The whole world knows the extraordinary, and indeed the Asian countries. The peculiarity lies in their amazing curved corners upwards, roofs. But, it should be noted that this is not only a feature of Japanese architecture. castles were built tall towers surrounded by a wall. Such buildings were called yamajiro. They were built so long ago that they have hardly survived to this day. Firstly, because their walls were wooden, and secondly, building yamajiro, around began to build simple houses, and populate the territory. Consequently, they were located on a plain, and it was difficult to protect these buildings.

Later, they began to build hirajiro, essentially the same as yamajiro, only built on hills. Already fenced them off stone walls, and protected more carefully. Main tower in hirajiro called tenshu. She was above everyone. Such towers could still be connected by covered passages, which thus formed a complex building, well protected. At the same time, such fortresses were very beautiful.

While, the Japanese have already learned how to make slate that covered the roofs. This slate was of various colors. But red slate, with golden edges around the perimeter, became widespread decoration of the roofs. a bunch of hirajiro served as defensive fortresses, and a place of settlement for people.

It should be noted that some modern buildings are built according to the principles of construction hirajiro. Including, in our time, ancient buildings have been preserved.

Japanese architecture. A bit of history

Traces of ancient settlements on the Japanese archipelago date back to the 10th millennium BC. The first "villages" consisted of dugouts with tree branch roofs supported by poles, known as tate-ana jukyo ("dwellings made of holes"). Approximately in the III millennium BC, the first buildings with a raised floor appeared, covered with gable roof. Such structures were built as dwellings for the leaders of the tribes and as storage facilities. In the IV-VI centuries. AD in Japan, huge tombs of local rulers, called "kofun", were already erected.

The oldest architectural monuments of Japan are religious buildings - shrines, temples, monasteries.

Shinto is considered the prototype of Japanese religious architecture. Ise jingu shrine(), built in the 7th century. simmei style and dedicated to the goddess of the sun, progenitor of the imperial dynasty. Its main building (honden) is elevated above the ground and has steps on the wide side leading inside. Two columns support the ridge of the roof, which is decorated on both ends with crossbeams intersecting above it. Ten short logs lie horizontally across the ridge of the roof, and the whole structure is surrounded by a verandah with railings. For centuries, every 20 years, a new one has been built next to the sanctuary, and copying it exactly, the deities move from the old sanctuary to the new one. So the "short-lived" type of architecture has come down to our days, the main character traits which are pillars dug into the ground and a thatched roof.

An important element of Shinto religious architecture is the gate to the shrine - torii.

The appearance of Buddhism in Japan influenced, and Buddhist temple architecture influenced the architecture of Shinto shrines. The buildings began to be painted in blue, red and other bright colors, metal and wooden carved decorations were used, covered premises for worshipers and other auxiliary premises were attached to the main building of the sanctuary.

Using a tree as a base building material determined by a number of reasons. Even - one of the most densely forested countries in the world, and in the past there were even more forests. To make it easier to endure the heat, the rooms were made light and open, with a floor raised above the ground and a roof that had long overhangs that protected from the sun and frequent rains. The masonry did not allow for natural ventilation of the premises.

Almost all Japanese buildings are combinations of rectangular elements.

Starting from Ise Shrines in Japanese architecture the trend towards horizontal development of space prevailed. This was further enhanced by the characteristic roofs of the buildings. tiled roof with wide overhangs distinguishing feature Chinese architecture.

By the 8th century The complex of buildings of the Buddhist monastery included 7 main buildings: a pagoda, a main hall, a sermon hall, a bell tower, a storage room for sutras, a sleeping room, and a dining room. In temple complexes, the inner area rectangular shape was surrounded roofed corridor in which the gate was made. The entire monastic territory was surrounded by outer earthen walls with gates on each side. Gates were named after the direction they pointed to.

Even now, the sheer scale of the ancient Buddhist temples amaze their visitors. The hall that houses Daibutsu (Great Buddha Statue), in the temple Todaiji in Nara City, the construction of which was completed in the 8th century, is the largest wooden structure in the world.

The idea of ​​tea houses influenced the architecture of palaces, which was expressed in the style sukiya. A striking example this style - imperial katsura rikyu palace . Shoin style reached its peak at the beginning of the Edo period, and the most outstanding example of such architecture is Ninomaru Palace in Nijo Castle(beginning of the 17th century).

An important aspect of traditional Japanese architecture is the relationship between the house and the surrounding space, in particular. The Japanese did not consider the interior and exterior space as two separate parts, rather, both flowed into each other. In other words, there is no boundary where the interior space of the house ends and the exterior begins.

The non-ruling classes of the population have a common name minka. Usually quite simple in design, they were built before late XIX century, until it was subjected to Western influence. Minka in rural areas were called noka, in the villages of fishermen - gyoka, and in cities matter.

Wood was mainly used in the construction - for the load-bearing columns and beams of the frame, as well as for the walls, floor, ceiling and roof. Between the columns, lattices of bamboo, fastened with lime, formed the walls. Lime was also used on the roof, which was then covered with grass. Straw was used to make hard thin bedding Mushiro and more durable mats tatami that were placed on the floor. The stone was used only for the foundation under the columns and was not used in the walls.

After the end of the period of self-isolation in port cities, western quarters began to form, which were built up with buildings familiar to foreigners. Russian buildings on Japanese soil also belong to this period.

With the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when Japan entered the path of modernization, new structural technologies who used brick and stone. New style received widespread recognition throughout the country as a style of buildings state enterprises and institutions. Office buildings and residences in the style of Western design became especially popular. Many architects from the USA and Europe worked in Japan. In 1879, a whole galaxy of architects graduated from the Tokyo College of Technology, who then began to play a leading role in the construction of the country.

The most famous buildings of the Western style are the Tokyo Station by the architect Tatsuno Kingo, the Akasaka Imperial Palace by the architect Katayama Tokuma.

However, stone and brick houses, built by conventional methods, did not withstand the earthquake of 1923, which also destroyed the surrounding area. The progress achieved in the development of methods for the construction of earthquake-resistant buildings allowed reinforced concrete structures to appear in Japanese cities at about the same time as in Western Europe.

Having recovered from severe shocks, entered a period of accelerated economic growth, when using steel and concrete Japanese engineering architecture reached one of the highest levels in the world.

Now flexible spatial structure has become almost a mandatory feature of buildings being built in Japan. national traditions infused with designs by Ando Tadao. In the buildings he built, access to natural light and nature is always thought out, thanks to which their inhabitants can enjoy unforgettable pictures, watching, for example, the change of seasons. © japancult.ru, architektura.ru

Modern technologies allow a lot. New architecture and interiors can be in any style, they can convey the atmosphere of any era, and it has become much easier and faster to achieve this: painting a plasterboard ceiling, decorating walls and floors lightweight materials in the service of the art of beauty, style and comfort.

In a series of KASUGAI Development publications on our website, we invite you to take a journey through the main milestones in the development of Japanese architecture - from ancient times to the present day. We will get acquainted with the most outstanding, unique and mysterious structures Japan.

The principles of Japanese architecture are based on the same worldview that has defined all the art of Japan as a whole.

The veneration of nature as a comprehensive deity, attention to the texture of materials, light and color in space, the desire for simplicity and functionality of forms - all these features of the Japanese vision of the world were associated with ancient ideas about the harmonious existence of man in the natural and objective environment.

An important feature of Japanese art was the desire to make the human environment "human". Architecture should not dominate a person with its perfection, but should evoke a sense of proportion, peace and harmony. It was in this way that the ancient masters went in architecture, creating houses for life and sanctuaries of the ancient religion. Shinto , and later - pavilions and rooms for the tea ceremony, country villas of the nobility and secluded Buddhist temples.

Other principles of man's relationship with the outside world were introduced by Chinese influence. Regular urban architecture, associated with the ideas of a proper world order, majestic monumental temples and palaces, striking with the splendor of decor, were called upon to create an order around a person that corresponds to ideas about the world order, hierarchy in the universe and empire. According to the traditional version, Buddhism was brought to Japan in 552. It was then that the monks who arrived from Korea presented the court of the Japanese ruler with scrolls with sacred texts, images of deities, temple sculpture and luxury items that were supposed to demonstrate the splendor of Buddhist teachings.

And already in the first half of the 7th century, Buddhism was recognized as the state religion of Japan, and rapid temple construction began. Submitting to the grandeur of Chinese architecture, a person had to be aware of himself as part of this complex system and obey the Law.

In contact with these two philosophies of art, national Japanese architecture is born. Over time, the difference in worldviews is somewhat smoothed out, and syncretic (mixed) religious cults appear. In art, forms are born in which Chinese samples are adapted to Japanese taste and acquire national features.

In part, it can be said that the Japanese rulers used the Chinese theme in search of an elevated, pathetic tone of appeal to their people. Virtually all the largest Buddhist temples of the Nara era, the Mausoleum of the first rulers of the Tokugawa era, and many other famous buildings, which we will talk about later, became such “appeals”.

It is important to note that the Japanese architectural tradition has always remained addressed, first of all, to the private life of a person, his daily and spiritual needs.

Possessing amazing ability to adapt other people's ideas, the Japanese also tried to make European architecture more familiar, which they met only in 1868, at the beginning of the Meiji era. From imitating the architectural forms of Western European styles, Japanese architects quickly came to the idea of ​​borrowing only constructive ideas and modern materials from there.

At the beginning of the 20th century, outstanding architects of Japan began to enthusiastically study national architecture. past centuries and seek in it the basis for a new Japanese architectural tradition. Interestingly, these searches also met with enthusiasm in the West: many European artists fell under the spell of the simplicity and harmony of Japanese architectural forms and introduced Japanese features into the philosophy of new European architecture.

So, in the next issues you are waiting for the following materials:

• Asuka Period (538-645) - Ise Jingu Shinto Shrine and Horyuji Temple
• Nara era (645-710) - Todaiji Temple, the largest wooden structure in the world
• Heian period (794-1185) - Byodoin Buddhist Temple and the unique Kiyomizu-dera Pure Water Temple
• Kamakura era (1185-1333) - Temples of the new capital, the ancient Japanese city of Kamakura.
• Muromachi era (1333-1573) - Gold and Silver pavilions (Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji)
• Momoyama era (1573-1615) - Himeji and Osaka castles
• Edo period (1615-1868) - Palaces, castles and temple complexes: Nijo Castle in Kyoto, shrines and temples of Nikko. The formation of landscape design and architecture of tea pavilions
• Meiji period (1868-1912) - The end of Japan's period of isolation: the influence of the Western architectural tradition. Civil architecture, new cities, new temples
• The Taishō era (1912 - 1926) - Japanese architecture in the context of Western modernism: constructivism
• Showa era (1926-1989) - New trends in architecture: metabolism, organic architecture
• Heisei (1989 to present) - Contemporary Japanese architecture

How did it all start? What distinguishes modern Japanese architecture? What are national architects interested in now?

Anastasia Mikhalkina is an art historian and specialist in contemporary architecture.

Speaking about the architecture of Japan, it is necessary to understand the combination of traditions and new technologies. Tradition means adherence to religious beliefs (the path of Buddhism and Shintoism), as well as the basics of building traditional houses (minka). While new technologies are not only achievements in science and technology, but also the influence of Western architecture on construction in Japan.

This was especially pronounced in the 20th century, when, after the discovery of the country in 1868, European influence began on all spheres of life in Japan. Architects such as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright visited here, even Walter Gropius influenced the development new architecture. However, over time, Japanese architects began to "grind" the European principles of construction to suit their way of life and lifestyle, which can now be observed in modern objects.

In the buildings of the 21st century, Japanese architects strive to create comfortable housing. A prerequisite is the inscribing of an object in the space surrounding it. Therefore, on the one hand, for people unfamiliar with this feature, the surrounding buildings, especially in residential areas, may seem dull or strange (a warehouse house or a polygon house). However, this principle comes out of the reverent attitude of the Japanese to personal space. For them, the house is a separate world that no one should see. They don't see, they don't envy. But the residents are much more comfortable and cozy.

But this is only a facade that looks like an unpretentious reinforced concrete box, while inside the architects recreate a whole castle from light, free space, a Japanese traditional garden. But, you ask, where? Indeed, this question is very helpful. If you look at the layout of the houses, you can see that this or that object has an area of ​​​​only 30 or 40 square meters. m. But this applies only to urban architecture, country houses much more spacious. Is this normal for Japan and citizens? Indeed it is. The Japanese have long been accustomed to getting along even for several generations in small space 30x30 meters. From this arises another trend towards the construction of high-rise buildings reaching for the sky. If not in breadth, then up.

The trend in the construction of "small houses" was revealed by the architect Kenzo Kuma. He speaks of this as a challenge that Japanese architects accept and - using the example of building houses and municipal facilities - demonstrate their skills. Until now, reinforced concrete and natural wood, glass and plywood are used in the construction.

In addition, I would like to draw your attention to a few modern buildings built in Tokyo. One of these is the house on Naka-Ikegami Street (Naka-Ikegami, 2000) by architect Tomoyuki Itsumi. Outside, the house is unremarkable, inscribed in the space of neighboring houses, pressing it into the square. It looks like a warehouse, but, as the architect admits, this house was conceived as a dwelling with many storage spaces. The area is 44 sq. m. The color scheme of the premises - white furniture with small patches wooden floors which visually expands the space. On the ground floor there is a garage, a children's room and a bathroom.

Second floor - kitchen-dining room. The third is the master bedroom. The whole house is lined with closets, spaces where you can store toys or clothes. There is nothing superfluous here, things are not scattered, but rather removed in all possible corners of the house. In this regard, it is very functional. On the second floor, where the kitchen and dining room are located, all appliances are built into white cabinets. The kitchen is divided into zones - a cooking zone and a refectory zone. Utensils are stowed away in a table-island, which moves apart, turning into an additional place for cooking. There are also cupboards in the floor where you can store bulky items. The bedroom has only a bed and a wardrobe built into the wall. The closet is deep, follows the shape of the roof, it is designed for both clothes and utensils. An interesting solution to the interior space, when the architect seeks to hide everything in the walls of the house, but it is very convenient and functional.

Another residential building is called Patio (Patio, 2011). Designed by Yaita and Associates, the main architects are Hisaaki Yaita and Naoko Yaita.

In plan - wide and elongated. The area is 80 sq. m. The desire of the customer was to create a house that would not attract attention from the outside and would be closed from everyone, while the interior space was to become a stronghold of the family, a place of rest. And the architects brought it to life. From the outside, the house is unremarkable. Except that the lower volume with the yard and parking space is a pedestal for the protruding top - the second floor. It looks like a mushroom. The first floor is lowered underground, then there is a layer for the entrance and garage, and then the second floor.

The first floor is chamber - there are bedrooms and a bathroom. There is also a patio. From the side of the street, the walls are lined with metal, and from the courtyard they are glass sliding structures. In the layer between the first and second floors there is a small tea room in Japanese style. The floors are covered with tatami mats, there is a tokomon niche with a scroll. The second floor is a living-dining room with a kitchen.

Between the layer and the third floor there is a small gap through which light and fresh air pass. Top floor on the one hand - concrete, on the other - covered with glass. The roof is also glass, due to which natural, sunlight always enters the room.

Another building - Aco House (Aso House, 2005) on Setagaya Street - was erected by a group of architects from Atelier Bow-Wow: Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kaijima.

private building, total area which is only 35.51 sq. m., inscribed in a corner between other houses and the road. The main material used in the construction is wood. The architects decided to take a non-standard approach to the 3-storey building. The plan shows that the rooms make up separate blocks that collect the entire space of the house into a single whole, like in the Tetris game. The staircase was divided into segments, placing it along the wall from the entrance to the roof terrace. Thus, it connects all five levels of the house (all the walls are curved or slanting, some rooms occupy one and a half floors of the building in terms of plan). On the ground floor there is a garage, an office, a library and a bathroom. On the second floor there is a kitchen-dining room. On the third floor - bedroom, mezzanine and terrace. The interior is made in the style of minimalism. Wide windows from the courtyard to almost the entire wall expand the space and allow natural light to penetrate, as well as outdoor terrace on the roof. Wooden floors and furniture add coziness, and from the sprawling trees outside the window there is a feeling of calm and warmth.

The main tasks that the national masters set themselves were what new architectural forms to create, how to fit them into environment how to make it as useful and functional as possible. National architecture made it possible to accommodate comfort, space and air in some 30 square meters. m. Agree, the achievement is not small. It is believed that the architecture of modern Japan does not stand still. Architects constantly resort to new materials, new forms, new construction technologies. It is true that Japanese modern architecture will continue to amaze and amaze, and foreign architects will increasingly be inspired by it and adopt the trends of national masters who have managed to reach new level in building houses.

The material was prepared especially for BERLOGOS.

Traditional Japanese architecture is characterized by wooden structures with massive roofs and relatively weak walls. This is not surprising when you consider that Japan has a warm climate and often heavy, heavy rains. In addition, Japanese builders always had to reckon with the danger of an earthquake. Among the structures of ancient Japan that have come down to us, the Shinto shrines of Ise and Izumo are noteworthy (Appendix, Fig. 1-2). Both are wooden, with almost flat gable roofs, far protruding beyond the actual building and reliably protecting it from the weather.

The penetration of Buddhism into Japan, which was associated with the realization of the unity of spirit and flesh, heaven and earth, so important for medieval art, was also reflected in the development of Japanese art, in particular architecture. Japanese Buddhist pagodas, wrote academician N. I. Konrad, their "multi-tiered roofs directed upwards with spiers stretching to the very sky created the same feeling as the towers of a Gothic temple; they spread the universal feeling to the "other world", without separating it from himself, but merging "Trembling blue skies and "Power of the Great Earth".

Buddhism brought to Japan not only new architectural forms, it developed and new technology construction. Perhaps the most important technical innovation was the construction of stone foundations. In the oldest Shinto buildings, the entire weight of the building fell on piles dug into the ground, which, naturally, severely limited the possible sizes of buildings. Starting from the Asuka period (7th century), roofs with curved surfaces and raised corners became widespread, without which today we cannot imagine Japanese temples and pagodas. For Japanese temple construction, a special type of temple complex planning is emerging.

A Japanese temple, regardless of whether it is Shinto or Buddhist, is not a separate building, as is customary to think, but whole system special places of worship, like the old Russian monastic ensembles. The Japanese temple-monastery originally consisted of seven elements - seven temples: 1) the outer gate (samon), 2) the main or golden temple (kondo), 3) the temple for preaching (kodo), 4) the drum or bell tower (koro or gray), 5) a library (kyodzo), 6) a treasury, what in Russian was called a sacristy (shosoin) and, finally, 7) a multi-tiered pagoda. Covered galleries, an analogue of our monastery walls, as well as the gates leading to the territory of the temple, were often architecturally remarkable independent structures.

The oldest Buddhist building in Japan is the Horyuji ensemble (Appendix, Fig. 3-4) in the city of Nara (the capital of the state from 710 to 784), erected in 607. True, in the old historical chronicle "Nihongi" there is a message about a big fire in 670, but Japanese historians believe that the kondo and pagoda of the Horyuji monastery survived the fire and retained their appearance from the beginning of the 7th century. In this case, these are the oldest wooden buildings in the world.

In general, all the ancient monuments of architecture in Japan are built of wood. This feature of the Far Eastern architecture is due to a number of reasons. One of them, and not least, is seismic activity. But it's not just about strength. The tree allows you to optimally connect, merge together the creations of human hands and the creation of nature - the surrounding landscape. Harmonious combination of architecture and landscape, the Japanese believe, is possible only when they consist of the same material. The Japanese temple-monastery merges with the surrounding grove, becomes, as it were, its man-made part - with high column trunks, intertwining branches of crowns, jagged crowns pagodas. Nature "sprouts" with architecture, and architecture then, in turn, "sprouts" with nature. Sometimes the forest element invades art in the most direct way. The trunk of the living big tree becomes support pillar in a traditional Japanese hut or a pillar in a rural shrine, keeping intact the original beauty of its texture. And inside the monastery courtyards, modeling not only and not so much the surrounding landscape, but nature, the universe as a whole, a kind of rock garden, a garden of concentration and reflection, unfolds.

A remarkable example of Japanese architecture of the second half of the 1st millennium AD. e. is: the temple complex Todaiji, built in 743-752.

At this time, Buddhism was declared the state religion of the Japanese. The beauty and magnificence of architectural structures dedicated to the "unknown god" have always been of paramount importance for conversion to new faith impressionable pagans and were considered an important tool for planting a new cult. So Emperor Shomu - it is with his name that the triumph of Buddhist doctrine in Japan is connected - decided to build in his capital, the city of Nara, a monument that would have no equal in other countries. The golden temple (kondo) of the Todaiji monastery (appendix, fig. 5) was supposed to become such a monument. If the buildings of the Horyuji ensemble are the world's oldest monuments of wooden architecture, then the golden temple of Todaiji is the world's largest wooden building. The temple has the height of a modern sixteen-storey building (48 m) with a base of 60 m in length and 55 m in width. The temple was built for six years. Its dimensions were determined by the growth of the main "tenant": the temple was supposed to become the earthly home of the legendary Big Buddha - a unique monument of medieval Japanese sculpture. From the outside, the building seems to be two-story due to two roofs rising one above the other. But in fact, the temple has a single internal space, where the thoughtful giant Daibutsu has been sitting for more than 12 centuries. True, wood is a short-lived material. During the past centuries Daibutsu-den burned twice (in 1180 and 1567). Japanese architects recreate ancient structures exactly one to one, so we can assume that today the temple is exactly the same as the inhabitants of the ancient Japanese capital once saw it.

The Yakushiji pagoda (appendix, fig. 6) is unique in architectural terms, it is the only one of its kind, built in 680 (that is, later than Horyuji, but earlier than Todaiji) and also located near ancient Nara. Yakushiji Pagoda has both traditional pagoda architectural features and significant differences. The peculiarity of this very high (35 m) tower lies in the fact that, being three-story, it seems to be six-story. It has six roofs, but the three smaller roofs are purely decorative. Alternating them with large structural roofs gives the tower a peculiar, jagged silhouette peculiar only to it.

Structures in Japan are rarely heavy and massive. There are always somewhere balancing - or rather lifting up - light and elegant details. For example, the Phoenix bird on the Golden Pavilion. For a pagoda, this is a spire, a continuation of the central mast, directed from the roof of the pagoda to the very sky. The spire is the most essential part of the pagoda, most clearly expressing its deep philosophical symbolism.

The spire of the Yakushiji pagoda (its height is 10 m) with nine rings around, symbolizing the 9 heavens, is a beautiful and original idea, common to Buddhist and Christian cosmology. The top of the spire - "bubble" is a stylized image of a flame with figures of angels in fluttering clothes woven into its tongues. The "bubble" is similar in silhouette and symbolism to the halos of Buddhist saints.

It is in it that the focus of the sacred power of the temple is located. It is on it, as in a kind of balloon, that the entire rather bulky building, raising the corners of the roofs to the sky, ascends to the invisible peaks of the Buddhist paradise.

Buddhist temple complexes differed in layout depending on whether they were built in the mountains or on the plain. The temple ensembles built on the plain are characterized by a symmetrical arrangement of buildings. AT mountain conditions due to the very nature of the terrain, a symmetrical arrangement of buildings is usually simply impossible, and architects had to find each time a specific solution to the problem of the most convenient location structures of the temple complex.

An interesting example of the layout of the temple complex of the Heian era is the Byodoin ensemble. In the center of the ensemble, as is customary, is the main temple - the Temple of the Phoenix (Appendix, Fig. 7), containing a statue of the Buddha Amida. The Phoenix Temple was originally a pleasure palace built at Byodoin Temple in 1053. According to legend, the plan was to depict a fantastic Phoenix bird with outstretched wings. Once the temple stood in the middle of a pond, surrounded on all sides by water. Its galleries, connecting the main building with the side pavilions, were completely unnecessary for religious purposes, but were built as if really to make the temple look like a bird. A covered gallery is also located behind, forming a "tail".

The temple complex is richly decorated with ornaments. From the Phoenix Temple, you can get an idea of ​​the nature of the palace buildings of the Heian era.

Since the second half of the 8th century, in the perception of contemporaries, the differences between the deities of the Shinto and Buddhist pantheons are gradually being erased, in connection with which elements of Buddhist architecture begin to be introduced into Shinto buildings.

At this time, quite large cities already exist in Japan. The capital of Heian (now Kyoto) stretches from west to east for 4 km, and from north to south for 7 km. The city was built according to a strict plan. In the center was the imperial palace. Large streets crossed the city in a checkerboard pattern. Palace complexes, like temple complexes, consisted of a number of buildings, including places of worship. On the territory of the palaces, reservoirs were built, including those intended for boating.

In the VIII-XIV centuries, several architectural styles coexisted in Japanese architecture, differing from each other in the ratio of borrowed and local elements, as well as in the features of architectural forms and construction techniques.

Since the 13th century, Zen Buddhism has become widespread in Japan, and with it the corresponding architectural style (kara-e - " chinese style"). The temple complexes of the Zen sect were characterized by the presence of two gates (the main gate and the gate following the main ones), covered galleries going to the right and left of the main gates, and the symmetrically located main temple containing the statue of Buddha (the house of the deity), and On the territory of the temple complex there were also various auxiliary buildings: a treasury, dwellings of priests, etc. The main temple buildings were built on a stone foundation and were initially surrounded by a canopy, which turned the roof into a two-tier one, later this canopy was often not made.

An outstanding monument of secular architecture of the late XIV century is the so-called Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) (appendix, Fig. 8), built in 1397 in Kyoto by order of the ruler of the country, Yoshimitsu. It is also an example of the kara-e style introduced by the Zen masters. A three-tiered building with a gilded roof - hence the name "Golden" - rises above the pond and garden on light pillars, columns, reflected in the water with all the richness of its curved lines, carved walls, patterned cornices. The pavilion is a clear evidence that Zen aesthetics was by no means simple and unambiguously ascetic, but could also be refined, complex. The tiered style became common for the architecture of the XIV-XVI centuries, both secular and spiritual. aesthetic value structures.

Zen architecture reached its pinnacle in the 14th century. In the future, the decline of the political power of the sect was accompanied by the destruction of most of its temples and monasteries. instability political life countries, wars contributed to the development of castle architecture. Its heyday falls on 1596-1616, but since the 14th century, castles have been built for centuries. Therefore, stone was widely used in their construction. In the center of the castle ensembles there was an ordinary tower - tenshu. At first, the castle had one tower, then several began to be built. The castles of Nagoya and Okayama were huge. They were destroyed already in the 20th century.

With late XVI century, large-scale temple construction resumed. Old monasteries destroyed during the period of civil strife were restored, and new ones were created. Some were just huge. Thus, the "abode of the Buddha" in the Hokoji Temple in Kyoto is one of the largest built in the country in its entire history. Outstanding architectural works of their time are the richly decorated Shinto shrines Ozaki hachiman-jinja (1607) and Zui-ganji (1609).

During the Edo period (XVII century), when the country was established centralized system management (the Tokugawa shogunate), naturally, the castle architecture declined. Palace architecture, on the contrary, received a new development. A remarkable example of it is the out-of-town imperial palace of Katsura, which consists of three adjoining buildings, a garden with a pond and pavilions.

Traditional Japanese architecture as a whole has reached its the highest level development in the thirteenth century. During the period of political instability, falling on the XIV-XVI centuries, the conditions for the development of the art of architecture were extremely unfavorable. In the 17th century, Japanese architecture repeated its best achievements, and in some ways surpassed them.

Since ancient times, the Japanese have accustomed themselves to the modesty of household use. The need for frequent rebuilding of buildings and concern for protecting them from destruction made it very early to develop rational constructive techniques for both residential and temple architecture. But at the same time, the unique expressiveness of each building was preserved, complemented by the beauty of wildlife.

Medieval Japanese architecture is simple and distinct in its lines. It corresponds to the scale of a person, the size of the country itself. Palaces and temples, various residential and outbuildings were built from wood. They were created according to the same principle. The basis was a frame of pillars and cross beams. The pillars on which the building rested did not go deep into the ground. During an earthquake, they oscillated, but withstood tremors. A space was left between the house and the ground for insulation from moisture. The walls in a warm climate were not capital and did not have a reference value. They could be moved apart very easily, replaced by more durable ones for cold weather, or removed altogether in warm weather. There were also no windows. Instead of glass, white paper was stretched over the lattice frame, letting a dim light into the room. scattered light. The wide eaves of the roof protected the walls from dampness and scorching sun rays. interior, devoid of permanent furniture, had sliding partition walls, thanks to which it was possible to create, at will, either a hall or several small isolated rooms.

The Japanese house was as clear and simple on the inside as it was on the outside. It was kept constantly clean. The floor, polished to a shine, was covered with light straw mats - tatami, dividing the room into even rectangles. Shoes were removed at the doorstep, all the necessary things were kept in closets, the kitchen was separate from the living quarters. In the rooms, as a rule, there were no permanent things. They were brought in and taken away as needed. But every thing in an empty room, be it a flower in a vase, a picture or a lacquer table, attracted attention and acquired a special expressiveness.

The landscape, which could be seen through the parted partitions of the house, also became significant. As a rule, at the Japanese house it was arranged small garden, which, as it were, expanded the boundaries of a house or temple. Its space was built in such a way that the viewer could feel surrounded by nature. Therefore, it must have seemed deeper than it really is. From different angles of view, new perspectives opened up for the eye, and each plant, each stone occupied a deeply thought-out and precisely found place in it. The Japanese adopted the gardening art from the Chinese, but gave it a different meaning. Chinese gardens were intended for walking, Japanese gardens were more subject to the laws of painting, served mainly for contemplation and themselves resembled a painting. The landscape scroll, the paintings on the screens and sliding doors, together with the garden at the Japanese temple, complemented each other, expressing the peculiarity of Japanese culture - the desire for harmony with nature.

Almost all types of art are associated with the design of the space of a house, temple, palace or castle in medieval Japan. Each of them, developing independently, at the same time served as a complement to the other. For example, a skillfully selected bouquet complemented and set off the mood conveyed in the landscape painting. In products decorative arts there was the same impeccable precision of the eye, the same sense of material as in the decoration of a Japanese house. Not without reason at tea ceremonies, as the greatest jewel, the utensils fashioned by hands were used. Its soft, glossy and uneven skull seemed to keep the trace of fingers molding wet clay. Pink-pearl, turquoise-lilac or gray-blue glazes were not catchy, but they seemed to feel the radiance of nature itself, with the life of which every object of Japanese art is associated.

Medieval Japanese architecture was mostly wooden. Various residential buildings, palaces and temples. The architecture of Buddhist and Shinto Japanese temples has both similarities and differences. A characteristic feature of Japanese architecture can be considered the connection of the building with the surrounding landscape - the water surface, vegetation, relief. As a rule, an architectural monument is not a single isolated building, but a complex of buildings, alleys, gardens that form a single park ensemble. In the gardens, there are always ponds and rocks, sometimes specially constructed.

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Buddhist buildings were ensembles, including the main (Golden) temple, a temple for preaching, a bell tower, a gate, a library, a treasury and pagodas. During the formation of feudalism, the capital of Japan was the city of Nara, built according to a clear plan. Temple ensemble in Horyuji near Nara (607) - the oldest wooden building peace - served as a model for all subsequent similar structures. Massive, but modest in size, the Golden Temple is supported by columns. The horizontal masses of the temple and other buildings are balanced by the vertical of the five-tiered pagoda. The entire ensemble is surrounded by a covered gallery. The stone platform on which the ensemble was erected, the curved edges of the tiled roofs, the system of under-roofing brackets, the painting of the columns with red lacquer were an innovation in Japanese architecture.

A significant role in temple ensembles is played by stone lanterns on low pedestals and a Shinto religious symbol: U-shaped gate - torii with a double upper crossbar. The myth tells that once the god of water and wind Susanoo raged and did a lot of trouble. His sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, took refuge from him in a heavenly cave. The world plunged into darkness. The deities tried many ways to get the goddess to come out of the cave. Only the singing of vociferous roosters, which were planted on a specially built high perch (in Japanese - torii), interested Amaterasu, and she left her shelter.

Every Shinto shrine necessarily has torii and even entire colonnades from the gate. The height of torii varies from several tens to 1.5 m. The material from which they are made is also very different: most often it is wood, but iron, bronze, and granite are also found.
The gates of the Itsukushima Shinto Shrine on the island of Miyajima, which literally means Temple Island, have become a kind of visiting card of Japan. It is located near Hiroshima. The gate, standing right in the water, is an amazing sight. They are painted purple-red and stand out beautifully against the background of greenish waters. At high tide, the temple resembles a sailing ship.

The era of feudalism in Japan is considered to be from the so-called Heian period (VIII-XII centuries) named after the new capital of Heian (now Kyoto). At that time, with the growth of national self-consciousness and the development of a refined metropolitan culture, along with Buddhist, secular palace architecture also flourished. The most famous monuments of Kyoto are the Kiyomizu Temple, Yasaka Heian, the Golden and Silver Pavilions, the Rock Garden at the Reanji Temple, the Nijo Shogun Castle, the old Gose Imperial Palace, the Katsura Rikyu Country Palace.
The Golden Pavilion - Kinkakuji is located in the northern part of Kyoto on the territory of the Buddhist monastery Rokuonji. Built at the end of the 14th century, the Golden Pavilion is a three-tier palace-temple with a harmonious distribution of different levels. On the ground floor there is a reception hall, surrounded by a veranda slightly protruding above the pond. The interior of the second floor is richly decorated with paintings, as it housed the hall of music and poetry. The first two floors with large galleries have practically no closed interiors due to sliding doors. The third floor, separated from the first two by a roof extension, is distinguished by large arched window openings, typical of Buddhist architecture of the 14th century. It was intended for religious ceremonies, covered with gold sheets inside and out.

On the roof with slightly raised edges there is a figurine of a fantastic phoenix bird. Slotted walls, light columns, patterned lattice cornices, whimsical shape of windows - all the details create harmony of a complex and bizarre building. The straight, unadorned supports of the building are successfully combined with the trunks of pine trees growing nearby. The curves of their branches echo the curves of the roof.

The pavilion is surrounded by an old garden. For many centuries, Kinkakuji has been reflected in Lake Kekochi (Mirror Lake). Numerous large and small islands with pine trees growing on them are located on its clear water. Bizarrely shaped stones and various colors rise from the water. Two main islands are clearly visible from the gallery of the pavilion - the Island of the Turtle and the Island of the Crane (in Eastern mythology, the tortoise and the crane are symbols of longevity). The Golden Pavilion is included in the list of national treasures of Japan.
The unity of the house and the garden is felt even more fully in the Silver Pavilion - Ginkakuji, built in the 15th century. This modest two-story wooden house is part of the ensemble of the Jiseji Monastery. The pavilion opens wide into the garden thanks to a veranda that is not separated from the rooms by a threshold and hangs low over the pond. When you sit in a room on the first floor, the boundary between home and nature becomes elusive: stones, water, a hillock overgrown with trees - everything that is visible beyond the edge of the veranda seems large and mysterious, although in reality it is very miniature. The internal space of Ginkakuji is easily changed with sliding walls. Unfortunately, the original idea - to cover this pavilion with silver - was never realized.

In Kyoto, there is the famous Rock Garden at the Reanji Monastery (XV century). A low adobe wall with a tiled roof separates the garden from outside world, but does not hide the green trees towering behind it. On a small rectangular area covered with white gravel, a complex composition of 15 stones is skillfully arranged. The stones, carefully selected in size and shape, are combined into several groups (five, two, three, two, three), each of which is surrounded by brown-green moss. The veranda of the abbot's house, which stretches along the garden, serves as a place of contemplation. The whole composition is conceived in such a way that the fifteenth stone always slips out of sight, hiding behind others. The garden-symbol gives the impression of a mystery. He clearly demonstrates that the world is unknowable, since the truth eludes man. Although there is nothing changing, withering or growing in the garden, it is always different depending on the time of year and day.

In the Middle Ages, a castle became a fundamentally new type of Japanese architecture. First of all, he played a defensive role. Fortified walls were erected around it. It, as a rule, was built on a mountain or in a bend of a river, so that it was possible to control a large territory. An indispensable attribute of a Japanese medieval castle is wide and deep ditches with water that surrounded it from all sides. Sometimes they were replaced by a river, lake or swamp. Inside the castle was complex system protective structures. The main of them has always been a tower - tenshu, which embodied the strength and power of the owner of the castle. The tower consisted of several rectangular tiers gradually decreasing towards the top with protruding tiled roofs and gables.

The dwelling itself was located not in fortified towers, but in a wooden building located on the territory of the castle. In the XVI century. from a modest dwelling of the samurai, it turned into a luxurious front palace. The building increased in size and became more magnificently decorated.

The interiors of the palace were also correlated with the power and wealth of the owner. Even the ceilings were covered with rich ornamental paintings and carvings. The decorative decoration gradually increased from the first hall to the main place of official receptions, where wall paintings on a golden background were always made. In this huge hall, the floor level was higher than in others, a sign of the chosenness of this place, intended for the shogun and his heir. The shogun sat in front of his subjects on a low elevation against the backdrop of a giant pine tree painted on the wall - a symbol of longevity, strength and power.

The Kannon temple complex in Tokyo occupies a vast territory. The Kaminarimon gate is very beautiful. A huge red paper lantern is suspended in their arch. Similar lanterns, only of a smaller size, have long adorned the houses and streets of Japanese cities and are still perceived as its indispensable attribute. The main building of the temple is striking in its grandeur. In the shimmering gilt, richly carved altar of Gokuji, there is a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, found in the river.
The ancient city of Nikko ("Sunshine City") is one of Japan's sacred sites and a well-known national natural park. Three and a half centuries ago, the Tosegu temple was erected here, striking with openwork carving and modeling, the use of enamel and lacquer, and refined artistic taste. During its existence, the temple repeatedly suffered from fires and was rebuilt more than 20 times.

Adjacent to the complex is the famous Sinke (Sacred) Bridge, a fiery red structure made of stone and wood, created 300 years ago. In terms of the originality of the silhouette and the organic combination with the surrounding landscape, it has no equal not only in Japan, but throughout the world.