A4342 Modern Japanese Architecture
History/Theory SeminarKunio Kudo
The long history of pre-Meiji Japan is characterized by its relatively smooth evolution. Most of this evolution took place in isolation. The Japanese uniqueness sometimes admired, other times criticized by both outsiders and insiders resulted from this self-contained continuity of over two thousand years. While the history of post-Meiji Japan is characterized by only successful soft landing of westernization in Asia in the 19th century. As a result, Japan is the best place from which to observe the process of cultural generation and immigration, and mutual influence. The seminar will consist of lectures, readings and discussions and students research and presentations. Students will be requested to make a series of comparative analyses of contemporary Japanese architects with more or less equivalent counter-parts in the West, so that we may read Japanese works in the Western main-frame. It also, optimistically, may reveal what the Western main-frame is by the cross reference. East/West or Japanese/Western pairs chosen here are close but loose for mutual reference, not an absolute.
A term paper of 15 or more pages resulting from each presentation will be required by the end of the semester. Literature research related to each Japanese architect is also a part of the contribution to be evaluated. It is advised to collect as much literature as is available though should be selective in the case of highly publicized architects such as Ando , Isozaki, or Kurokawa. It is also advised to make presentation slides by yourself from books or journals to create your own context rather than depending on ready-made and very limited library slides.
OUTLINE
1 Orientation and Overview
Sketching Japanese contemporary architectural situations and issues
Course objectives and strategy; administration, etc.
2 Japanese Main-frame 1
Readings John W. Hall, Japan: From Prehistory to Modern Times
Ruth Benedict, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword
3 Japanese Main-frame 2
Traditional Proto-types: Ise, Katsura and Nikko
4 Japanese Main-frame 3
Reading Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea, Dove Publication, 1964
5 Japanese Main-frame 4
Readings Daisetsu T. Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture, Princeton University Press, 1973
Roland Barthes, Empire of the Signs, Hill and Wang, New York, 1984
Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Enlightenment, Weatherhill, 1983
6 Ando vs. Louis Kahn
7 Shinohara vs. Marcel Duchamp
8 Isozaki vs. Archigram/Hollein/Stirling
9 Kurokawa vs. Team X/Archigram
10 Ishii vs. Moore
11 Fujii vs. Eisenman
12 Ito vs. Koolhaas
13 Takamatsu, Takasaki, and Kitagawara vs. Batman, Blade Runner or Brazil (or cine-spaces)