Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | Rethinking Nature in Post-Fukushima Japan
Chapter | A Critical History of Japanese Housing from the Perspective of the Human-Nature Relationship
A Critical History of Japanese Housing from the Perspective of the Human-Nature Relationship
Abstract
The history of elite housing from ancient times onwards was based on a concept of space in which man was an integral part of his natural surroundings. This conception of space derives from the symbiosis between ‘architecture’ and ‘garden’ and is inherent to the long and rich tradition of Japanese and Sino-Japanese thought fed by myths, legends and sacred beliefs, from primitive Shinto cults to the influence of Indian thought through Buddhism imported via China, not to mention the major influence of Taoist concepts of the universe from the Heian period on. These successive influences never put into question the fundamental relationship between man and nature but, on the contrary, gave it new substance, and left their mark on all forms of social expression including architecture, art, the sacred, and mythology. Japanese architecture has always reflected the fundamental relationship between man and nature, which is why the various archetypes of Japanese dwellings from ancient to pre-modern times rely on the intrinsic relationship between architecture and garden.
Submitted: Oct. 3, 2016 | Accepted: Nov. 12, 2016 | Published Nov. 7, 2018 | Language: en
Keywords Nature • Natural environment • Garden • Landscape • Housing
Copyright © 2018 Nicolas Fievé. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-264-2/001
