Tectonics of Escape Desire for traditional, vernacular and framing embodied in tectonics of Japanese teahouses Maartje van Roosmalen Hypothesis The desire in Japanese society, and nowadays in many countries worldwide, for an escape to well organized primitive, natural and vernacular environments, is embodied in the tectonics of traditional and high-style modern Japanese teahouses. This paper considers the meaning of architecture of Japanese teahouses from the perspective of escape to primitive, natural and vernacular. Culture may be a tool to understand spatial practices of leisure. In the case study of this paper – about traditional, primitive and high-style Japanese teahouses, the knowledge of Japanese culture is used to verify why this desire for an escape to well organized primitive, natural and vernacular environments still exists in Japanese society, and tectonics are used to describe the way escape is embodied in the architecture of these teahouses, that seem to inspire architects from all over the world even today. Considering the following aspects – escape (desire lines), location, orientation and relation with the environment, primitive and traditional vernacular as compared to high-style vernacular, type versus style, layers and representational versus ontological, symbolic values versus utilitarian, rusticity, simplicity and naturalness, and framing – Japanese teahouses are examined with regards to their tectonics and (cultural) function. The rituals of the tea ceremony define the structure of this paper. The desire of an escape back to vernacular, primitive architecture and environments is indicated by common features and similar tectonics of traditional, primitive Japanese teahouses, high-style Japanese teahouses and traditional Japanese houses. These common features and similar tectonics are: -Central hearth (Fire place). -Plan size based on the tatami-mat of woven rice-straws, on which people sit, sleep, study, eat and drink. -High positioned translucent windows diffusing daylight compared to low positioned transparent windows framing the view outside. -Alcove with a framed picture and a vase with one flower on the ground of the alcove. -Overhang low-angled slanted roof and veranda; floor around half a meter above the ground. -Natural unfinished materials – bamboo, wood, rice-paper/straws (in contrast with artificial plaster) -Location – traditionally in the mountains, and later within a teagarden in the city, and now back to the mountains. Notes and references [Bam’08] Photo’s of Bamboo Exposition Oslo 01-11-2008. [Bei’04] Beim, Anne, Tectonic visions in architecture, Mies van der Rohe, le Corbusier, Charles & Ray Eames, Jorn Utzon, Louis I. Kahn, Alison & Peter Smithson (2004). [Ber’83] Berque, Augustin, Le sens de l’espace au Japon, vivre, penser, batir (1983). [Dav’04] Davids, Traditional Japanese Architecture (2004). [Fra’95] Frampton, Kenneth, Studies in Tectonic Culture, The poetics of Construction in Nineteenth & Twentieth century (1995). [Iso’07] Isozaki, Ando, Fujimori, The contemporary tea house, Japan’s top architects redefine a tradition (2007). [Ito’73] Itoh, Teiji, Space & Illusion in the Japanese Garden (1973). [McQ’03] McQuaid, Matilda, Bamboo in Japan (2003). [Nut’93] Nute, Kevin, The role of traditional Japanese art and architecture in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright (1993). [Nut’04] Nute, Kevin, Place, time and being in Japanese Architecture (2004). [Tau’37] Bruno Taut, Houses and People of Japan (1937). [Ter’07] Terunobu, Fujimori, Fujimori Terunobu Architecture (2007). [Wal’08a] Wallis de Vries, Gijs, Alterity & Escape, The cultural imaginary of the urban landscape (2008). This paper discusses the meaning of primitive as compared to monumental, modern as compared to traditional, and the meaning of vernacular architecture, which derives these terms from; Amos Rapoport, House Form and Culture (1969), p. 132. [Wal’08b] Wallis de Vries, Gijs, Layering and Framing: Tectonics in the Urban Landscape (1.9.2008). The meaning of framing and layering are discussed in this paper.

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Escape Japanese teahouses can be seen as a short-term escape from the modern, rush Japanese society back to primitive, natural and vernacular environments. This is indicated by common features and by the similarity in the tectonics of teahouses and traditional Japanese houses. For example the floor plan is based on the size of woven rice-straw tatami-mats, like they were in primitive houses. In contrast with modern houses, the teahouses use only the natural unfinished and local materials. The tea-ceremony rituals and customs of Japanese society play an important role in each design aspect. Therefore, the paper is structured in the chronological order of performing these rituals. This paper starts with an introduction on Japanese customs and culture, with emphasis on their desire for rusticity, simplicity and naturalness. This is followed by a description of the location, orientation and relation with the environment, discussing aspects like the difference between symbolic values and utilitarian, layers and representational versus ontological, the desire for framing and escape, and aspects related to what the teahouse and teagarden represent and how they are approached in the tea ceremony. At last, the function of the orientation, layout, and interior design, and the relation with the environment as experienced from inside the teahouse are explained according to the rituals and culture. In order to characterize Japanese teahouses as a desire for escape to primitive – in the sense of experiencing nature in architecture in the way it was experienced in the time that the first Japanese houses were built – we need to know the tectonics of these primitive Japanese houses as compared to the tectonics of the modern Japanese house today. Therefore, two primitive Japanese houses and two modern Japanese houses are compared for their tectonics and the relation between inside and outside. This is followed by the comparison of a lot of traditional Japanese teahouses and high-style Japanese teahouses to find the common characteristics. Using these common characteristics or differences, it is determined whether Japanese teahouses are traditional or modern. Analyzing the tectonics and the design-characteristics of the primitive houses and teahouses, which are based on the geography and climate of Japan and the habits of Japanese, a conclusion can be drawn about the vernacularity of Japanese teahouses, using Amos’ distinction between style and type. The last aspect in this paper is framing, which is evident in both primitive Japanese houses and in Japanese teahouses, and therefore verifies the hypothesis that Japanese teahouses are an escape to primitive Japanese architecture. To limit the number of pictures, two primitive Japanese houses, two modern Japanese houses, three traditional Japanese teahouses and three modern Japanese teahouses are compared (Figure 2, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10). A complete overview of the characteristics of the large number of Japanese teahouses which are compared to be able to draw conclusions is shown in Table I. Introduction Once the first cities came up in Japan, some Japanese philosophers escaped from the city to the mountains. They built a small one-room house from local materials, and spent their time looking down at the city and writing about it, and drawing calligraphy. They got tea leaves from the surroundings and prepared tea with great care. The philosopher sat next to a small hearth in the middle of the room, which heated the room and the tea. There were only translucent windows which functioned as daylight providers. However, there was one horizontal transparent opening located at the bottom of a wall, through which the philosopher, while sitting on the ground, could oversee the city. This small house for meditation later became known as the teahouse. The teahouse is a fairly common example of Japanese wooden house architecture and became an established architectural form in the mid-sixteenth century. Tea was regarded as a special drink with medicinal properties. Tea in tea rooms was prepared like in Zen-temples: dried leaves were ground into powder which was whisked in hot water and drunk. The ritual surrounding this method of preparing and drinking tea became known as the tea ceremony. As a locus for the tea ceremony, Fujimori says that the teahouse provides an atmosphere that is at once tranquil, yet at the same time maintains a certain spiritual and psychological tension ([Iso’07] p.7). A single occupant would enter the tea room, leaving behind mundane concerns, and would often take advantage of the solitude, drink tea and exult in the pleasure of a mind freed from worldly cares. Occasionally a few close friends would be invited to take tea and pass the time in conversation.

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Since Japanese have very little holidays, around 10 days a year, and often work long days or more than five days a week, there is very little free time left. Besides, Japan is an island and it has therefore been isolated from the rest of the world for a much longer time than many other countries, and even nowadays people have to take a plane or a very long boat ride before to go abroad. Due to these two reasons the Japanese people do not often go (for a long time) abroad for holiday. Further, the main religion of Japan – Buddhism, is well known for meditation. Buddhism with its meditation – originating in India – became the preferred form of leisure in Japan. This led to the creation of short-term places of meditation, as form of leisure, at short distance from work. As mentioned, the first houses of meditation, which turned into teahouses, originated in the mountains. So their came a movement from teahouses located in the mountains to teahouses located within teagardens in cities or within a forest nearby. Location, Orientation & Relation with the environment Regardless of whether a tea room is built as a stand-alone structure in a city, a forest or the mountains, or within a large home, it is always approached through a garden (Figure 11, Figure 12, Figure 5 , Figure 13, Figure 14, Figure 15, Figure 16, and Figure 17), referring back to the first teahouses which were built in a green environment near a water stream in the mountains [Iso’07]. As Kevin Nute mentions ‘With the exception of those which made use of borrowed scenery, however, far from connecting people with their surroundings, most Japanese gardens were actually intended to be isolated, idealized landscapes, through which one could in effect escape the immediate here and now [Nut’04].’ This goes for primitive Japanese houses and for teahouses, but not for modern Japanese houses (Figure 1, Figure 12, Figure 20, Figure 21, Figure 43, Figure 23). Together with the teahouse located in this garden, the garden is experienced as an escape from the rush city to a well organized, isolated, idealized, primitive, natural and vernacular environment. The function of this garden, with the boundary clearly defined by a fence, is to introduce the teahouse with its garden as a separate area, an area of leisure. Analogous to these landscape tectonics, the boundary of the teahouse is clearly defined by the opaque walls. A statement of Amos – which is certainly true for Japanese teahouses and primitive houses, but not so much for modern Japanese houses anymore – stresses symbolic values over utilitarian, quoting Lewis Mumford’s primacy of the poetic and mythic ([Wal’08a] p.43). The transition from the world outside (the busy city) to the idealized isolated landscape of the teagarden is symbolized by a heavy wooden entrance gate (Figure 26, Figure 27). For entering the teagarden, the design of the small wooden teagarden crawl entrance, analogous to the teahouse crawl entrance (Figure 28, Figure 29, Figure 30, Figure 31, Figure 32), forces the participants to bend over to enter, which commensurately increases the apparent size of the tearoom inside and also reminds them of the attitude of humility and respect (Figure 34) as custom of Japanese society, and makes the space (garden) behind this entrance appear bigger. The same is experienced in traditional Japanese customs, in which respect for elder people is shown by bending forward. For entering the teagarden, the host is waiting inside the teagarden just behind the crawl entrance, and for entering the teahouse the host comes in through a normal sliding door at the opposite side of the teahouse entrance. So in both cases the host is standing straight in front of the guest, while the guest has to bend. Once the guest has passed the crawl entrance gate, the tea ceremony starts with the procession from the garden entrance gate over the artificially created indirect walkway of stepping stones through the traditional Japanese garden towards the teahouse. During this ‘journey’ the host tells about every small part of the garden, what it represents and why it is chosen, since the route by artificial ponds representing lakes, bridges, hills representing mountains, plants and miniature trees are symbolic for different aspects of nature representing the landscape of Japan, and the position and the number of stones have other symbolic value, which is supposed to have a calming effect. The teagarden and this route are designed such that from different locations different framed views of the teagarden are visible, such that the focus of the people is only on that part of the garden which the host is talking about. This framing is visualized by blockages of stone walls (Figure 13, Figure 35). The framed views are visible from the path of stepping stones (Figure 33) which indirectly leads to the entrance for the guests. This framing is similar to the traditional Japanese garden (Figure 12), and still done in modern Japanese houses (Figure 35, Figure 36, Figure 37). Designing is combining layers, articulation

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and framing, like the large horizontal window in le Corbusiers Domino (Figure 61) [Wal’08b]. To frame is to articulate, and framing places is articulating layers [Wal’08b]. Cache Gilles Deleuze lists a number of framing forms that precede any content or function of the building and that are clearly visible while approaching Japanese teahouses and traditional Japanese houses through the garden:

• The wall that isolates (teagarden: Figure 26, Figure 27, Figure 35, Figure 36, Figure 37; teahouse: Figure 38);

• The window that selects a horizon to capture a territory1, or the shoji-screens of teahouses and traditional Japanese houses, with a raster of clearly articulated frames (in general: Figure 59; traditional house: Figure 4, Figure 12, Figure 18, Figure 3, Figure 45, Figure 59; teahouse: Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 19, Figure 20, Figure 21, Figure 22, Figure 25, Figure 29, Figure 30, Figure 50). The Japanese teahouse, analogous to the traditional Japanese house, frames the diffused light which comes in through the rice-paper window, whose boundary lines articulate the window by the strong contrast in texture, color and depth;

• The floor that flattens and ‘rarefies’ the earth to allow unimpeded movement and the roof that embraces the singularity of a place and emphasizes it (traditional house: Figure 38, Figure 54, Figure 62, Figure 64; teahouse: Figure 65; teagarden: Figure 53) [Wal’08b].

We can add the articulation of other openings and the structure of the teahouse to this list. The host’s entrance and the crawl-entrance are framed in a similar way (teahouse: Figure 28, Figure 29, Figure 30, Figure 31, Figure 32; teagarden: Figure 26, Figure 27). The structure in traditional Japanese houses and teahouses is articulated and framed through contrast in texture, color and depth e.g. the bamboo frame is protruding as seen from both outside and inside the teahouse. The smooth, artificial plastered, light colored wall surface and translucent rice paper of the window are in contrast with the rough, natural, unfinished, dark colored bamboo window frame and teahouse structure (traditional house: Figure 2, Figure 4, Figure 54, Figure 63, Figure 65; teahouse: Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 19, Figure 28, Figure 29, Figure 30, Figure 67, Figure 68). Semper mentions the following about this contrast between structure and mass filling. ‘The concept of layered transitional space as it appears in traditional Japanese architecture (Figure 59) may be related indirectly to the distinction that Semper draws between the symbolic and technical aspects of construction, a distinction that I have attempted to relate to the representational and ontological aspects of tectonic form; that is, the difference between the skin that re-presents the composite character of the construction and the core of a building that is simultaneously both its fundamental structure and its substance. This difference finds a more articulated reflection in the distinction that Semper draws between the ontological nature of the earthwork, frame, and roof and the more representational, symbolic nature of the hearth and the infill wall’ [Fra’95]. Semper mentions that ‘The Japanese teahouse is an example that testifies to the way in which the two basic modes of building, the compressive mass and the tensile frame, have been deployed throughout time in such a way as to create a lifeworld that is cosmogonically encoded (Semper)’ ([Fra’95] p.13). This is clearly visible in the articulated difference between the structure of the teahouse, which, similar to the primitive house, is made completely out of unfinished wood and bamboo – the traditional building materials in Japan, and the mass earth filling of the wall (Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9). On the contrary to modern Japanese buildings for which structure and filling are often indistinguishable (Figure 1), the distinction between the structure and the filling in teahouses is still clearly visible, similar to primitive Japanese houses (Figure 2, Figure 4). Since these traditional and vernacular structural building materials are linear, the whole architecture of the primitive Japanese houses and the teahouses is linear (Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9), as compared to modern buildings which do not show framing in particular and which can have any shape (Figure 1). In the end of the walk through the garden the host enters the teahouse through a ‘normal’ Western entrance at the north of the teahouse, while the guests crawl through the crawl entrance at the south of the teahouse (Figure 39, Figure 40, Figure 41) and sit in traditional clothing and position on their knees on the tatami-mat (Figure 45, Figure 34). The layout and orientation of the traditional Japanese

1 More about this in the next section about the inside of the teahouse

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house are similar to the layout and orientation of the modern Japanese teahouse and traditional teahouse. They are, as Taut mentions, clearly designed according to rules, which were partly set by the ritual functions of the tea ceremony and partly by the design of primitive Japanese houses (Figure 44), and are therefore traditional, as described in the following note of Bruno Taut: As the German modernist Bruno Taut noted of the traditional Japanese house he lived in for several months in 1933: ‘I quite understood that south and east sun had been given to the veranda in front of the big room…, but there was no reason why the unquestionably lovely view over the charming river valley,…with the chain of hills behind and the grand mountain-silhouette at the horizon…, should not be made visible from the veranda, a thing which might easily have been done… Everybody gave the same answer. On no account may the lavatory, the entrance, or the kitchen be placed on a north-east to south-west axis. Architects confirmed that even in modern homes nearly every house owner wishes this rule to be strictly obeyed, a fact which necessitates in many cases a similar sacrifice of advantages in the plan. Why? People of different professions and different regions agreed that this rule had come from China and that there may have been quite an obvious reason for it there, because of the predominating directions of the wind and the flow of the water courses, but for Japan absolutely no reason could be discovered. ’ [Tau’37]. Despite this lack of adaptation of the layout to actual location, however, the repeated re-creation of the same, ideal place nonetheless effectively enabled the occupants of the house or teahouse to know ‘where they were in the world,’ and precisely because of its familiarity, to feel at home there [Nut’04]. This repeated re-creation of the same, ideal place is defined by a standard layout, fixed building materials, building techniques and spatial design. The crawl-entrance for the guests leads to one tatami-mat, while the entrance of the host leads to another tatami-mat. The host is not allowed to touch the tatami-mat of the guests and vice versa, and the dark boundary lines of the tatami-mat indicate the difference. The dark boundary lines of the tatami-mat in contrast with the light colored filling frame the place for the guests, separate from the place of the host defined by framing (traditional house: Figure 4, Figure 54, Figure 55, Figure 66; teahouse: Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 32, Figure 50, Figure 51, Figure 39). The layout of the tea house and traditional Japanese house are determined by the size (910mm by 1820mm) and position of this tatami-mat (traditional house: Figure 44; teahouse: Figure 39, Figure 40, Figure 41, Figure 42, Figure 50, Figure 54). The tatami-mat floor in traditional Japanese houses is multipurpose (Figure 69) similar to the tatami-mat floor in a teahouse. The participants of the tea ceremony crawl in only in the direction of the length axis of the tatami-mat (Figure 39, Figure 40, Figure 41). The other tatami-mat is also oriented in this direction, since the proceeding of the master of the tea ceremony from the small kitchen towards the center is part of the rituals during the tea ceremony. The ‘daime’ or ‘katte’ – which is the entrance, kitchen and storage area of the host, is located at the north side of the teahouse, so the host can take stuff to start the fire from the storage while coming in. The reason why the entrance of the guests is at the south comes from Chinese beliefs, since in China all entrances of all houses are facing the south. While entering the teahouse through the crawl-door the guests face the alcove, which sets the mood and occasion for each tea ceremony. Every teahouse, tearoom or traditional Japanese house features this alcove and it is framed by being raised and positioned outside as seen from the inside and as compared to the other walls, and therefore it makes the tearoom appear larger (traditional house: Figure 54, Figure 55; teahouse: Figure 6, Figure 8, Figure 19, Figure 39, Figure 52, Figure 56). Besides, the alcove is framed by the clear contrast between structure and mass. In the alcove, a picture of a landscape is framed by cutting it. The latter technique of cutting and framing landscapes is taken over by the Dutch painter Van Gogh. The tearoom shows simplicity but elegance, since the whole room is only decorated with a Japanese hanging scroll and a flower arrangement in the alcove. There are no other objects, not even chairs or tables, in the tearoom. The hanging scroll has a short poem written on it in Japanese calligraphy. The scroll is specifically chosen by the host to help set the mood of each tea ceremony. Sometimes there is a small painting which complements the poem. The flower arrangement is placed on the raised alcove. The flower arrangement should complement the vase. It is very important that the beauty of both the flowers and the vase be appreciated. Vases are often made from bamboo, basket ware, pottery or copper. Thus indicating naturalness and rusticity (teahouse: Figure 6; traditional house: Figure 55).

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Once the guests are sitting on their tatami-mat, the host slowly approaches. He greets the guests and serves them sweets (Figure 75). Then he slowly proceeds to the kitchen to get the fire and the wooden primitive utensils (Figure 73), which indicate simplicity, naturalness and rusticity. He starts the fire in the hearth. The hearth is meant to heat the room and the tea afterwards. It is located near the host, so the host can easily use it and the guests can see the performance (Figure 39, Figure 40, Figure 41). After the fire is lightened, the host starts preparing the tea in a fixed order of steps, which are very graceful and fluid (Figure 74). The guests watch the steps the host takes to prepare the tea. The host starts grinding the tea leaves, which indicates naturalness and simplicity. After mixing the right proportions of water and tea, and boiling the tea on fire, the host pours the tea in traditionally designed cups and gives them one by one to the guests. After the first sip is taken, the host asks the guest, ‘How is the tea?’. The guest replies, ‘It is delicious’. And each bows to each other as a show of respect. While slowly drinking this bitter tea they admire the interior. The aim of the tea ceremony is to create a tranquil atmosphere, where the host and guests forget about the outside world, and focus on building a harmonious relationship with each other. The philosophy behind the tea-ceremony, which has been shaped by its origins in Zen Buddhism, revolves around harmony, respect, purity and serenity. Once the guests have finished the tea, they can admire all the tea utensils used to prepare the tea. The guests might ask the host about the style of the pottery or about the hanging scroll in the alcove. This way the host and guest can enjoy others company. Since the teahouse originates from a room for meditation in Zen Buddhism, and since meditation is still often done in the teahouse after the tea-ceremony, the interior is inward oriented – one does not look out on the garden from inside the tea room. All windows are translucent and only function as daylight diffuser (Figure 18, Figure 4, Figure 19, Figure 22, Figure 25).

However, like in the Zen-temple, the teahouse has one horizontal transparent wall opening, which is positioned low in the façade and which orientates the view on a very small part of the very nearby environment – the isolated, idealized garden (Figure 20, Figure 21, Figure 23, Figure 24, Figure 25 left bottom). The position of this wall opening is chosen such that while looking outside, nothing, e.g. birds, moving trees, people, can distract the person from the tea-ceremony or meditation, and one can imagine being in an idealized world by seeing a very small part of this idealized world. As Fujimori mentions, this framing of a view from the teahouse outside originates from the desire of Japanese to frame features in the surrounding environment. Japanese call this ‘borrowed scenery’ or shakkei, in which a distant landscape is integrated into a garden composition of primitive houses (Figure 12) and teahouses, which were located in the mountains. ‘Japanese designers found a very different yet equally effective means of linking the tectonic to its natural context. As the indigenous Japanese term for this device, ikidori, or ‘captured alive,’ suggests, it is the active procuring of a remote scene which differentiates shakkei from an ordinary vista. This is achieved by a carefully designed frame located some distance from the viewer, which is usually of natural plant material, trees and hedges. The frame is positioned to trim the raw view aesthetically, while at the same time obscuring many of the spatial depth clues which would normally indicate the true distance between the observer and the far-off landscape. This concealing of the intervening space has the effect of bringing the distant natural scene forward so as to appear part of the built foreground. In being visually connected to a recognizable feature in the landscape, the viewer not only knows unmistakably where they are, but through the apparent merging of the tectonic and the natural, is also made to feel that, like the garden, they too in a sense belong there (Figure 20,Figure 21). However, since teahouses and traditional houses were more often built in a city, there was no scenery to be captured in a garden. Therefore, an idealized isolated garden which contains stones, greenery and water like mountains, was framed to create the feeling that the people in the teahouse really were in this natural environment of mountains (Figure 12, Figure 13, Figure 14, Figure 15, and Figure 17). The path of stepping stones indirectly connects the teahouse with the entrance gate of the teagarden and seems to disappear in the greenery of the garden (Figure 14), analogous to a path in the mountains disappearing in its far view. Regarding these teagardens, Fujimori continues: The captured object can also be man-made. For example, a stone lantern placed beyond the limits of the garden proper enables the latter to seem continuous with its natural surroundings (Figure 20).

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While such gardens are clearly ‘built’, they nonetheless succeed in creating the illusion of continuity with nature. Again, this seems to resonate with one of the most powerful of human instincts; the desire to feel that we are part of the natural world around us.’ About traditional Japanese houses, Fujimori says; The same apparent merging of nature and culture was often evident in the relationship between gardens and buildings in Japan. One of the traditional Japanese terms for a home, for example, is ‘katei’, a compound word formed from the Chinese characters for ‘house’ and ‘garden’ respectively. The built reality was a similar marriage of the two in a single tectonic entity (Figure 12). The ideal of refined rusticity in traditional Japanese houses became one of the central elements of tea taste and teahouse design, and therefore verifies the relation between teahouses and traditional Japanese architecture. Others are simplicity and naturalness, often incorporating folk objects – the traditional, sober tea ceremony utensils made of natural materials – into the tea ceremonies. Every aspect of the teahouse reflects rusticity and yet refinement, revealing a calculated use of natural materials for their inherent decorative qualities [Dav’04]. The lattices of the shoji windows, openings and roof-structure, for example, are made not of wood but of split bamboo (traditional house: Figure 3, Figure 65; teahouse: Figure 19, Figure 30, Figure 67, Figure 71). The delicate paper is protected on the exterior (traditional house: Figure 66 bottom; teahouse: Figure 28) either by vertical bamboo grills or by the wattle of the wall interior, left exposed for its rustic visual effect. The positions of the windows are carefully calculated, as is the height of the transom of the decorative alcove and the alcove’s ceiling. The baseboard of the decorative alcove is chosen for its three knots, which again enhances the rusticity of the space (traditional house: Figure 55; teahouse: Figure 19). Similarly a special tree type is chosen for its unique form (traditional house: Figure 55; teahouse: Figure 56). If we look at the teahouse’s exterior and the exterior of the traditional Japanese house, they have a particularly rustic quality thanks to their miscanthus – low-angle slanted, thick layer of natural material – roof (traditional house: Figure 54, Figure 64, Figure 66; teahouse: Figure 5, Figure 60) and the miscanthus gate of the (tea) garden (Figure 53, Figure 26, Figure 27). The desire for rusticity, simplicity and naturalness is a desire for primitive surroundings, in contrast with the artificial materials used in modern Japanese architecture (Figure 1). This interior, and similarly the exterior of the teahouse, is designed following traditional and vernacular building techniques and materials (Figure 70, Figure 71, Figure 72). Amos Rapoport saw the need to elaborate a rigorous conceptual framework for primitive and traditional vernacular buildings, and thought it would also be applicable to the modern age, to distinguish ‘architecturally designed’ and ‘spontaneous’ or speculative modern buildings. Primitive and vernacular architecture is not designed by architects, as opposed to monumental architecture [Wal’08a]. The architecture of Japanese teahouses ‘originated outside the design profession’ and ‘disseminated by media’. A standard model of a teahouse was derived from primitive teahouses. Traditional vernacular is rooted in daily life and produced by local inhabitants assisted by craftsman [Wal’08a]. Japanese teahouses are traditional vernacular, since they were usually built by rich families and only used within close relations. In contrast, modern vernacular is industrially produced by specialists and managed by institutions. Besides the geisha and the common building of teahouses within the family, the tectonics of the teahouse show that the teahouse is vernacular and traditional. According to Frampton, ‘…in Japanese culture weaving and binding emerge from archaic time as the primary element in a number of agrarian renewal and ground-breaking rites that still survive today throughout the country (Figure 46)’ ([Fra’95] p.14). In contrast to the Western monumental tradition with its dependence on the relative permanence of stereotomic mass, the archaic Japanese world was symbolically structured through ground ephemeral tectonic material, knotted grasses or rice straw ropes (Figure 47), or more elaborately through bound pillars of bamboo and reed (Figure 48). As Nitschke and others have shown, these Shinto prototectonic devices exercised a decisive influence on the evolution of Japanese sacred and domestic architecture through its various incarnations, from the earliest shrines and teahouses to the shoin and chaseki versions of Heian wooden construction ([Fra’95] p. 14). Aside from the evident differences separating stereotomic and tectonic construction in archaic building culture, two common factors may be seen in both of these examples. The first is the

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primacy accorded to the woven as a place-making agent in so-called primitive cultures (Figure 70, Figure 71, Figure 72); the second is the universal presence of a nonlinear attitude toward time that guarantees, as it were, the cyclical renewal of an eternal present. Confirming the preeminence that Semper would give to textiles as the first cosmogonic craft, Japanese building and place-making practices seem to have been interconnected throughout history. Thus, to a greater degree perhaps than in other cultures, metalinguistic forms and spatio-temporal rhythms are bound up with the act of building in Japan. That this culture is quite literally woven throughout is further substantiated by the dovetailing interrelationship of every conceivable element in the traditional Japanese house, from the standard tatami-mat of woven rice straw construction, on which the size of every primitive Japanese house and teahouse is based, (Figure 49) to the kyo-ma and inka-ma method of modular building and standard teahouse (Figure 50) ([Fra’95] p. 16). Another example of these metalinguistic forms and rhythms is the shoji-screen made of rice-paper with a regular grid structure of linear bamboo or wood. All these are only applied in Japanese traditional architecture (Figure 4, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9), and rarely in modern Japanese architecture which has ‘normal’ Western doors and windows and for which any shape and size of the plan is possible (Figure 1). Besides shoji-screens, tatami-mats, structure and mass, and linearity, the preparation of tea with traditional tools, and the heating of tea-water with the traditional wooden hearth in the ground as described before indicate that the teahouse (Figure 7, Figure 9, Figure 22) is traditional (Figure 4). While the traditional tea room has become a rigidly formalized and somewhat stagnant design, contemporary Japanese architects are exploring alternative expressions of the medium in both theory and practice. Amos defines this as a high style. He points out that all vernacular, different from primitive architecture, supposes a ‘high style’ (designed by architects) with which it co-exists [Wal’08a]. These high-style vernacular teahouses are made of other than traditional materials and shape and they are designed by architects, like the well-known Japanese architects Arata Isozaki, Tadao Ando and Terunobu Fujimori and also foreign architects like Frank Lloyd Wright (Figure 51, Figure 9, Figure 52, Figure 22). While modernity continues the distinction between ‘high style’ and ‘folk’, the difference is that modern vernacular is not from the people but for the people while it ‘still affirms the close relation between culture and form’ and expresses its myths and dreams [Wal’08a]. The traditional vernacular Japanese teahouses are made by the people for themselves, while the modern vernacular Japanese teahouses are made by institutions for public. High-style teahouses are modern vernacular, since their expression is similar to the expression of traditional vernacular teahouses. For example, the replacement in modern teahouses of shoji-screens by translucent glass (Figure 22, Figure 52) might make it appear that modern teahouses are non-vernacular. However, since these characteristics still aim to create the same impression, both traditional and high-style Japanese teahouses are considered as vernacular. Another aspect which verifies that Japanese teahouses are vernacular is the Japanese customs, since the concept of Japanese teahouses only works in Japan. As mentioned before, this is partly caused by Japan being an island and Japanese having little holidays, and because Japanese attach great importance to respect, humility and education. Besides the rituals and customs, practical matters like climate also influence the architecture and in turn determine whether a building is vernacular or not. Though Rapoport does not deny the substantial role of practical matters (climate, site, materials), Rapoport proves that these are not determining but modifying the shape of the house and the way of life it shelters [Wal’08a]. Japanese teahouses in North-Japan and South-Japan for example are equal in structure, building material, ambience and building physical systems, but the teahouses in North-Japan do have snow-hooks added to the roof whereas in South-Japan the temperature does not decrease below 10oC. However, Frampton mentions that ‘according to climate, custom, and available material, the respective roles played by tectonic and stereotomic form vary considerably, so that the primal dwelling passes from a condition in which the earthwork is reduced to point foundations, as in the boulder footings of the traditional Japanese house (Figure 54) and teahouse in the rocky ground of Japans mountains, to a situation in which stereotomic walls are extended horizontally to become floors and roofs, made up of the same materials although reinforced with brushwood or basketwork (Figure 57, Figure 58)’ [Fra’95]. Besides the difference in earthwork, the differentiation between walls and roof and the structural connections between walls and roof are clearly visible in Japanese (tea-) houses (Figure 65) and teagarden (Figure

9

53), analogous to the traditional Japanese house (Figure 54), for climatic reasons such as glare prevention by overhang, as compared to the situation in which stereotomic walls are extended to become floors and roofs. Another interesting point is that Amos defines vernacular in terms of process rather than of form: it is a type, not a style [Wal’08a]. Nowadays Japanese teahouses can be designed in any style, like modern, baroque, and the process of designing Japanese teahouses in different styles – from natural traditional bamboo structure to concrete – over the years was more important than the original design style. However, the original design style, which is similar to the traditional Japanese style of designing primitive Japanese houses in wood, bamboo and rice-paper in certain proportions and soberness and with defined application creating rusticity, simplicity and naturalness, is still seen as the only design style of the Japanese teahouse which can create the desired experience of an escape back to primitive, natural, sober, vernacular environments (Figure 55, Figure 56). Therefore, modern Japanese teahouses are still designed in this traditional style, even though certain aspects, like the building materials can change e.g. rice-paper to translucent glass. Therefore, Japanese teahouses are both a type and a style. Conclusion & Summary Concluding, as mentioned in the beginning of this paper, ‘with the exception of those which made use of borrowed scenery, however, far from connecting people with their real surroundings, most Japanese gardens were actually intended to be isolated, idealized landscapes, through which one could in effect escape the immediate here and now.’ Disengagement from the everyday world was even more clearly the intent of the form of garden and teahouse developed. Far from being integrated with its surroundings, the teahouse was effectively an autonomous built place, a fact attested to by their often having been relocated. The teahouse was intended to be a place apart, its convoluted garden path having been designed less as a link to, than as a means of psychological disconnection from the world at large (Figure 14). Having read all this, we may conclude that in Japanese society, and nowadays in many countries worldwide, a strong desire exists for a primitive, natural and vernacular environment, which can be seen as a desire for a short-term escape from the rush city to well organized primitive environments.

10

Table I: Occurrence of characteristics for primitive Japanese houses, traditional Japanese teahouses and modern Japanese teahouses.

11

List of Figures Figure 1 Modern Japanese House: Kidosaki House; Different shape, materials, texture, contrast etc. than traditional Japanese houses. Any shape and size of floor plan is possible. No contrast between structure and mass..................................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 2 Primitive Japanese Houses; Okada House (1700) [Nut’04]....................................................... 15 Figure 3 Okada House; 2 facades are shown. Limited view outside by the translucent shoji sliding screens higher in the façade. There is no picture available of what you see with this limited view, but when you are just outside on the veranda you see the garden showed in figure (Figure 12) where the view from the veranda outside is framed by the roof overhang and veranda [Nut’04]. This traditional Japanese house reflects rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through unfinished natural materials and the miscanthus roof. .................................................................................................................................. 15 Figure 4 Primitive Japanese Houses; Watanabe House (1700) [Nut’04]. ................................................ 16 Figure 5 Traditional Japanese Teahouse; Jo-an (16th century) [Iso’07]. Teahouse located in a forest in which a garden is made artificially. .......................................................................................................... 16 Figure 6 Traditional Japanese Teahouse; Tai-an (1582) [Nut’04]............................................................ 17 Figure 7 Traditional Japanese Teahouse; Shinju-an (16th century) [Iso’07] ........................................... 17 Figure 8 Modern Japanese Teahouse; Uji-an (1992) [Iso’07] .................................................................. 18 Figure 9 Modern Japanese Teahouse; Kobo-an (1974) [Iso’07] .............................................................. 18 Figure 10 Modern Japanese teahouse; Ichiya-tei (2000) [Iso’07] ............................................................ 18 Figure 11 Watanabe House; House located in a forest [Nut’04]. This traditional Japanese house reflects rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through unfinished natural materials, rasters and the miscanthus roof. ........................................................................................................................................ 19 Figure 12 Okada House; House & immediate surrounding garden as a single built entity. The view from the veranda outside is framed by the roof overhang and veranda [Nut’04]. Isolated, idealized landscape................................................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 13 Tai-an Teahouse; Teahouse located in a garden with stepping stones. This teahouse is later expanded to a bigger hall, the Founders Hall [Dav’04]............................................................................ 20 Figure 14 Shinju-an teahouse; Teahouse surrounded by trees in a garden with stepping stones [Iso’07].20 Figure 15 Ichiya-tei teahouse; Teahouse located in a forest on a mountain, garden created artificially by stepping stones and smaller greenery [Iso’07]..................................................................................... 20 Figure 16 Kobo-an teahouse; Teahouse located inside a bigger building. Dry garden created by stones, sand floor and a stone washbasin [Iso’07]. ............................................................................................... 21 Figure 17 Uji-an Teahouse; Garden created by parts of greenery and by sandy parts with a path of stepping stones [Iso’07]. ........................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 18 Watanabe House [Nut’04]. ....................................................................................................... 21 Figure 19 Tai-an Teahouse; This sketch only shows the raster of the translucent shoji sliding screens and no direct view outside, so very much inward oriented. This teahouse shows rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through unfinished natural materials, rasters and the miscanthus roof. Red box shows the position of the three knots in the wood below the alcove [Dav’04]. .................................................. 22 Figure 20 Jo-an Teahouse; The view outside is limited by the higher in the façade positioned translucent shoji screens, which frames through the texture and color contrast of the raster and surface material [Iso’07]. The view shows an isolated, idealized landscape. ....................................................... 22 Figure 21 Shinju-an Teahouse; The view is limited by translucent shoji screens above and on the sides [Iso’07]. The texture and color contrast of the raster and surface material of the shoji-screens frames. The view shows an isolated, idealized landscape. .................................................................................... 22 Figure 22 Ichiya-tei Teahouse; Since this is a modern teahouse, the translucent shoji screen is replaced by translucent glass, which has a similar function as only daylight diffuser, not for a view outside. Therefore, it has a similar effect of orienting inwards [Iso’07]. The texture and color contrast of the raster and translucent glass frames. .......................................................................................................... 23 Figure 23 Kobo-an Teahouse; View is limited by translucent shoji screens above [Iso’07]. This view shows an isolated, idealized landscape. The texture and color contrast of the raster and surface material of the shoji-screens frames........................................................................................................................ 24

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Figure 24 The wooden frame of the window frames the view outside through the window at the left bottom of the following figure [Iso’07]. The view is directed at the immediate surrounding. .................24 Figure 25 Uji-an Teahouse; Transparent window is positioned low in the façade (see left of picture), while the bigger translucent shoji screens are at any position on the façade (see right of picture) [Iso’07]. The texture and color contrast of the raster and surface material of the shoji-screens frames...24 Figure 26 Wooden entrance gate of teagarden [Bam’08]..........................................................................25 Figure 27 Wooden entrance gate of modern Japanese garden [Ber’83]....................................................25 Figure 28 Tai-an Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse [Dav’04]. Delicate paper protected on the exterior either by vertical bamboo grills or by the wattle of the wall interior.....................................25 Figure 29 Jo-an Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse, zoom in of (Figure 5 ) [Iso’07]. Window and soji-screens of teahouses and traditional Japanese houses with a raster of clearly articulated and framed views and structural elements, articulated and therefore framed by the contrast created by difference in depth; the bamboo frame coming forward, both seen from the outside and inside, as compared to the earth or wooden wall and rice paper. ..............................................................26 Figure 30 Shinju-an Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse [Bam’08]. Window and soji-screens of teahouses and traditional Japanese houses with a raster of clearly articulated and framed views, articulated and therefore framed by the contrast created by difference in depth; the bamboo frame coming forward, both seen from the outside and inside, as compared to the earth or wooden wall and rice paper. ..................................................................................................................................................26 Figure 31 Ichiya-tei Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse [Iso’07] ............................................27 Figure 32 Uji-an Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse [Iso’07] .................................................27 Figure 33 Stepping stones route through the teagarden [Bam’08]. ...........................................................27 Figure 34 Humility and respect in Japanese culture [Ber’83]. ..................................................................27 Figure 35 Sequential views in modern Japanese garden [Ber’83] ............................................................28 Figure 36 Predefined route by position of walls, these walls create sequential views at the modern Japanese garden [Ber’83] ..........................................................................................................................28 Figure 37 Walls create sequential views at the modern Japanese garden [Ber’83] ..................................30 Figure 38 Framing; Roof overhang, veranda (height contrast) and vertical wood panes of this traditional Japanese house frame view outside [Nut’04]. This house reflects rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through unfinished natural materials and the miscanthus roof...............................................31 Figure 39 Tatami-mat: Taian teahouse. Framed places defined by the dark boundary lines of the tatami-mat in contrast with the light colored filling [Dav’04]. .................................................................31 Figure 40 Jo-an teahouse. ..........................................................................................................................32 Figure 41 Shinju-an teahouse ....................................................................................................................32 Figure 42 Natural unfinished materials like bamboo and wood and mud and defined route by stepping stones like in the tea garden [Dav’04, Bam’08]. .......................................................................................32 Figure 43 Jo-an Teahouse; isolated, idealized landscape [Bam’08]. ........................................................32 Figure 44 Watanabe House; Bruno Taut’s plan drawing showing the predefined orientation of the primitive Japanese house [Tau’37]............................................................................................................33 Figure 45 Traditional Japanese clothing and sitting manner [Dav’04] .....................................................33 Figure 46 Ritual tools on display in the course of a Shinto ground-breaking ceremony [Fra’95]. ...........33 Figure 47 Shime-nawa. The bound rice-straw, apotropaic signs and talismana of Shinto culture [Fra’95]......................................................................................................................................................33 Figure 48 Typical hashira or bound column prepared for a Japanese agrarian renewal rite [Fra’95].......33 Figure 49 Diagram showing typical methods of tatami-mat construction [Fra’95]. .................................34 Figure 50 Standard teahouse [Dav’04]......................................................................................................34 Figure 51 Arata Isozaki teahouse; modern exterior building materials, traditional interior [Iso’07] .......35 Figure 52 Tadao Ando teahouse; translucent glass window, worked wood, but traditional idea [Iso’07]35 Figure 53 Natural unfinished materials like bamboo and wood and mud in the teagarden [Dav’04].......35 Figure 54 Traditional Japanese one-story house [Fra’95]. The characteristics of wood building, tatami-mats, sliding screens, veranda and roof overhang of traditional Japanese buildings are visible. The difference between this architecture, with a clear difference between roof, wall and floor is very different from (Figure 57, Figure 58). The alcove is situated in the left back. .........................................36

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Figure 55 Unfinished wood in traditional Japanese house indicates vernacular, Edward Morse, Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings (1886) .................................................................................... 36 Figure 56 Unfinished wood in traditional Japanese teahouse indicates vernacular; Suki: the unique form of a particular tree celebrated in the wabi tearoom, Edward Morse, Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings (1886) ................................................................................................................................. 37 Figure 57 Antoni Gaudi, brick and Catalan vaulting in the Casa Vicens, Barcelona, 1878-1880 [Fra’95]. .................................................................................................................................................... 37 Figure 58 Mandan House, American Indian, section [Fra’95]. ................................................................ 37 Figure 59 Details of traditional and modern shoji sliding wooden shutters of teahouses and traditional Japanese houses, with a raster of clearly articulated and framed views [Fra’95]..................................... 38 Figure 60 Miscanthus roof creates rustic effect [Dav’04]. ....................................................................... 38 Figure 61 Framing of view in Domino window by le Corbusier [Google]. ............................................. 39 Figure 62 Framed view, framed by roof overhang and veranda, indicated by blue line [Ber’83] ........... 39 Figure 63 Floor that flattens and ‘rarefies’ the earth to allow unimpeded movement [McQ’03]. Structural element framing; contrast in texture and depth in traditional Japanese house......................... 40 Figure 64 Roof of a traditional Japanese house that embraces the singularity of a place and marks it [Bam’08] & [McQ’03]. Elevated floor. This house reflects rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through the unfinished natural materials and the miscanthus roof. At the picture in the middle we see the floor that flattens and ‘rarefies’ the earth to allow unimpeded movement. ........................................ 40 Figure 65 Natural unfinished materials like bamboo and wood in contrast with mud which is finished with plaster [Bam’08]. .............................................................................................................................. 41 Figure 66 Traditional Japanese house; Framing; Miscanthus roof, veranda, structural elements in contrast with mass filling, shoji-screens, tatami-mat (left top) [Nut’04].................................................. 41 Figure 67 Structural element framing; contrast in texture and depth in a traditional Japanese teahouse [Dav’04]. ................................................................................................................................................... 42 Figure 68 Structural element framing; contrast in texture and depth in modern Japanese teahouse [Dav’04] & [McQ’03]............................................................................................................................... 42 Figure 69; 1. A traditional wa-shitsu; a largely empty ‘stage’ which derives much of its identity from its temporary occupants. 2. The space arranged for a period of study or entertaining. 3. The same space as an overnight bedroom [Nut’04]. ........................................................................................................... 42 Figure 70 Traditional Japanese building materials; Rice-paper and bamboo straws................................ 42 Figure 71 Traditional Japanese building materials; Rice straw and split bamboo ................................... 43 Figure 72 Things made of bamboo in Japan and surroundings; Vernacular building materials, found in the area around Japan [Bam’08]. .............................................................................................................. 46 Figure 73 Tea-ceremony utensils; CHAWAN TEA BOWL: Various kinds, in which the size, design and color vary per seasons. NATSUME TEA CADDY: Black or red tea caddy (used to hold thin matcha tea) made from wood which is lacquered, and embellished with a simple or ornate design in gold. CHASHAKU BAMBOO SCOOP: A bamboo scoop used to measure and put the matcha (green tea) powder into the tea bowl. CHASEN BAMBOO WHISK: Made up of an outer ring of fine bamboo strands, and an inner ring of fine strands, whisk matcha powder into a frothy texture. FUKUSA TEA CLOTH: A square silk cloth of various colors and designs used to purify all the utensils used in the tea ceremony. The host folds it in various ways during the tea ceremony using graceful movements.......... 46 Figure 74 Tea-ceremony; preparation of tea............................................................................................. 46 Figure 75 Sweet ........................................................................................................................................ 46

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Figures Escape

Figure 1 Modern Japanese House: Kidosaki House; Different shape, materials, texture, contrast etc. than traditional Japanese houses. Any shape and size of floor plan is possible. No contrast between structure and mass. This house does not have any garden. Since Japanese cities are very dense, hardly any modern house has a garden. Besides, Japanese prefer to be inside the house. [And’07]

15

Figure 2 Primitive Japanese Houses; Okada House (1700) [Nut’04].

Figure 3 Okada House; 2 facades are shown. Limited view outside by the translucent shoji sliding screens higher in the façade. There is no picture available of what you see with this limited view, but when you are just outside on the veranda you see the garden showed in figure (Figure 12) where the view from the veranda outside is framed by the roof overhang and veranda [Nut’04]. This traditional Japanese house reflects rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through unfinished natural materials and the miscanthus roof.

16

Figure 4 Primitive Japanese Houses; Watanabe House (1700) [Nut’04].

Figure 5 Traditional Japanese Teahouse; Jo-an (16th century) [Iso’07]. Teahouse located in a forest in which a garden is made artificially.

17

Figure 6 Traditional Japanese Teahouse; Tai-an (1582) [Nut’04] Figure 7 Traditional Japanese Teahouse; Shinju-an (16th century) [Iso’07]

18

Figure 8 Modern Japanese Teahouse; Uji-an (1992) [Iso’07] Figure 9 Modern Japanese Teahouse; Kobo-an (1974) [Iso’07]

Figure 10 Modern Japanese teahouse; Ichiya-tei (2000) [Iso’07]

19

Location, Orientation & Relation with the environment

Figure 11 Watanabe House; House located in a forest [Nut’04]. This traditional Japanese house reflects rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through unfinished natural materials, rasters and the miscanthus roof.

Figure 12 Okada House; House & immediate surrounding garden as a single built entity. The view from the veranda outside is framed by the roof overhang and veranda [Nut’04]. Isolated, idealized landscape.

20

Figure 13 Tai-an Teahouse; Teahouse located in a garden with stepping stones. This teahouse is later expanded to a bigger hall, the Founders Hall [Dav’04].

Figure 14 Shinju-an teahouse; Teahouse surrounded by trees in a garden with stepping stones [Iso’07]. Figure 15 Ichiya-tei teahouse; Teahouse located in a forest on a mountain, garden created artificially by stepping stones and smaller greenery [Iso’07].

21

Figure 16 Kobo-an teahouse; Teahouse located inside a bigger building. Dry garden created by stones, sand floor and a stone washbasin [Iso’07]. Figure 17 Uji-an Teahouse; Garden created by parts of greenery and by sandy parts with a path of stepping stones [Iso’07].

Figure 18 Watanabe House [Nut’04].

22

Figure 19 Tai-an Teahouse; This sketch only shows the raster of the translucent shoji sliding screens and no direct view outside, so very much inward oriented. This teahouse shows rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through unfinished natural materials, rasters and the miscanthus roof. Red box shows the position of the three knots in the wood below the alcove [Dav’04].

Figure 20 Jo-an Teahouse; The view outside is limited by the higher in the façade positioned translucent shoji screens, which frames through the texture and color contrast of the raster and surface material [Iso’07]. The view shows an isolated, idealized landscape. Figure 21 Shinju-an Teahouse; The view is limited by translucent shoji screens above and on the sides [Iso’07]. The texture and color contrast of the raster and surface material of the shoji-screens frames. The view shows an isolated, idealized landscape.

23

Figure 22 Ichiya-tei Teahouse; Since this is a modern teahouse, the translucent shoji screen is replaced by translucent glass, which has a similar function as only daylight diffuser, not for a view outside. Therefore, it has a similar effect of orienting inwards [Iso’07]. The texture and color contrast of the raster and translucent glass frames.

24

Figure 23 Kobo-an Teahouse; View is limited by translucent shoji screens above [Iso’07]. This view shows an isolated, idealized landscape. The texture and color contrast of the raster and surface material of the shoji-screens frames.

Figure 24 The wooden frame of the window frames the view outside through the window at the left bottom of the following figure [Iso’07]. The view is directed at the immediate surrounding.

Figure 25 Uji-an Teahouse; Transparent window is positioned low in the façade (see left of picture), while the bigger translucent shoji screens are at any position on the façade (see right of picture) [Iso’07]. The texture and color contrast of the raster and surface material of the shoji-screens frames.

25

Figure 26 Wooden entrance gate of teagarden [Bam’08]. Figure 27 Wooden entrance gate of modern Japanese garden [Ber’83]

Figure 28 Tai-an Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse [Dav’04]. Delicate paper protected on the exterior either by vertical bamboo grills or by the wattle of the wall interior.

26

Figure 29 Jo-an Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse, zoom in of (Figure 5 ) [Iso’07]. Window and soji-screens of teahouses and traditional Japanese houses with a raster of clearly articulated and framed views and structural elements, articulated and therefore framed by the contrast created by difference in depth; the bamboo frame coming forward, both seen from the outside and inside, as compared to the earth or wooden wall and rice paper.

Figure 30 Shinju-an Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse [Bam’08]. Window and soji-screens of teahouses and traditional Japanese houses with a raster of clearly articulated and framed views, articulated and therefore framed by the contrast created by difference in depth; the bamboo frame coming forward, both seen from the outside and inside, as compared to the earth or wooden wall and rice paper.

27

Figure 31 Ichiya-tei Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse [Iso’07] Figure 32 Uji-an Teahouse; Wooden entrance gate of teahouse [Iso’07]

Figure 33 Stepping stones route through the teagarden [Bam’08].

Figure 34 Humility and respect in Japanese culture [Ber’83].

28

Figure 35 Sequential views in modern Japanese garden [Ber’83]

Figure 36 Predefined route by position of walls, these walls create sequential views at the modern Japanese garden [Ber’83] Following are these created views

29

30

Figure 37 Walls create sequential views at the modern Japanese garden [Ber’83]

31

Figure 38 Framing; Roof overhang, veranda (height contrast) and vertical wood panes of this traditional Japanese house frame view outside [Nut’04]. This house reflects rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through unfinished natural materials and the miscanthus roof.

Figure 39 Tatami-mat: Taian teahouse. Framed places defined by the dark boundary lines of the tatami-mat in contrast with the light colored filling [Dav’04].

Guest

Host

Host

32

Figure 40 Jo-an teahouse. Figure 41 Shinju-an teahouse

Figure 42 Natural unfinished materials like bamboo and wood and mud and defined route by stepping stones like in the tea garden [Dav’04, Bam’08]. Figure 43 Jo-an Teahouse; isolated, idealized landscape [Bam’08].

Host

Guest

Host

Guest

33

Figure 44 Watanabe House; Bruno Taut’s plan drawing showing the predefined orientation of the primitive Japanese house [Tau’37]. Figure 45 Traditional Japanese clothing and sitting manner [Dav’04] Modern or traditional, and vernacular

Figure 46 Ritual tools on display in the course of a Shinto ground-breaking ceremony [Fra’95]. Figure 47 Shime-nawa. The bound rice-straw, apotropaic signs and talismana of Shinto culture [Fra’95]. Figure 48 Typical hashira or bound column prepared for a Japanese agrarian renewal rite [Fra’95].

34

Figure 49 Diagram showing typical methods of tatami-mat construction [Fra’95].

Figure 50 Standard teahouse [Dav’04]

35

Figure 51 Arata Isozaki teahouse; modern exterior building materials, traditional interior [Iso’07] Figure 52 Tadao Ando teahouse; translucent glass window, worked wood, but traditional idea [Iso’07]

Figure 53 Natural unfinished materials like bamboo and wood and mud in the teagarden [Dav’04].

36

Figure 54 Traditional Japanese one-story house [Fra’95]. The characteristics of wood building, tatami-mats, sliding screens, veranda and roof overhang of traditional Japanese buildings are visible. The difference between this architecture, with a clear difference between roof, wall and floor is very different from (Figure 57, Figure 58). The alcove is situated in the left back.

Figure 55 Unfinished wood in traditional Japanese house indicates vernacular, Edward Morse, Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings (1886)

37

Figure 56 Unfinished wood in traditional Japanese teahouse indicates vernacular; Suki: the unique form of a particular tree celebrated in the wabi tearoom, Edward Morse, Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings (1886)

Figure 57 Antoni Gaudi, brick and Catalan vaulting in the Casa Vicens, Barcelona, 1878-1880 [Fra’95]. Figure 58 Mandan House, American Indian, section [Fra’95].

38

Figure 59 Details of traditional and modern shoji sliding wooden shutters of teahouses and traditional Japanese houses, with a raster of clearly articulated and framed views [Fra’95].

Figure 60 Miscanthus roof creates rustic effect [Dav’04].

39

Framing

Figure 61 Framing of view in Domino window by le Corbusier [Google].

Figure 62 Framed view, framed by roof overhang and veranda, indicated by blue line [Ber’83]

40

Figure 63 Floor that flattens and ‘rarefies’ the earth to allow unimpeded movement [McQ’03]. Structural element framing; contrast in texture and depth in traditional Japanese house.

Figure 64 Roof of a traditional Japanese house that embraces the singularity of a place and marks it [Bam’08] & [McQ’03]. Elevated floor. This house reflects rusticity, simplicity and naturalness through the unfinished natural materials and the miscanthus roof. At the picture in the middle we see the floor that flattens and ‘rarefies’ the earth to allow unimpeded movement.

41

Figure 65 Natural unfinished materials like bamboo and wood in contrast with mud which is finished with plaster [Bam’08].

Figure 66 Traditional Japanese house; Framing; Miscanthus roof, veranda, structural elements in contrast with mass filling, shoji-screens, tatami-mat (left top) [Nut’04]

42

Figure 67 Structural element framing; contrast in texture and depth in a traditional Japanese teahouse [Dav’04]. Figure 68 Structural element framing; contrast in texture and depth in modern Japanese teahouse [Dav’04] & [McQ’03].

Figure 69; 1. A traditional wa-shitsu; a largely empty ‘stage’ which derives much of its identity from its temporary occupants. 2. The space arranged for a period of study or entertaining. 3. The same space as an overnight bedroom [Nut’04].

Figure 70 Traditional Japanese building materials; Rice-paper and bamboo straws

43

Figure 71 Traditional Japanese building materials; Rice straw and split bamboo

Columbia; Traditional Bamboo Building (Yurta building)

44

Traditional Architecture; Sarawa cultural village and heritage centre, Malesia

45

Traditional design Japan; plots and weaves

46

Traditional design; plots and weaves Figure 72 Things made of bamboo in Japan and surroundings; Vernacular building materials, found in the area around Japan [Bam’08].

Figure 73 Tea-ceremony utensils; CHAWAN TEA BOWL: Various kinds, in which the size, design and color vary per seasons. NATSUME TEA CADDY: Black or red tea caddy (used to hold thin matcha tea) made from wood which is lacquered, and embellished with a simple or ornate design in gold. CHASHAKU BAMBOO SCOOP: A bamboo scoop used to measure and put the matcha (green tea) powder into the tea bowl. CHASEN BAMBOO WHISK: Made up of an outer ring of fine bamboo strands, and an inner ring of fine strands, whisk matcha powder into a frothy texture. FUKUSA TEA CLOTH: A square silk cloth of various colors and designs used to purify all the utensils used in the tea ceremony. The host folds it in various ways during the tea ceremony using graceful movements. Figure 74 Tea-ceremony; preparation of tea Figure 75 Sweet