Theory of Modern Japanese Architecture

Catalog description

Introduction to the development of modern Japanese architecture from the Meiji Restoration of 1868 to the present day. ARCH 317 Theory of Modern Japanese Architecture (3) ARCH 317 outlines a lineage of ideology in Japanese architectural discourse in order to examine reciprocal interactions between Japan and the West in the development of modern Japanese architecture from the Meiji Period (1868-1912), through the Metabolism of the 60's, to the present day. The concept of "tradition" itself is an invention of the Meiji (modern) era. Through this notion, the course will introduce students to crucial moments in the development of Japanese architecture, while making parallel references to the key developments in the West. Inversely, examples of traditional Japanese architecture will be introduced as counterpoint for the modern. Several topics such as the evolution of Japanese symbolic and spatial traditions in art, architecture, and landscape architecture (gardens) will be discussed. While discussing the evolution of Japanese culture, aesthetics and religions, the influences of China and Korea will be introduced, thus increasing students' familiarity to the East. A brief examination of Western architects paralleling the course content will also be presented. The key figures to be discussed during the class include Kenzo Tange, Kisho Kurokawa, Arata Izozaki, Fumihiko Maki, Tadao Ando, Shin Takamatsu, Toyo Ito, Kazuyo Sejima and Shigeru Ban. Key Western architects, including Bruno Taut, Walter Gropius, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier, will also be discussed. In addition, several broad themes such as geography, climate culture, and symbolic and spatial traditions in art will be introduced. Eastern values and ethics very incongruent from those of the West and their impact on architecture will be presented and discussed. Specific globalization, the resultant reciprocal and transformative cross-cultural interactions in the development of modern Japanese architecture, and the unique process of "Japanization" in which ideas from the West are adapted, refined, and absorbed into Japanese architecture through specific buildings and architects. Students in this course will be expected to become more familiar with Eastern culture; comprehend basic principles behind Japanese architecture and gardens; understand relevant terminology associated with Japanese culture, art, gardens, and architecture; and become more aware of the reciprocal and transformative cross-cultural interactions in architecture.