Japanese Architecture
Danny Choo is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. Danny resides in Tokyo, and blogs about life in Japan and Japanese subculture - he also works part time for the empire.
A nice photo collection of Japanese architecture - of both the old and new can be found at Kirainet.
And if you are thinking of buying some property in Japan, you can read about the interesting regulations including having your roof sloped at a certain angle so that the neighboring house gets enough hours of sunlight per day.
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Beautiful! Thank you!
wow, um, that's insanely expensive. Have you sold any organs?
I love the double decker bike rack featured in one of the pictures!
I was fascinated by the getting a job tutorial.
And shocked by the 25 year lifespan of houses there. I work as a real estate agent in Italy and the lifespan here is... well...
The vast majority simply hasn't one. Most building, except maybe old industrial complex that now lie in the middle of big cities and residential buildings that was badly (or fraudulently) built are likely to remain where they are indefinitely.
Also, the deposit you give to the landlord is almost always returned intact (plus interests) since normal wear off is not on the renter.
That house is somewhere between Frank Lloyd Wright and Steve Jobs. I like it.
Very true about Italy. In Toscana, I was shown a villa, and the Contessa told that it had been purchased from the Romans, giving it a life span of about 17/18 centuries (It looked it too, very cramped in some quarters).
Deeply enjoying the Japanese posts Danny, keep it up.
"interesting regulations including having your roof sloped at a certain angle so that the neighboring house gets enough hours of sunlight per day."
What developed nations don't have regulations on rights to light?
From this article it seems like the best thing to do is to build your own house. Then you can make it to last longer and it will be an investment. I'm guessing the cost of land makes this difficult though.
What developed nations don't have regulations on rights to light?
USA! USA! USA!
An odd observation from those photos: The vast majority of the cars pictured with the houses were European.
Given that Japanese cars tend to be quite good, I wonder why this is...
Frankly all houses should be built in a fashion to last at least an average lifetime. (Mine is currently 98 years old). Seems like a waste of resources other wise.
Here is a Chinese Puzzle Inspired Table to go with your new place:
http://jeffreygreene.com/catalog.php?act=items&id=28&item_id=304&pos_items=2
If Teleportation/Transporter/magic portal technology existed, then everybody would visit Japan, but nobody would live there.
I really like Japanese architecture, it can be absolutely mindblowing. Japanese architects really have figured out how to make the most of very little space.
But there are several things I will never get about Japanese houses: Why aren't they build more sustainable? Why is there no isolation? Why is there no central heating and just a crappy airconditioning system in summer? Seriously, some buildings in Japan manage to be colder inside than outside in winter.
My guess is that all of the above is due to earthquakes, because your chances are a bit better to get out of them before they come down. But since nearly everyone cooks with gas, that doesn't help much.
Ah, Japan, land of contradiction.
BCSIZEMO: isn't it arbitrary to make a building's lifetime the same as ours?
Currently, most people live the first couple of decades with their parents, then find a cheap home, slowly upgrading throughout their lives as they can afford more and build a family. Not to mention emmigrating, death, divorce etc. that also make us change houses.
Maybe if you lived in a tribal society of modular personal homes, then starting a building's life when yours begins might make sense.
We should just build it to last as long as you need it, or as near to that as you can afford. The ideal lifetime is as long as possible unless the land use is going to drastically change.
This is why classic design (which doesn't go out of fashion) and flexible design (which doesn't lose functionality) as good sustainable ideas.
@Schmod:
An odd observation from those photos: The vast majority of the cars pictured with the houses were European.
Given that Japanese cars tend to be quite good, I wonder why this is...
European cars are a status symbol among the wealthy in Japan -- no matter how great Japanese cars are, they're what common people drive.
a left-hand-drive car is an asset too. A guy in my building had a LHD honda imported from the USA, and there are even left-handed Jaguars.
Felix, it's not significantly less resource-intensive to build a house to last. You can get a several-fold usable life increase by using a few tens of percents more costly materials.
It's a waste of money and resources to build a house that only lasts 25 years.
Wait; I think I misunderstood you. If you mean build it to last a long time, then you're right. But that's what Bcsizemo was saying; compared to the Japanese average of 25 years, a lifetime or more is a very long time.
So perhaps we agree, after all...
I love Japanese architecture, and I love Japanese graphic design, and Japanese food holds no terrors for me, and I would go and live in Japan in a heartbeat if I could get a job there... Do you need an intern, Danny?
First of all, Danny, I read your site's post- very detailed and an accurate read. Anyone curious about living here should definitely read it.
@#13, Teapunk-
It's not all contradicitions, I would say if anything, Japan is not a land of contradictions, so much as conflicting laws with reality.
There are new homes with good insulation, and central heating- but the reason why so many don't have all this is building codes, and past construction. Building codes in Japan have typically rewarded the ugly, concrete structures with little insulation for decades for several reasons. There was a great article a while back discussing this, I think it was either the Japan Times or Mainichi. But there are actual building codes that make investing in something more durible easy, and make it financially unsound to build more updated, well-insulated structures. They are trying to fix that lately, but I've got no hope for it.
The reason so many ugly, sterile, and soviet-esque concrete mansions & buildings exist in Japan is because of the massive reconstruction projects after WWII, which influenced building codes for years. Couple that with low structure life, and high rates of moving occupancy, and land values that deflate at a higher rate than what is built on them in many places, and you get what you have now. Correct me if I'm a bit off, Danny.
"... conflicting laws with reality", well put.
Maybe it also has to do something with tradition, the very fine tradtion of the kotatsu and the fine tradition of no heating - when your grand-grandfather didn't need heating, why should you?
Building codes sound very plausible, of course.
FWIW, that third-floor room really does have nice light.
Japan is definitely a land of contradictions - without a doubt. After living in Osaka, Kyoto and Okinawa for several years, there appears, and quite rightly so, either black or white and not a whole lot of grey. The planning laws are somewhat dated, however, they have been updated rigorously over the past 15 to 20 years as Japan has steamed through phenomenal industrialization and modernization.
The laws governing both light and air access have been in place for decades and is the basis of good design on a global scale - its not isolated. And yes, the Japanese do not design from the inside-out, they conversely design from the outside-in, therefore maximising the internal (whether usable or not) space. The Japanese have, for centuries, understood nature on terms that most of us cannot, which therefore gives credence why the homes (single, not apartments {mansion}) are not monolithic and are working with nature, not trying to control it. Most of the materials that are used in single home construction (see PanaHome, Sekusie Homes etc) are clad in 100% recycled materials and of timber frame, also recyclable. This attitude can be seen in that rubbish bags which can only be bought at the supermarket and endorsed by the government that are collected on the street are fully transparent (neighbours will see unrecycled material and report it) in that recycling in Japan is a must and is likewise enforced (through fines if caught). The Japanese do indeed package everything, however when its all recycled this issue is resolved.
The buildings (typical apartment type {mansion}) are certainly not ugly, sterile or of a soviet aesthetic. The vast majority of existing apartment buildings are less than 25 years old due to the continual reassessment of the structural engineering (due to earthquakes) requirements and therefore also have no bearing on the mass building works following WWII.
I think it's quite clever that the houses are only built to last 25 years. The construction crews always have work, and without urban sprawl; something you'd want to avoid on an island. They just tear down the old and rebuild on the spot.
If you go to Northeast Ohio, you'll see rampant sprawl and the detrimental effect it has had on the green space. We've got abandoned shopping centers and houses, and instead of replacing them, developers tear down the wooded areas and build on the virgin land. Now that's a waste!
there is a great new book by roland hagenberg about japanese top architects with lots of personal insights of these famous creatives
http://www.cscoutjapan.com/en/index.php/20-japanese-architects-roland-hagenberg/
Some of the comments above are hilarious and show an obvious lack of experience with Japan.
No urban sprawl in Japan? Reality: Japan is entirely covered with urban sprawl! There is not one acre of flat land in Japan that is not an urban sprawl or a rice paddy.
Housing in Japan is one with nature? Reality: The typical housing in Japan looks identical to the giant and monolithic Soviet concrete blocks found in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China and North Korea.