Sukiya style
Sukiya style ( Japanese 数 寄 屋 造 り , sukiya zukuri ) is an architectural style in historical Japan . In addition to the Shinden and Shoin styles , it is one of the three major styles for residential buildings from the pre-industrial era (before 1868).
Suki ( 数 寄 ) means refined, well built or following an elegant line (analogously). It primarily refers to the performance of a traditional tea ceremony. Ya ( 屋 ) means building or roof. The word sukiya describes a building in which a tea ceremony was originally held ( chashitsu ) and is associated with the art of flowers ( ikebana ) and other Japanese art styles. In connection with the addition zukuri ( 造 り ), the word describes a design style for public and private buildings that follows the aesthetics of a tea house.
classification
Nowadays this style is often understood as the epitome of traditional Japanese architecture and is considered to be the most sophisticated that best conveys Japanese culture, nature and style. There are two main reasons for this:
First: After the import of Chinese architecture to Japan in the sixth century and the independent development that initially produced the Shinden and Shoin styles, the Sukiya style is the last style to emerge before the country opened in 1868. Before that, during the Edo period , the government consistently sealed off the country from outside influence for more than 200 years. This period of isolation, also known as sakoku , was a time of tough government, which, however, also brought about peace and prosperity. In this socio-political context, architecture and art have developed splendidly in Japan. After the end of the Edo period in 1868, the country headed towards rapid industrialization and the imitation of Western culture, which resulted in an abrupt demolition of traditional architectural and cultural development.
Second, 20th and 21st century architects in and outside Japan have always drawn inspiration from the Sukiya style. They made numerous connections to their respective architecture. Noteworthy aspects here are the creation of a regular construction grid, the expressive use of materials, the informal aesthetics (especially in comparison to the Shoin style) and the strong relationship between indoor and outdoor space. However, the Sukiya style is not to be understood as the sole author of these principles, as there have been similar parallel developments - at least outside of Japan. Nevertheless, he provides a variety of inspirations. In its original pure form, the style is still used today for planning traditional teahouses, and in a modified form for contemporary forms of living or guest houses.
Emergence
In 1587 Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–1598) hired the tea master Sen no Rikyū as his advisor for design issues. In the vicinity of Hideyoshi's Jurakudai Castle in Kyoto , he planned a building the size of 18 tatami mats . This object is considered to be the first of the Sukiya architecture today.
During the Azuchi Momoyama period (1573–1603) the style was further developed. The main focus was now on small buildings with a size of 4.5 tatami mats, which were intended exclusively for tea ceremonies . These buildings were normally entered directly from the garden, using a curved path that prevented a direct view of the tea house and was supposed to make the garden an experience.
During the Edo period, this style was carried over to all building typologies: private houses, villas, restaurants, guest houses and so on. The Sukiya style became popular mainly among city people. Most of the buildings of the time were built in this style.
Design principles
The Sukiya style abandons the symmetry and formality of the previous architectures. To this end, he is expanding both the zigzag principle that has already begun in the Shoin style and the strong relationship between indoor and outdoor space that has begun in the Shinden style. While the Shoin style continued to be used for official buildings, the new Sukiya style has become particularly popular for the noble houses due to its less formal design features. The residential areas were usually large complexes with extensive gardens, similar to Buddhist temples of the time. However, while these temples were mostly in walled gardens, the gardens of the Sukiya buildings were vastly dissolute. In both cases, however, the relationship between living space and garden was immense: either the rooms opened onto the garden or there was a framed view out into the open.
As with the previous styles, wooden constructions were used, but they were much lighter and better expressed the natural properties. Wooden boards or shingles and thick layers of cedar bark were used in the roofing , which resulted in a very soft design language. Solid walls were plastered with either smooth white lime plaster or textured clay plaster. The remaining walls consisted of sliding elements that were either translucent ( shoji ) or opaque ( fusuma ). The floors were usually covered with tatami mats or consisted only of wooden planks and were separated by a shoji from the so-called engawa, a kind of veranda under the roof overhang , which forms a zone between inside and outside.
In the interior of the building, emphasizing the naturalness of the materials used now plays a major role. The Sukiya Shoin room, a kind of reception room for guests, has retained all the essential design features from the Shoin style, such as exhibition space ( tokonoma ), desk ( tsukeshoin ) and offset shelves ( chigaidana ). However, all elements were arranged with less formality, but with greater creativity.
Comparison with the shoin style
In the Azuchi Momoyama (1573–1603) and Edo periods (1603–1868) not only the Sukiya style developed, but also the sometimes significantly different Shoin style , which was used for residential buildings of the warrior class.
While a Sukiya building has always been relatively small and simple, these buildings are always extravagant, with huge reception halls celebrating the pompousness of the feudal lord. A good example is the staging of floral decorations in the tokonoma : in Shoin-style buildings, guests usually sit with their backs to the jewelry so that the host can look at them. In the Sukiya style, this was always the other way around, and the guest could see the full beauty of the objects on display.
In addition, the Shoin style shows a significantly greater severity with regard to the design and arrangement of individual elements. The tokonoma , shelves and the built-in desk ( shoin ) are always arranged according to a fixed rule, which was not the case in Sukiya buildings. Other design features, such as the square column cross-section, carved door sills, lavishly painted wall surfaces or ceiling decorations with fine hexagonal woods point to the stricter formalism in the Shoin style.
In comparison, the Sukiya style has irregular column cross-sections, often just a simple tree trunk or branch that has only been slightly planed and polished. The natural properties of the materials were always in the foreground. The walls were only provided with simple plaster, door sills were kept very simple, ceiling surfaces as well.
The beauty of the Sukiya style did not come from elaborate ornamentation and strict formalism, but from highlighting the natural beauty of the materials used.
tea house
The most prominent representatives of the Sukyia style are the Japanese teahouses: small rooms, always surrounded by a garden and designed to reflect the ideals of the style. Most of the teahouses are separate buildings in the garden that are only intended for holding a tea ceremony. In individual cases, these were also rooms in the main building, but each had its own entrance from the outside.
Examples
- Katsura-rikyū ( 桂 離宮 ), Kyōto , mid-17th century
- Manjuin Koshoin ( 曼 珠 院 小 書院 ), Kyōto , mid-17th century
- Nishihonganji Kuroshoin ( 西 本 願 寺 黒 書院 ), Kyōto , late 16th century
gallery
Sukiya-style garden: View of the Kastura mansion in Kyoto
Sukiya style interiors
literature
- Mira Locher: Traditional Japanese Architecture. An Exploration of Elements and Forms , 2010, ISBN 978-4-8053-0980-3
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kenkyusha's New Japanese English Dictionary, Fourth Edition 1974, p.1674
- ↑ Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, First Edition 1983, vol. 7, p. 265
- ^ Mira Locher, Traditional Japanese Architecture. An Exploration of Elements and Forms, 2010, ISBN 978-4-8053-0980-3 , p. 29
- ↑ Itoh (1972), p. 12
- ↑ Itoh (1972), p. 96
- ↑ Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, First Edition 1983, Vol. 7, p. 265
- ^ Mira Locher, Traditional Japanese Architecture. An Exploration of Elements and Forms, 2010, ISBN 978-4-8053-0980-3 , p. 30