.

RELIGION
There is no official state religion in the Thai constitution, which guarantees religious freedom for all Thai citizens,
though the king is required by law to be a Theravada Buddhist. The main religion practised in Thailand is
Buddhism, but there is a strong undercurrent of Hinduism with a class of brahmins having sacerdotal functions.
The large Thai Chinese population also practises Chinese folk religions, including Taoism. The Chinese religious
movement Yiguandao (Thai: Anuttharatham) spread to Thailand in the 1970s and it has grown so much in recent
decades to come into conflict with Buddhism; it is reported that each year 200,000 Thais convert to the religion.
Many other people, especially among the Isan ethnic group, practise Tai folk religions. A significant Muslim
population, mostly constituted by Thai Malays, is present especially in the southern regions.
Thai law provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. It does not,
however, register new religious groups that have not been accepted into one of the existing religious governing
bodies on doctrinal or other grounds. In practice, unregistered religious organisations operate freely, and the
government's practice of not recognising any new religious groups does not restrict the activities of unregistered
religious groups.
MAIN RELIGION
Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school. Over 90% of Thailand's population adheres to such
school, though Thai Buddhism is practised alongside Chinese indigenous religions by the large Thai Chinese
population, and alongside Hinduism by the Thais.
Buddhist temples in Thailand are characterised by tall golden stupas, and the Buddhist architecture of Thailand is
similar to that in other Southeast Asian countries, especially Cambodia and Laos, which share a cultural and
historical heritage with Thailand.
ETHNIC RELIGIONS
Chinese folk religion
Many within the large Thai Chinese population practise various Chinese religions, including the worship of local
gods, Chinese ancestral worship, Taoism, Confucianism and Chinese salvationist religions. One of the latter,
Yiguandao (Thai: Anuttharatham), spread to Thailand since the 1970s, and it has grown so popular to come into
conflict with Buddhism; in 2009 there were more than 7000 Yiguandao churches in the country and approximately
200.000 people convert each year into the religion. Despite the large number of followers and temples these
religions have no state recognition, their temples are not counted as places of worship, and their followers are
counted as "Theravada Buddhists" in officially released religious figures. Chinese temples are called sanchao in
Thai language.
Thai folk religion
Many Thais and Isan practise distinctive indigenous religions characterised by worship of local gods and ancestors.
They are very similar to the Chinese folk religion.

Hinduism
Several thousand Hindus of Indian origin live in Thailand, mainly in the larger cities. Besides this group of
"traditional Hindus", Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu
roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. The popular Ramakien epic is based on the Hindu
Ramayana. The former capital of Ayutthaya was named for Ayodhya, the Indian birthplace of the Hindu god Rama.
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
Islam
According to the 2015 census, Thailand has 2,892,311 Muslims, or 4.29% of the total population. 2,227,613 of
these Muslims are concentrated in the southern region of the country, where they represent up to 24.33% of the
population
Christianity
Christianity was introduced by European missionaries as early as the 1550s, when Portuguese mercenaries and
their chaplain arrived in Ayutthaya. Historically, it has played a significant role in the modernisation of Thailand,
notably in social and educational institutions. As of 2015 it is the religion of just over 1% of the population of
Thailand.
Judaism
Judaism in Thailand dates back to the 17th century, with the arrival of a few Baghdadi Jewish families. The present
community consists of both Ashkenazi (for instance the expatriate community plus some descendants of refugees
from imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union), and Sephardi Jews, who were born in such places as Afghanistan,
Iran and Syria, and wealthy gem traders. Most of the Jewish community in Thailand, consisting of an estimated
2,000 residents, reside in Bangkok, although there are at any given time thousands of tourists (some long-term)
coming primarily from Israel. There are Jewish synagogues in Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Ko Samui, but no
community there.
OTHER RELIGION
Sikhism
The first Sikh known to have come to Thailand was Ladha Singh, who arrived in 1890. Other Sikhs joined him in the
early 1900s, and by 1911 more than a hundred Sikh families had settled in Thailand, mainly in Thonburi Region.
There were at that time no gurdwaras (Sikh temples), and religious prayers were held in private homes every
Sunday and on gurpurab days. The Sikh community continued to grow, and in 1912 it was decided to build a
gurdwara. It stands today in Bangkok's Pahurat area and imitates the Golden Temple in Amritsar Punjab, India. A
tiny but influential community of Sikhs live in the country's cities, most engaged in retail commerce.

GEOGRAPHY
Totalling 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq mi),[1] Thailand is the 50th-largest country by total area. It is
slightly smaller than Yemen and slightly larger than Spain.
Thailand comprises several distinct geographic regions, partly corresponding to the provincial groups. The north
of the country is the mountainous area of the Thai highlands, with the highest point being Doi Inthanon in the
Thanon Thong Chai Range at 2,565 metres (8,415 ft) above sea level. The northeast, Isan, consists of the Khorat
Plateau, bordered to the east by the Mekong River. The centre of the country is dominated by the predominantly
flat Chao Phraya river valley, which runs into the Gulf of Thailand.
CLIMATE
Thailand's climate is influenced by monsoon winds that have a seasonal character (the southwest and northeast
monsoon). The southwest monsoon, which starts from May until October is characterized by movement of warm,
moist air from the Indian Ocean to Thailand, causing abundant rain over most of the country. The northeast
monsoon, starting from October until February brings cold and dry air from China over most of Thailand. In
southern Thailand, the northeast monsoon brings mild weather and abundant rainfall on the eastern coast of that
region. Most of Thailand has a "tropical wet and dry or savanna climate" type (Köppen's Tropical savanna climate).
The south and the eastern tip of the east have a tropical monsoon climate.
Thailand is divided into three seasons. The first is the rainy or southwest monsoon season (mid–May to mid–
October) which prevails over most of the country. This season is characterized by abundant rain with August and
September being the wettest period of the year. This can occasionally lead to floods.[50]:4 In addition to rainfall
caused by the southwest monsoon, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and tropical cyclones also
contribute to producing heavy rainfall during the rainy season. Nonetheless, dry spells commonly occur for 1 to 2
weeks from June to early July. This is due to the northward movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone to
southern China. Winter or the northeast monsoon starts from mid–October until mid–February. Most of Thailand
experiences dry weather during this season with mild temperatures. The exception is the southern parts of
Thailand where it receives abundant rainfall, particularly during October to November. Summer or the pre–
monsoon season runs from mid–February until mid–May and is characterized by warmer weather.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
DESCRIPTION
The manifestations of traditional Thai architecture express their standing by being tall and erect, rising high into
the clouds. All the buildings represent a small universe and a region between hell and heaven.
The Thai house was constructed from natural materials, mostly wood. The living place of Thai people had a unique
form which is explained by Suwannakiri (2547) representing the human body; man-shape, woman-shape, or giant-
shape as the language of Thai Architecture.
For traditional Thai temple style decoration, the architecturally ornamented “gable-end” of the Thai roof has four
different shapes. There are different meanings with appropriate applications reflecting each culture of the
individual regions. The golden color means higher ranked people. Colored glasses and gold decoration on the gable
and the high roof had an enormous impact on all human visible perception. One would see the temple as the
village’s landmark from far away.
Traditional Thai Architecture, mostly, has been designed for nighttime use. During daytime, people usually go out
to their farmlands. Interior surfaces, made of dark wood, have less reflective property resulting quite dark. In the
evening or early morning, eyes can adapt to the outside brightness from interior wall to green leaves outside. Their
reflective properties of both wooden wall and green leaves are quite similar. Therefore, the contrast ratio reaches
to eye adaptation comfort.
The temple was designed with least natural light. The idea was to emphasize the Buddha’s images with candle
illumination. The reflection from the golden surfaces of the Buddha’s images would enhance religious spirit.
Sound appearance
The Thai house was surrounded by a lot of trees such as bamboo,

Mango, banana. These mostly were planted for
food or handicraft. Whenever the wind blew, the sound of different
leaves dancing played as background noise or natural music. People
enhanced the natural sound with their handmade music instrument
such as bamboo, ceramics or seashells.
Aroma appearance
Many aroma tie plants can be found inThailand. Traditionally, Thai

houses normally had flowery plants to provide
smells.

Touch appearance
The elements of different tangibility were built into the traditional

Thai Architecture. Traditional Thai houses were created the texture
of wall by using pieces of wood. Sitting on the floor is the custom of
carrier Thai people; they always touch the coolest area of their
houses.
Mind appearance
Mind perception was applied to architecture. It could be an impression of beauty, merit and holiness. The main
pillar in traditional Thai Architecture expressed the core of the universe of the mind. Each building was decorated
with woodcrafts in keeping with religious belief expressing the deepest creed of the builder. Their huge force
reached the softest part of the hearth, the soul.
TRADITIONAL HOUSE
As the phrase "Thai stilt house" suggests, one universal aspect of Thailand's traditional architecture is the elevation
of its buildings on stilts, most commonly to around head height. The area beneath the house is used for storage,
crafts, lounging in the daytime, and sometimes for livestock such as chickens or ducks. The houses were raised due
to the fact that many Thai villages are centered around rivers and canals, which are subject to flooding during the
rain season. Thai building and living habits are often based on superstitious and religious beliefs. Many other
considerations such as locally available materials, climate, and agriculture have a lot to do with the style.
Thai houses are made from a variety of wood and are often built in just a day as prefabricated wood panels are
built ahead of time and put together on site by a master builder. Many houses are also built with bamboo, a
material that is easily constructed and does not require professional builders. Most homes start out as a single
family home and when a daughter gets married, an additional house is built on site to accommodate her new
family. Although the house is built with prefab panels that are easy to rearrange, there are taboos against
rearranging a house.
A traditional house is usually built as a cluster of physically separate rooms arranged around a large central
terrace. The terrace is the largest singular part of the home as it makes up to 40% of the square footage, and up to
60% if the veranda is included. An area in the middle of the terrace is often left open to allow the growth of a tree
through the structure, providing welcome shade. The tree chosen is often flowering or scented.
It is important for the Thai people to draw in their natural surroundings by placing potted plants around the
terrace. In the past there were strict taboos regarding which plants could be placed directly around the house (in
current times these are often ignored for the sake of aesthetics). The level of the floor changes as one moves from
room to terrace, providing a wide variety of positions for sitting or lounging around the living areas.
Furniture is sparse and includes a bed platform, dining table, and loose cushions for sitting. Sleeping areas are set
up so that the beds are aligned with the shorter end of the room (as sleeping parallel with the length is similar to
lying in a coffin). The direction that the head points towards can never be the west as that is the position bodies are
laid in before

Kuti
A kuti is a small structure, built on stilts, designed to house a monk.

Its proper size is defined in the Sanghathisep, Rule 6, to be 12 by 7
keub (or 4.013 by 2.343 meters). This tiny footprint is intended to
aid the monk's spiritual journey by discouraging the accumulation
of material goods. Typically a monastery consists of a number of
these buildings grouped together on a shared terrace, either in an
inward facing cluster or aligned in a row. Often these structures
included a separate building, called a hor trai, used to store
scriptures.
DECORATIONS
NAGA or he Phaya Naga (Thai: พญานาค; RTGS: phaya nak; literally: lord of nāga) are nāga, mythical serpent-like
creatures, believed by locals to live in the Mekong river or estuaries.
Garuda is a birdlike mythological beast of the Hindu and Buddhist tradition. According to mythology, the Garuda is
a large hybrid half-man and half-bird creature
Chofa (Thai: ช่อฟ้ า, pronounced [tɕ͡ ʰɔ̂ ːfáː]; lit. sky tassel) is a Thai architectural decorative ornament that adorns the
top at the end of wat and palace roofs in most Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and
Myanmar.
OPENINGS
Dvarapala is a door or gate guardian often portrayed as a warrior or fearsome giant, usually armed with a
weapon - the most common being the gada (mace).
In palace and temple architecture, the heightened status of the interior space is suggested by the elaborate
decoration of doors (pratoo), windows (naatang), air vents and eave brackets (khan thuai). These elements
demonstrate some of the most beautiful ornaments in Thai architecture, including plaster or carved wood relief,
painted designs, gold-and-lacquer work and glass mosaic. Doors and windows of temple and royal structures have
a larger surface area for the embellishment, compared to that of houses. The embellishment also helps shed more
light on the objects and the ceremonies that take place inside the buildings. [Wattana Boonjub]
Traditionally considered as the passage between differing realms, doors and windows, especially in palaces and
temples, are decorated with special motifs in order to ward off the entry of evil spirits. Panels are carved or painted
with images of guardian demons or other auspicious figures and designs. Statues of guardian demons, warriors or
beasts are also placed outside the buildings for additional protection.

THAILAND STRUCTURES
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
LOCATION: ดพระธาตุดอยสุเทพ 9 หมู9 Tambon Su Thep, อ.เมือง Chang Wat Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Wat Pho
LOCATION: 2 Sanam Chai Rd, Khwaeng Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang, Khet Phra Nakhon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon
10200, Thailand

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JAPAN ACHITECTURE

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

JAPANESE TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE

ASUKA AND NARA ARCHITECTURE

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

KAMAKURA AND MUROMACHI PERIODS

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

MEIJI, TAISHO, & EARLY SWOWA PERIODS

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

LATE SHOWA PERIOD

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

EARLY HEISEI PERIOD

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

LOCATION: 457 Nishinokyocho, Nara, Nara Prefecture 630-8563, Japan

LOCATION: 68 Honmachi, Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture 670-0012, Japan

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

Age of Sriwichai (B.E.13-18)

Age of Lopburi (B.E.12-18)

Age of Chiang Saen (B.E.16-23)

Age of Sukhothai (B.E.19-20)

Age of Authong (B.E.17-20)

Age of Ayutthaya (B.E.20-23)

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

Chinese folk religion

Thai folk religion

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

The Thai house was surrounded by a lot of trees such as bamboo,

Many aroma tie plants can be found inThailand. Traditionally, Thai

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

The elements of different tangibility were built into the traditional

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

A kuti is a small structure, built on stilts, designed to house a monk.

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

HA311 BETITA, ARBEL CASERO.

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