The Garden as Architecture: Form and Spirit in the Gardens of Japan, China and Korea

216 Pages·1998·32.77 MB·English

by  Toshiro Inaji

Tashiro Inaji
Pamela Virgilio
Translated and adapted by
•
THE
AS
Form and Spirit in the Gardens of Japan, China, and Korea
GARDEN
THE
ARCHITECTURE
AS
Form and Spirit in the Gardens of Japan, China, and Korea
Tashiro Inaji
Translatedand adaptedby
PamelaVirgilio
KODANSHAINTERNATIONAL
Tokyo·NewYark•London
NOTE: Names are given in the traditional manner, surname preceding given
name.MacronsareusedonallJapanesetermsexceptplacenames.
JACKETPHOTOGRAPHS
Front
JAPAN-Shisendo,Kyoto.
Back(above)
CHINA-Geyuan,Yangzhou.
Back(below)
KOREA-Kyongbokkung,Seoul.
OriginallypublishedasTeientojukyonoariyotomisekata,miekata:nihon,chugoku;
kankoku.Tokyo:Sankaido, 1990.
Distributedinthe UnitedStatesbyKodanshaAmerica, Inc., 114FifthAvenue,
NewYork,NewYork10011,and intheUnitedKingdom andcontinentalEurope
byKodanshaEuropeLtd.,95Aldwych,LondonWC2B4JF.
PublishedbyKodanshaInternational,Ltd.,17-14Otowa1-chome,Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 112-8652,and KodanshaAmerica,Inc.
Copyright © 1998by Toshiro Inaji. English translation copyright © 1998by
KodanshaInternational.Allrightsreserved.PrintedinJapan.
Firstedition, 1998
9899000102 10987654321
ISBN4-7700-1712-X
LibraryofCongressCIPdata available
Contents
Preface viii
JAPAN
1 Early Prototypes and Interpretive Approaches .
. ·························3
CityPlan PrototypeandInterpretation:ChanganandHeian-kyo 6
Shinden-ZukuriArchitecture: SymmetricalPrototype, Simplified Interpretations 10
The AbandonmentofSymmetry 10
ArchitecturalDesign Solutions ThatAddress SpatialConstraints 12
PrototypesandInterpretationsin Shinden-ZukuriGardens 13
The SixBasicElements ofGardenComposition 17
The Design Process:StylizedForms (Yo)andModelingAfter (Manabi) 22
GardenDesign SolutionsThatAddress SpatialConstraints 25
The GardenAsArchitecture 29
2 Shinden-Zukuri As Prototype, and Two Divergent Interpretations
···················32
FromAbbreviationto Abstraction 34
Keandthe NorthGarden 34
Hareandthe SouthGarden 38
DecorativeArrangementofthe Shotn-Zukuri[odanZashiki 49
Shotn-ZukuriGardensandKana-SchoolWall Paintings 55
The Thresholdofthe GardenAsArchitecture 58
3 Kinetic, Multifaceted Gardens and Miegakure
················61
MiegakureLinking QualitativelySimilar GardenAreas 62
Combined Shain/Sukiya/SoanStructures: MiegakureLinking Qualitatively
DistinctBuildings andGardens 68
The StrollGarden: MiegakureLinking QualitativelyDifferentGardenAreas 74
CHINA
4 Coexisting «Unworldly" and «Mundane" Worlds .............................................................83
TraditionalChinese Dwellings 83
Hall and CourtyardComposition 83
Climatic Influences 90
Lifestyle: HierarchalPrivate/CommunalComposition 91
ContemporaryHousing: Single-FamilyStyle 100
Courtyards (Ting) Versus Gardens 100
5 Spatial Composition of the Unworldly··············································
··············103
TingYuan,Prototypeofthe Yuanlin 103
Garden-RelatedTerminology 106
An Outlineofthe HistoryofChinese Gardens 106
The GardenTreatise Yuan Ye 108
Private Yuanlin:CompositionalTechniques 110
6 Ideology and Prototypes
......................................................·········································119
ConfucianThoughtandSocialStructure 119
Prototypeof TingYuanand Yuanlin-ChineseLandscapePaintingTheory 120
HierarchicalDwellingComposition 127
The "Mundane" and the "Unworldly" 127
KOREA
7 Traditional Korean Residences and Their Gardens
·······················131
Influences on the CompositionofTraditionalKoreanResidences 132
Location: Factors Basedon the GeomanticPrinciplesof P'ungsu 132
SocialStatus: Factors Basedon the TraditionalHierarchicalClassSystem 134
SocialMores: Factors BasedonConfucianPrinciples 137
Function: Factors Basedonthe OndolSystemofHeating 143
Locality:Factors Related to the Dwelling'sLocale(UrbanVersus Rural) 149
Ch'aeandMadang: CombinedInteriorandExteriorSpaces 150
ComparisonofKoreanwith ChineseandJapanese Residences 158
8 The "Uncultivated" Garden .
································160
Definingthe KoreanApproachto GardenMaking 160
BorrowedSceneryVersus Prospect 163
ProspectandBorrowedSceneryinthe CompositionofResidences 164
Twitmadang(Rear Garden)-APrivate ExteriorSpace 166
OuterGardens-TheTraditionalFormPresentedto theOutsideWorld 173
The PyolsoEnvironment 178
KoreanGardenForms 184
Notes 186
Chronologyof Historical Periods inJapan, China, and Korea 188
Glossary 189
SelectedReferences 196
Acknowledgments 199
Index 200
Preface
I have been studying traditional Japanese dwellings mentaldesign,and Iwaschosen tobeincharge ofthe lec
(minka) since 1962,particularly in the Kansai,Chubu, tures. One day, during the process of gathering materials
and Tohoku regions, and have continued to follow the for the course, it struck me that I was unaware of any
transformations in these homes with great interest over research published on the relationship between interior
the years.Mymotivationwasverysimple-Iwasinterest design and exteriordesign-between, forexample, arural
edin the question ofwhy these buildingshad survived in homeand itsgarden, or arowofhouses in atown and the
Japan.Were minkathe onlyexampleofbuildingsthathad streetoutside, or an abbot's quarters in aZen templeand
retainedtheir originalwood-frameskeletalstructurefrom the garden adjacent. I hurriedly searched through my
their construction in the Edo period, through the Meiji own limited library, but the books on architecture were
and Taisho eras and the turbulent Showa period into concerned solely with buildings, and the books on gar
postwar, modern Japan? And if so, why? My interest dens solelywith gardens. Icould notfind asingleplan or
stemmed from a fundamental doubt about modern photo depicting the nature of the relationship between
methods of designing and building homes, especiallythe buildingsand gardens.
methods used in multi-storiedhousingcomplexes, which With this, I decided to revisit the many residences and
arenotdesigned with amechanismto allowfor later ren temples I had visited in the past. In spring, I was over
ovation. whelmed by the profusion of blossoms, and in summer
While conducting successivefield surveys of Japanese everything was swathed in lush green. The season when
minka dwellings,I also began to look into the history of the form ofthe gardens was revealed at its most distinct
housing. The methodwhich Iused, ofsearching not only wasin the depthofwinter, when iceformed on pondsand
fortheunderlyingstructuralframeworkbut alsoitsorigins, the Zen temples extended an especiallywarm welcome to
inevitablyled me to adopt another methodology-inves the unexpectedearlymorningvisitor.Iwent from placeto
tigation ofthe historical backgroundto the design ofresi place to seehow gardens had been juxtaposedwith shain
dences. It occurred to me that, by combining the results audience halls and abbot's quarters-both the rooms
of these two different paths of investigation, 1might be inside and their verandas-to try to understand the rela
ableto sparkan "awareness abouthousingconditions." tion between the waythe garden was seen and the wayit
My design surveyinitiallyfocused on the "interactions wasdisplayed.
and correlations between people, their possessions, and Perhaps it isbest to sayaword here aboutan aspect of
their homes." This inevitably resulted in my conducting the Japanese design process-prototypes and their inter
thorough unit surveysofhomes. The home issomething pretations-thatiscriticalto understandingthe composi
thatexistson the basisofthe relationshipsbetween aper tion of Japanese gardens, so critical, in fact, that it is the
son and the people around him, aswellasthe manyoth basisuponwhich Ihavestructuredmy research.
ers beyond them. Thus, it goes without saying that each In general, creation is based on individual originality
homeexistson the basisofitsrelationshipwith itsimme that isnot subject to external constraints. But in the his
diate neighborson either sideand itsmore distant neigh torical development ofthe Japanese arts, and particularly
bors on either sideofthem. in the development of garden design, the existence ofan
In 1977, Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music's "ideal form" takes precedence, thus originality and indi
DepartmentofDesigninstitutedanewcourse in environ- vidualitymanifestwithin apredeterminedframework. The
viii
11II
Preface
ideal form is a "conceptual prototype" that is divorced best understood ifwe consider it as part of a whole that
from areal,physicalform. alsoincludes anypaintings,pottery, flowerarrangements,
The process thatleadsto the creator's "interpretation," and other crafts displayed in the room from which the
or design solution, involves observing and recreating a garden isviewed.Togethertheyform aunified space.This
model, regulated by site conditions and the intended is a unique characteristic without analogy anywhere else
functions of the space. Over time an endless variety of inthe world.
interpretationsdevelop for asingleprototype. The manypapers whichIwrote on thesetopicscameto
The prototypeand correspondinginterpretationsfound form the basisforthe firstsection ofthisbook, on Japan.
in the relationship between gardens and architecture also
evolved with tremendous variety. Throughout most of In 1984and 1985,asamemberofagroupfrom the archi
Japanesegarden history, gardens wereintendedpurelyfor tectureanddesigndepartmentsofTokyoNationalUniversity
contemplation, to be viewed from a fixed vantage point ofFineArts and Music, Iparticipated in research trips to
seated at floor-level inside an adjoining building. (The Chinato conductsurveysofhousingmainly inAnhuiand
stroll garden, which the viewer physically enters and [iangsu provinces, and of tingyuan and yuanlin gardens
moves through the space, isa relativelylate development in Iiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. I returned in 1986to
inthe art.) Accordingly,the relationshipbetween the seat surveythe circular communalhousingofthe Hakka peo
edviewand garden compositionareintegrallylinked, and plecenteredinFujian.
changed in accordance with changes in the building's However as the saying goes,you can't sayyou've seen
attributes, function and site conditions through the ages. China until you go to Beijing, and without visiting the
This relationship isunparalleled in the historyofgardens siheyuanresidences which are the prototype for Chinese
of other countries and perhaps the most important char housing,orthemagnificentgardensoftheImperialpalaces,
acteristicin the evolutionofJapanesegardenforms. wefeltweweremissingavitalpartofoursurvey.Bycom
Differing ideological, political and economic condi plete coincidence, inJune 1988,Iwasinvited to lecture at
tions from period to period in Japanese history imposed the BeijingCentral Polytechnic Institute ofFineArt, and
newconstraints on these interpretations,whilethe proto spent forty days in Beijing.During that period, with the
type remained essentially unchanged. Functional aspects cooperation ofthe Institute, I wasableto gather material
ofthe architecture and garden along with site conditions on housing and gardens in and around Beijing,Chengde
and otherconstraints ofagivenperiod gaveriseto "peri andXian.
od" interpretations and led to the formation of"period In the beginning, Ihad intended to studythe relation
garden types." When the techniques created to express ship between Chinese gardens and buildings from the
these interpretations outlived the periods in which they sameperspectiveasIhadappliedtomyearlierstudyinJapan,
first appeared, they came to be termed characteristically but my simplistic expectations were quickly thwarted. I
Japanesegarden-makingtechniques. discovered that, in China, the home and the garden are
The Japanese garden, which.for the most part isnot a unrelated, and that the guiding rule isthat a yuanlingar
place to stroll but a livingpicture to be viewedby people den isseenasaworld apart, completelyuntouchedbythe
sitting inside a building, occupies a special place in the "Confucian order" and the highlyregimentedform ofthe
annals of world gardens. Indeed, its true significance is home. The yuanlin,on the other hand, isaworld similar
ix III
Preface
to the circumstances and spirit of Chinese landscape what I saw there with my many years of observing
paintinginwhich eternal time and infinite spaceare con Japanese gardens, I simultaneously felt skeptical about
densed.Thevariouspapers thatIwrote duringthisperiod what it means to cultivate a garden, and sorry that I had
form the second sectionofthisbook, on China. not studied Korea in greater depth earlier. Though close
neighbors, weremainfarapart in many ways.In the third
In 1986,I began a study of traditional Korean residences section, on Korea, I outline four types of traditional
and gardens. Korean gardens.
At first I wasbewildered bywhat I sawin the site and
floor plans ofKorean dwellings.Ithinknow thatthis was Each of the three sections mentioned above merely sets
because I did not understand the unique "conditions" of out the relationship ofhomes to gardens in Japan, China,
Korean architectural environments and was, therefore, and Korea,respectively.Theydo notpurporttobeacom
unable to read the plans in a meaningful way. So once parativestudy.
againIstartedfrom the basics-thatis,extractingthe cul Ihavetakentheviewpointthat the relationship between
tural factorsthat took on architectural form-in this case Japan and China in the early period of import of ideas
Korean geomantic beliefs,the hierarchical system ofpre and objects from the continent was very much one of a
modern Korean society, the social customs rooted in weaker countryborrowingthe forms of a more powerful
Confucianism,the functional constraintsofthe ondolsys and developed one, andadaptingthose forms to asmaller
tem of floor heating, and the cross-influences between space to produce something "native." In general, Korean
urban and rural customs, as well as the historical back culture seems closer to that of Japan, there being a sense
groundsurroundingthesefactors. thatthe twocountries areseparatedbyonlyanarrowstrip
Armed withthis understandingImade anothervisitto ofwater,whilethe cultureofChina seemsmore removed,
Korea, and this time I was made powerfully aware that asifitcamefrom the farwestern reachesofthe continent.
these fivebasic factors, apart from the rapidly disappear However,Istillfinditremarkablejusthow muchthe rela
ing traditional classsystem and the Confucian mores of tionship betweenhomes and gardensineachofthesethree
Choson society,continue to hold great meaning in many neighboring countries differs according to their separate
situationstoday. customs, histories, and lifestyles.
The composition of the main spaces of a traditional
Koreanresidence-bothhomeand garden-isextremely The design surveys I have conducted were intended to
pure and simple. Some people saythere are no real gar seek out new values and approaches to design through
dens in Korea, at least not as we understand the term. direct fieldresearch,and notthroughmethodologyalone.
Nevertheless, there are, and for a long time have been, Ibelievethat I alwayshad some keyantithesis at the root
spaces that are structured-if vaguely-and that seek ofmydesignsurveys.
somehow to unify the inside and outside of a building I carry out allmy design surveyswith design concepts
with the world around it. I had been expecting to find a asthe starting point. Bygoingout into the field,Iam able
strong influencefrom the Chinesetraditionofyuanlin,so to expand the horizons of my own limited experiences,
it was refreshing to find something completely different. and by objectifying my thoughts, I can construct design
In Korea I experienced the joy of discovery. Comparing concepts. This is my method of concept formation. I
~
x
Preface
approach each design survey as an "awareness activity" Iwould liketo takethisopportunitytothankthem all.
that forms the basisof "creative activity" in design work. In conducting surveysand collectingresearch material
This awareness comes from experience, observation, and I received invaluable assistance from many members of
deliberation, and is the springboard for creativity. We the Chinese SocietyofArchitects in various regions, and
sometimes have a tendency to try to turn design survey from the staffofthe BeijingCentral Polytechnic Institute
results into design techniques. However, I am convinced ofFine Arts, particularly Zhang Qi-man and Qi Ai-guo,
that although theformation ofconceptsthroughimproved associate professor and lecturer respectivelyat the same
awarenessdoesnotalwaysleaddirectlyto creativedesign, institution,with researchand interpretation. Iam grateful
the best planning and design activity springs from con to the staff of the Graduate School of Environmental
ceptformationbasedon suchheightenedawareness. Studies at SeoulNational University for making available
To me,designsurveysarean extremelyvaluablemeans many valuable materials, and for their kind guidance. I
ofconcept development,sincetheyarethe springboardto am also indebted to the Officeof Cultural Properties for
posing a question and starting to form a hypothesis. The its cooperation in my visitsto severalimportant sites.My
valueofthe research described in this publication asIsee warmest thanks go out to the numerous people in China
it, isto seekanswersto the questions related to high-den and Koreawho cooperatedinmyresearch.
sityurban housing in the modern world and how to cre Fortheirexpertiseand invaluableadviceoverthecourse
ateamorepleasant environmentforurban residents. ofpreparingthe Englishtext, Iwould liketo thank Hugh
Wylieand WonyoungKohofthe RoyalOntarioMuseum,
My colleagueshave givenme great support in the prepa LeeChiWoooftheKoreaCulturalServiceattheEmbassy
ration of this publication. I am indebted to Professors of the Republic of Korea in Tokyo, Alain Coulon, Kim
Mogiand Katayamafortheir adviceand cooperation,and Hyo Keun, Kirstin McIvor, and Edwin Whenmouth. I
to the members of their respective laboratories, and the would also like to pay tribute to my editors Shigeyoshi
members of my own research lab at Tokyo National Suzuki and Elizabeth Ogata at Kodansha International.
University of FineArts and Music, for their assistancein AndfinallyIwould liketo expressmygratitudeto Pamela
executingthe many drawings forthis publication, and for Virgilio for her painstaking work in the translation and
the additional assistance of the Chinese and Korean adaption of the Japanese text for the English-speaking
exchange students in my department in compiling mate reader-I trust her understanding of the material com
rials-particularlyMs.KimHyonson and Ms.Shin Iulee, pletely.
xi IIII