HISTORY: Korean & Japanese Architecture 1.0

Korea

• Korean traditional architecture exists within the context of Asian traditional architecture. Nonetheless, it has developed according to its own particular set of characteristics—its flexible responses to topography and surrounding mountains, the organic layout of its buildings, its reiteration and metastasis of space—that distinguish it from the architecture of China and Japan.

Temples of the 3 Different Kingdoms• Goguryeo

• Goguryeo temples were built with three sanctums arranged to the north, east and west of a central wooden octagonal pagoda. This layout corresponds to that of Japan’s Asuka-dera and Horyuji temples, indicating that Goguryeo’s architectural culture was transmitted to Japan.

Kingdom of Silla• Silla differed from the other two

kingdoms in its frequent use of brick-like patterns in the construction of pagodas. The pagoda at Bunhwangsa Temple, for example, consists of stone cut into the shapes of bricks and was built using a bricklaying technique.

Pagoda / Tap

a small stone tower built to enshrine the sarira

Goryeo Period• The construction of stone pagodas and stupas continued in the

Goryeo period. The number of stone pagodas greatly increased, with strong expressions of regional character. This led to a diversification of forms and heights, with some pagodas reaching 11 stories.

Wooden Architecture: Types of Brackets

jusimpo (column-head bracket) dapo (multi-bracket)

baeheullim

Types of Roofs

matbae (gable) roof ujingak (hipped) roof paljak (hip-and-gable) roof

Joseon Period• The most important and formal buildings in royal palaces and

Buddhist temples used multi-bracket designs. Other important buildings of lower status, featured columnhead bracket designs. Normal houses were usually built without the use of brackets, which is called mindori style.

Ikgong StyleThe ikgong is a simplified version of the bracket found in column-head and multi-bracket designs, featuring a bird beak-like protrusion as its main decorative element.

Structure & layout of Hanok

Maru & Ondol: the perfection of Korean Traditional House

Examples of maru (left) and ondol (right)

JAPAN© Camille Co

• The distinctive feature of a traditional Japanese building is the way in which the house is open to nature. The main materials used are wood, earth, and paper, and the construction spreads out sideways rather than upwards.

Prehistoric Period (Jomon, Yayoi, & Kofun)• Jomon Period

Dwellings were built directly over an earth floor with a wood foundation and a thatched straw roof

Inside the house, their floors are hollowed in that’s why they’re often called “pit dwellings”

• Yayoi PeriodYayoi architecture is similar to Southeast Asia where buildings were raised up

from the groundUsed gable roofHouses were built on stilts to keep away pests

• Kofun period marked the appearance of many-chambered burial mounds or tumuli (kofun

literally means "old mounds"). similar mounds in Korean Peninsula are thought to have been influenced by Japan.

Buddhist Architecture• The main hall contained the most prominent object of worship• The lecture hall, which in early temples was most often the largest

structure, was used by monks as a place for study, instruction, and performing rituals• Two types of towers predominated: one with bells that announced

the times of religious observance each day and another in which canonical texts were stored (the sutra repository)

• most important buildings in the temple are the main hall (Hondô, Kondô or Butsuden) and the pagoda. • Worshippers stand in the outer chamber facing the inner sanctuary,

with its images of the Buddha, to pray, pressing their palms together.

Pagodas• Square Plans• Five-Storey High (45m)• In Construction, they are

virtually suspended around a central timber to provide stability to earthquakes• Ground storey contains images

and shrines

Shinto Architecture• shrine buildings are situated according to the environment• Komainu, pairs of lionlike figures placed in front of the gates or main

halls of many shrines, serve as shrine guardians.• The nature of Shinto worship changed, following the introduction of

Buddhism, and shrine buildings borrowed certain elements from Buddhist architecture. For example, many shrines were painted in the Chinese style: red columns and white walls.

• The jinja, or shrine, is where believers in Japan's indigenous religion, Shintô, go to worship. Shintô originated in ancient peoples' fears of demons and supernatural powers, and their worship of these. It has no written body of doctrine, but it is Japan's main religion and is practised widely through ceremonies and festivals.

Shrine Architecture• The main sanctuary of a shrine is called the Shinden or Honden. There

are also ancillary buildings such as the Haiden, or outer hall, and the Hômotsuden, or treasury, but these are not arranged according to any particular specified layout.

Castles• Castles in Japan underwent their most intensive phase of

development in the Sengoku (Warring States) era from the 15th to the 16th century

Construction & Materials

Construction Method of Japanese Traditional Houses

Ken: The Japanese Traditional Unit of Length• equal to six Japanese feet (shaku).• exact value has varied over time and location but has generally been a

little shorter than 2 meters (6 ft 7 in).• now standardized as 1 9/11 meter.• used as a proportion for the intervals between the pillars of

traditional-style buildings• floor surfaces are still commonly measured not in square meters but

in "tatami" which are equivalent to half of a square ken.