Exterior design of main houses with regard to building layout in rural house compounds in special preservation areas for historic landscape

Asuka village in Nara Prefecture has been designated as one of the “Special Conservation Areas for Historic Landscape” since the 1960s and is known for its richness in historic remains from the Asuka period. This paper aimed to clarify the exterior design composition of rural main houses in six village sections in Asuka village. Based on the data collected in these village sections, an item/category data are compiled. Using this IC data, by performing “multiple correspondence analysis” followed by cluster analysis, samples are classified into 15 clusters. The obtained clusters are further grouped into Townhouse type, Intermediate type between townhouses and farmhouses, Farmhouse type, Conventional construction type, Modern type, Yamato-mune (thatched roof) type, Single-storied traditional type, and Single-storied type. Given that our previous research paper revealed the variation and development process of house compounds, the analysis next explores the relationship between the building layouts in house compounds and the exterior designs of main houses. Finally, the paper tries to find out the characteristics of the dominant typologies of exterior design of main houses in each village section.