Impressions of Japanese Architecture
September 21st 2010 18:05
Original Creative Writing:
Ralph Adams Cram
Impressions of Japanese Architecture
By Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram was born in 1863 and died in 1942. He is counted among America's top architects of his generation beside the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler. This modest paperback from Tuttle Publishing is a powerhouse of description and thinking concerning the classic architecture of Japan. The tea houses and temples are described in detail, as is the influence and philosophy behind them.
Culturally Japan has a highly accomplished and rarefied history surrounding its architecture. Buildings made of wood looking every inch an alien artwork (alien once to the western eye at least) have lasted for centuries and withstood everything from floods to earthquakes. I am not trying to say they are untouched or undamaged by such events, but I am saying they have been developed over time and adapted their strengths in the face of such.
What is remarkable is the fact that no one else has made as successful an attempt at describing and notating these building and building practices since this author set his findings down, and that is allegedly due to the accuracy and ultimate coverage Cram provided.
The actual story of Japanese architecture's development, rise and decay is twelve hundred years long (!) and then there's something of a speed bump as we arrive in the now. It is mind blowing on some levels to consider the process of trial an error in encountered within this timeframe. The objective with all things Japanese is to find a harmonious relationship between the built environment and the landscape.
Materials and building processes (all pre-modern) are environmentally sustainable by way of default. Cram points out early on in his writings that most Western eyes reflect on the 'lovely carvings and artistic style' as being seemingly gratuitous to the actual structures, and that these features are actually an inherent part of the spiritual philosophy and thinking behind them. This sets a tone in the writing that more or less says 'forget what you may have thought, and listen to this'.
Then he proceeds to describe the variety of influences from that part of the world.
His insight is engagingly detailed making this a book rich with information.
Boston Bohemia, 1881-1900: Ralph Adams Cram, Life and Architecture.
By Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram was born in 1863 and died in 1942. He is counted among America's top architects of his generation beside the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler. This modest paperback from Tuttle Publishing is a powerhouse of description and thinking concerning the classic architecture of Japan. The tea houses and temples are described in detail, as is the influence and philosophy behind them.
What is remarkable is the fact that no one else has made as successful an attempt at describing and notating these building and building practices since this author set his findings down, and that is allegedly due to the accuracy and ultimate coverage Cram provided.
The actual story of Japanese architecture's development, rise and decay is twelve hundred years long (!) and then there's something of a speed bump as we arrive in the now. It is mind blowing on some levels to consider the process of trial an error in encountered within this timeframe. The objective with all things Japanese is to find a harmonious relationship between the built environment and the landscape.
Materials and building processes (all pre-modern) are environmentally sustainable by way of default. Cram points out early on in his writings that most Western eyes reflect on the 'lovely carvings and artistic style' as being seemingly gratuitous to the actual structures, and that these features are actually an inherent part of the spiritual philosophy and thinking behind them. This sets a tone in the writing that more or less says 'forget what you may have thought, and listen to this'.
Then he proceeds to describe the variety of influences from that part of the world.
His insight is engagingly detailed making this a book rich with information.
Boston Bohemia, 1881-1900: Ralph Adams Cram, Life and Architecture.
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David Jobling
