The Conformity to Nature Phenomenon in Modern Japanese Architecture

Abstract

The article examines the uniqueness of modern architecture in Japan from the point of view of combining aesthetic principles, the origins of which go back to the traditional religious and philosophical thought of the Far Eastern civilization, with new design techniques. The author gives a retrospective analysis of its formation, starting from the Meiji era. The phenomenon of the naturalness of the architecture of metabolism and minimalism is revealed based on the analysis of the most important Japanese aesthetic principles, the observance of which allowed modern Japanese architects to create an architectural sign-symbolic space filled with deep meanings reflecting the connection of times and generations. The understanding of form in the Far Eastern aesthetic tradition is considered, through the analysis of the concepts of katati, kata and sugata, as well as its determination within the framework of the ‘aesthetics of wind’. The importance of the ideological principles of kaei and ma in shaping in the architecture of metabolism and minimalism, as well as in the organization of space, is revealed. The concretization of the kaei principle in relation to the architectural form is the recognition of layering and the duality of the latter. The form hides the inner semantic content of an architectural object, being a kind of shell, a symbol. In addition, the explication of the kaei principle is observed in the transition of internal space to external space. This is how a sense of unity with nature is achieved, even in an urbanized environment. This principle is embodied in the aesthetic concept of renmentai. The category of the main architecture is a space–time interval. Applied to architectural space, ma reflects emptiness and rhythm. Ma unites and fuses space and time; it is expressed in such things as openings, transitional spaces, space defining the form, smoothly changing forms. The analysis of the principle of excess of color comes to the conclusion that the formation of the aesthetics of black and white is a reflection of the characteristics of wabi – simplicity. Using the example of a semiotic analysis of the works of architects-metabolists and minimalists, including the projects of Kisho Kurokawa, Kenzo Tange, Tadao Ando, the implementation of some traditional aesthetic principles in modern Japanese architecture is considered, that allowed us to achieve harmony of architecture and nature.