Temporal Architecture: Poetic Dwelling in Japanese buildings

Heidegger’s thinking about poetic dwelling and Derrida’s impressions of Freudian estrangement are employed to provide a constitutional analysis of the experience of Japanese architecture, in particular, the Japanese vestibule (genkan). This analysis is supplemented by writings by Japanese architects...

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Main Author: Michael Lazarin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: TU Delft OPEN Publishing 2008-06-01
Series:Footprint
Online Access:https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/689
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author Michael Lazarin
author_facet Michael Lazarin
author_sort Michael Lazarin
collection DOAJ
description Heidegger’s thinking about poetic dwelling and Derrida’s impressions of Freudian estrangement are employed to provide a constitutional analysis of the experience of Japanese architecture, in particular, the Japanese vestibule (genkan). This analysis is supplemented by writings by Japanese architects and poets. The principal elements of Japanese architecture are: (1) ma, and (2) en. Ma is usually translated as ‘interval’ because, like the English word, it applies to both space and time.  However, in Japanese thinking, it is not so much an either/or, but rather a both/and. In other words, Japanese architecture emphasises the temporal aspect of dwelling in a way that Western architectural thinking usually does not. En means ‘joint, edge, the in-between’ as an ambiguous, often asymmetrical spanning of interior and exterior, rather than a demarcation of these regions. Both elements are aimed at producing an experience of temporality and transiency.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 1875-1504
1875-1490
language English
publishDate 2008-06-01
publisher TU Delft OPEN Publishing
record_format Article
series Footprint
spelling doaj-art-1717ccda70d94de085915d13898954392025-08-20T03:54:33ZengTU Delft OPEN PublishingFootprint1875-15041875-14902008-06-012210.7480/footprint.2.2.689715Temporal Architecture: Poetic Dwelling in Japanese buildingsMichael LazarinHeidegger’s thinking about poetic dwelling and Derrida’s impressions of Freudian estrangement are employed to provide a constitutional analysis of the experience of Japanese architecture, in particular, the Japanese vestibule (genkan). This analysis is supplemented by writings by Japanese architects and poets. The principal elements of Japanese architecture are: (1) ma, and (2) en. Ma is usually translated as ‘interval’ because, like the English word, it applies to both space and time.  However, in Japanese thinking, it is not so much an either/or, but rather a both/and. In other words, Japanese architecture emphasises the temporal aspect of dwelling in a way that Western architectural thinking usually does not. En means ‘joint, edge, the in-between’ as an ambiguous, often asymmetrical spanning of interior and exterior, rather than a demarcation of these regions. Both elements are aimed at producing an experience of temporality and transiency.https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/689
spellingShingle Michael Lazarin
Temporal Architecture: Poetic Dwelling in Japanese buildings
Footprint
title Temporal Architecture: Poetic Dwelling in Japanese buildings
title_full Temporal Architecture: Poetic Dwelling in Japanese buildings
title_fullStr Temporal Architecture: Poetic Dwelling in Japanese buildings
title_full_unstemmed Temporal Architecture: Poetic Dwelling in Japanese buildings
title_short Temporal Architecture: Poetic Dwelling in Japanese buildings
title_sort temporal architecture poetic dwelling in japanese buildings
url https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/689
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