The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945

[bixaorellana]

The thread title is that of the exhibition currently at the Barbican -- one I wanted to see the second I read about it.

Just to get into an architectural mood, the station is very striking. I'll spare you photos of my bumbling down blind alleys and into parking lots in search of an entrance to the actual Barbican, though. Do take a pocketful of white pebbles when you go ~

After buying your ticket, you are directed upstairs. That portion of the show leads you logically around the mezzanine for as long as you wish to stay.
When you feel you've absorbed enough, you descend to the magical "exploded" house and gardens.

I'll try to let the exhibit tell its own story as much as possible, and in the mezzanine portion in the order it was presented, albeit in an abbreviated manner ~



This is one set of three screens, but I'm showing them at three different parts of the film.
The trick of showing sometimes one, then two, or all three screens in color at different times was interestingly effective.

Meanwhile, the movie about the geisha played on a separate larger screen on the right wall. Viewers could sit on large pillows on the floor of the all black room ~





Looking across the open area to the opposite side of the mezzanine ~

[bixaorellana]

A glance down into the "fantastical and lovingly crafted Japanese teahouse and garden designed by Terunobu Fujimori ... Come and watch day turn to night in the gallery space as part of this full sensory experience." (<-- from Barbican online brochure)

You will see that the light does change as we check out the house and garden in the open central court at different times ~

















I believe the coat on the mannequin is supposed to open up into the "coat houses" shown on the right wall ~

[bjd]

This is all interesting, Bixa. I had never thought about the destruction of much of Tokyo being the reason for the development of "minimalistic" architecture, but it does stand to reason.

My husband spent a few weeks in Japan in 1990 and said it was a really fascinating mixture of absolute modernity and appreciated tradition.

[cheerypeabrain]

Fascinating Bixa. I've always admired the exquisite minimalist nature of Japanese manufactured goods but didn't realise that it extended to architecture. There is a purity to the style that is completely enchanting. Form and function in harmony.

[bixaorellana]

Bjd, your husband's description is somewhat how I envision Japan and whets my desire to see that country.

Cheery, that is the perfect word: purity. And I'd think the harmony of design would affect the inhabitants positively.

What you both said prompted me to look for how Japanese homes were before WWII. The first page on this site is a quick overview of the traditional Japanese house. Its second page features the remodeling and modernizing of a 19th century family home. The other site is meant for children, but succinctly covers the structure and history of the Japanese house, including some cultural background. Be sure to click through all three pages. (you can skip the game )

Many thanks to you both for expanding the scope of this report. The links I found helped me better understand what I saw at the museum.

As I moved around the mezzanine, it was impossible not to sneak peeks at the scene below. "Sneaking" is the operative word, too. Even being aware that the structures were built as part of the exhibition, it was impossible to shake the feeling that I was peeping into people's lives ~

At a few points, the viewer can use steps to get a mouse's eye view into rooms ~



Just a quick last look around the mezzanine and then we'll go downstairs and look at the house ~

[bixaorellana]

I'll be honest here and say that I did not fall in love with this tea house and garden, although it prompted me to learn more about the architect, who is a fascinating character: www.dwell.com/article/terunobu-fujimori-e123c0fa

Pinned to the wall of one of the rooms ~

[bixaorellana]

[bjd]

Hmmm, I guess the advantage of leaving your books in piles on the floor is that they can't fall off shelves when you live in an earthquake-prone country. But there seems to be a definite lack of storage there.

Those room set-ups really do look as though somebody just got up and left.

[bixaorellana]

As you can imagine with a show of this breadth, a person could return and see things completely missed the first time and certainly learn more.
It's a monument to the show's designers, though, that pretty much at the same time you feel you've had enough, you've come to the end of the exhibits.
Just a last look at a last room, and then we're out of here ~

I emerge, eyes freshly buffed to architectural appreciation, to this lovely scene out the window of the exhibition's floor ~



Looking across to St. Giles church, with a glimpse of the Highwalk on the left of the picture ~

A kindly librarian from the Barbican accompanied part of the way on the Highwalk. After seeing an exhibition dedicated to a country rebuilt after the devastation of war, it was particularly pertinent to have this building pointed out to me. Before WWII this was a neighborhood of homes and stores, but was flattened in the Blitz.
A stone somewhere on that building, middle ground in the picture, commemorates the lost neighborhood.

終わり

the end

[bjd]

Not to threadjack, but you might find this article interesting:

www.houzz.com/ideabooks/84942828?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u5289&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery6&newsletterId=5289

[bixaorellana]

Not a threadjack at all! In fact, thank you so much for adding that here. I'd actually already read the article, then completely spaced it out when I made this thread. It really helps answer questions about the influences on Japanese architects in the 20th century and what they were doing before WWII. Further, it references how much those architects were in contact with each other and with the big doers in western architecture. You really expanded the scope of the thread with that link.

Jun 14, 2017 9:40:00 GMT bjd said:

Hmmm, I guess the advantage of leaving your books in piles on the floor is that they can't fall off shelves when you live in an earthquake-prone country. But there seems to be a definite lack of storage there.

Those room set-ups really do look as though somebody just got up and left.

Yes, the piles of things make me crazy, although a picture I'm now adding made me crazier -- using stairs for storage. The minimalism might be a holdover from an older tradition, when things were tidied out of sight every day, or it might be a reflection of how that shared housing is used. You'll note that there is expensive furniture and what appears to be student-style bare minimum.

Anyway, here are the pictures I didn't use in the main part of the thread ~

This is the room shown earlier, with all the beer bottles on the table. The stairs!



And this is the shelving you can see just beyond the cluttered stairs ~



As with the wire shelving above, you can see storage space was brought into the house.
I live in a country where this is common, as opposed to built-in, and I think built-in makes so much more sense.



This room has a western-height table and chair, but the rest of it is bare, with items stored on the floor ~