![]() ![]() Although it is common to see only minimal decorations in traditional Japanese interior design, Sato’s displays are just the opposite, overflowing with new ideas and nuances. Sato enjoys creating innovative interior arrangements to entertain and surprise his guests. Having lived among beautiful antiques in this special house since he was six, Sato has cultivated a discerning eye and an understanding of Eastern as well as Western aesthetics, and often mixes the two with great panache. This traditional Japanese house was built in an upscale residential area of Osaka over 70 years ago by the grandfather of the current owner, Teizo Sato. While simplicity and understatement are the hallmarks of Kyoto style, interiors in Osaka often bustle with exuberance and spontaneity. ![]() Entire shoji walls can be pushed aside, creating an intimate unity with the garden. In extreme cases, the best part of a lot was given over to the garden, and the house design on the land left over. Traditional Japanese houses have a special relationship with nature. ![]() Every dimension in a Japanese house relates to the module of a tatami mat.Ĥ. 3 x 6 feet), which was considered adequate for a person to sleep on. Around the time when Leonardo da Vinci was developing a system of dimensions that scaled the human body for use in architecture, Japanese craftsmen standardized the dimensions of a tatami mat to 90 x 180 centimeters (approx. Brick buildings, when first built in Ginza around 1870, stayed untenanted for a long time, because people preferred to live in well ventilated wooden buildings.ģ. Carpenters in Japan have perfected techniques of drawing out the intrinsic beauty of wood. Wood is the preferred material for traditional Japanese buildings. What was left was a simple flexible space that could be used according to the needs of the hour.Ģ. Around the time that European houses were becoming crammed with exotic bric-a-brac, Zen priests were sweeping away even the furniture from their homes. A surprising intellectual leap in the design of Japanese homes took place during the 14th century, so powerful that it resonated for the next 600 years. ![]() To truly experience the intricacies of these tranquil houses, check out Japan Style, available on Amazon.ġ. You will view the fundamental features of the traditional Japanese home, and learn how and why the distinctive aesthetics of Japanese buildings have developed over the centuries. Now, take an exclusive tour of five of these painstakingly preserved houses. In this gorgeously illustrated book, Mehta and Tada guide you through 20 quintessential styles of traditional Japanese architecture, from an exquisite Kyoto Machiya, to a stately country mansion in Akita. Think of a traditional Japanese house and what elements come to mind? You’re probably picturing soft tatami mats, delicate shoji screens and warm wooden beams and while these are important hallmarks of Japanese interior design, they are only a small component of the rich and inspiring heritage of traditional Japanese architecture.Ĭolumbia architecture professor Geeta Mehta, and editor-in-chief of Japanese architectural magazine Confort, Kimie Tada, offer unparalleled insights into traditional homes in Japan Style. ![]()
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