Paradigm shift in architecture: Indian-Chinese-Japanese is the seventh article of a series of articles investigating the paradigm shift in architecture. In the previous six articles, I have discussed several different papers for academics, researchers, and professionals who have different perspectives on the paradigm shift in architecture.
This article is the continuity of my investigation of the reality of the paradigm shift, its effect on the work environment, and its real characteristics. Here I will start as indicated in my previous articles from ancient history to modern-day’s architecture. Three architectural periods from ancient time is the subject of my discussion here Indian, Chinese, and Japanese architecture.
Indian architecture is located on the Indian peninsula. As Thapar 1 indicates that landscape, climate, and history have helped to shape Indian architecture. He describes the emergence of the Indian civilization and its decline in 2000 B.C. but the reasons unknown may be drought, floods, or drying up of trade. The arrival of the Indo-Aryan tribes to the area marked the beginning of Indian architecture. These tribes speak Latin and Greek. The roman invasion of the Ashok kingdom brought stone carving which was adopted by the Indian nation.
Architecture in India started by using wood and bamboo. Later on, transferred to using stone and brick specifically the religious buildings. A wealth of various types of buildings existed in India ranging from temples, shrines, palaces, forts, and domestic architecture.
Religious buildings (temples) have two styles. Temple architecture was in the simplest way carving an image of the god on a cave façade before the beginning of the two styles. The south Indian style ( Dravidian) and the north Indian style (Nagara). The Dravidian architecture linked to temple architecture’s main feature is the trapezoidal form on a square base of stone. The internal columns and beams support the inclined façade of dense decorative colored brick. The Nagara architecture is similar in terms of form but the temple is built with stone and includes very dense complex carving sculptures. The multi-layer end with a spire on the top. The plan is mainly square and the shape transforms to a cruciform shape in the top levels. These characteristics continued in temple architecture see figure 1.
Palace architecture illustrated distinctive taste as most of the palaces are built near water beds that have a comfortable climate. The palaces include multi-story layers and a couple of courtyards. The upper floors have arcades with stone-decorated screens to the courtyard areas. The palace interiors are heavily decorated with stucco, wood, and painting. The exteriors’ main features are multi-centered arches, domes, and stone carving decoration.
Domestic architecture is not different than palaces for luxurious villas in terms of components. Normal villas are inward-looking block houses around a courtyard. The house is composed of an arcaded entrance with upper canopies with screens. Built with stone on a raised plinth with small windows. See figure 2.
Since the creation of the Indian civilization and its decline in 2000 B.C. and its rebirth after 400 years witnessed a variety of creative architecture of temples, palaces, and domestic and continued with variations in some details of facades. Indian architecture continued its distinctive architecture work till the Islamic period which is covered later on with Islamic architecture. There were no signs of a paradigm shift in terms of doing architecture or the way people think about how to do architecture.
Chinese architecture is located in modern geography in China and ancient occupied countries. The architecture range from religious buildings of temples of a pagoda, Emperor tombs, palaces, various domestic building scales, monasteries, gates, and great cities.
Reading Chinese architecture, one can assess and conclude that the variety of architectural works within one type of building makes it hard to define the main characteristics of this architecture. The Chinese builder’s creative and innovative work exists not only in architecture but the internal art and sculpture work.
Religious buildings related to worship are the pagoda temples. These temples are built with wood and influenced by Indian-style architecture. The temple is built with the same type of structure and external elements in Chinese architecture. See figure 3.
Religious buildings include also Emperor tombs and monasteries. This specific type of architecture changed the way they look, comprehend, design, and construct these types of buildings. In the normal way of building this type of architecture, the building is constructed on an external wall with a wooden truss-shaped roof and roof tiling.
The Chinese builders and carpenters realized the importance of standardizing this type of architecture due to its importance like emperors’ tombs and monastery buildings. This type of architecture includes three distinctive elements the internal Cao (column row axis spaces). The temple includes three bays of cao (Inner cao and two outer cao). The ceiling is a wooden framing system of wooden truss-shaped beams and cornices. The covering part of the building is composed of various wooden rafters and roof boards. See figure 4
Palace architecture witnessed a variety of forms, functions, and layouts. The palace architecture introduced the Chinese sensitivity to space order and its importance in designing the palace plan. The palace includes hierarchal space importance from external space to internal public spaces to private spaces inside the palace. The layout includes several courtyards and gateways. The buildings are constructed in the same way and have the same external components. See Figure 5
Chinese domestic architecture has many major differences depending on the location where it is built, the people who built it, and the minor cultural or even religious differences.
In some areas house, architecture is very simple in terms of design and construction. For example, the Malan style spread in villages is composed of a raised block of wooden and bamboo structures envelop on a lower bamboo beam and framing system.
A more complex form of housing is the Tulou multi-story housing complex. These types of domestic buildings appeared in areas like Hong Kong, Guangdong, Fujian, and small parts of Jiangxi and they remained so. The building includes a walled exterior envelope built for defensive purposes. Sometimes couple of buildings inside the walls. The internal open space well is open to the sky. The Tulou is entered from one point only and all internal buildings and spaces are accessed from inside. See figure 6. Another distinctive type of housing is Yaodong housing. This type of housing according to archeological work is composed of an underground part and a ground part. And others are dug directly into cliffs.
As mentioned earlier the variety of architectural types makes Chinese architecture not include specific characteristics but at the same time illustrates the creativity and innovation of Chinese society.
The paradigm shift in Chinese architecture exists in the realization of the carpenters and builders of the importance of standardization of the architecture of their buildings specifically the religious buildings. Later on, this standardization becomes part of all types of building types in China in terms of space planning, structural system, and external building forms and shapes.
Japanese architecture is located in modern geography in Japan and the occupied countries of ancient Japan. Due to the similarities in religion and historical location Japanese architecture was influenced by Korean and Chinese architecture. As Young 3Indicated that Japanese have developed many styles in the course of their history. Several principles a reader can find in their architecture.
“ Some of these basic principles describe how core values have influenced the choice of building materials, techniques, and designs. Other principles emphasize cultural processes such as the relation between restraint and exuberance and a passion for preserving the past ”
Japanese architecture is not different from Chinese architecture in terms of the variety of architectural types like palaces, shrines, teahouses, farmhouses, temples, fort gates, and landscapes.
Every ruler as in Japan and elsewhere built relevant whether official buildings or others to impress people and tend to be more exuberant than residential buildings built to provide comfort for the occupants.
Japan’s religious buildings are similar and identical to the Chinese version which was influenced by the Indian Stupa. Japan pagodas are three to five stories built from wood with less ornament and external decoration than similar ones in China see figure 7. Temples in Japan also have the same structural system as in China. Two outer bays of Hisashi and one internal space of moya.
Palaces in Japan follow the Heian style. This style influenced the later period’s palace design. The style includes a central hall (shinden) connected to other buildings in the palace by covered corridors. The palace complex and its external wall are located inside a large garden consisting of a big lake connected by bridges.
For domestic architecture, Japan architecture witnessed the spread of the shoin style. This style is the room or building reserved for samurai family members. The reason for its widespread even these days is its acceptance by Japan people to fulfill their needs and comfort. It is important because of its influence on early modern residential architecture.
The main features of the shoin style are the tatami mats ( measure units), flexible open space interiors that are divided by paper partitions, recessed spaces for sculpture and art objects, and exterior sliding doors covered by transparent rice paper.
Other than shoin style there are normal farmhouses, townhouses, and morta houses. These houses are built using tatami mats. Tatami mats are 1 by 2 meters used to cover the house floors and that determines the dimension of lumber used in the rooms according to a system known as kiwarijutsu developed earlier to ensure pleasant proportions and to promote standardizations of parts.
Here as in Chinese architecture the carpenters and builders realized the importance of standardization and for that invented the tatami mat to control the internal space design, the wooden structure work, and the external envelope design. Japanese architecture share with chines architecture a similar paradigm shift in introducing standardization to control the architectural design and construction of domestic buildings and luxurious buildings.
Japanese and Chinese architecture share the distinctive feature of standardization in architectural design and construction. This common feature is related to similarities in religious, social, and economical factors. The two nations illustrated extreme creativity and innovation in building architecture.
In the next article, I will continue my investigation to discuss the Islamic period in the Arabic world and related countries in terms of any paradigm shift in architecture.
References
- Thapar, B., Manto, S.K. and Bhalla, S. (2012) Introduction to Indian architecture: Arts of Asia. United States: Tuttle Publishing.
- Steinhardt, N.S. (2019) Chinese architecture: A history. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Young, D. and Young, M. (2019) The art of Japanese architecture history, culture, design. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing.
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