Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings - Couverture souple

Morse, Edward S.

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0486207463 ISBN 13 : 9780486207469

Editeur : Dover Publications Inc., 2000

Synopsis

This work deals with every aspect of the traditional Japanese home, from its general plan and major structural features to such ceremonial and traditional appointments as the tatami mats (which actually determine the size of the house), lamps, hibachi (braziers), fusuma and shoji screens, candlesticks, pillows, and tokonoma (places where art objects or flowers are displayed). It covers details of both construction and architectural ornamentation, and it points out the many ways in which the traditional Japanese house achieved the almost ideal blend of art and nature, decoration, and stark simplicity that is its hallmark. It shows in detail such things as how natural irregularities (such as in logs) are used to advantage, how partitions change the shape of the interior, and how the garden with its bridges, lanterns, and natural forms (sometimes artfully wrought) complements the severity of the house itself. More than 300 drawings by the author illustrate the text.
Morse was one of the first to try to see and understand a dwelling in terms of the culture and tradition of the people who live in it. As a result, this work, which for three generations has remained the most informative and exhaustive discussion in English of the Japanese home, is equally honored for its strikingly modern conception of architecture and, more particularly, of the Japanese home as a place where people live.
Since this work was first published, many of the traditional features of the Japanese home have altered under the impact of Western ideas. The work, consequently, should be particularly valuable to contemporary architects, artists, structural engineers, and scholars who want a purer view of the traditional Japanese dwelling. Because of its wealth of suggestion, it will also prove valuable to designers and craftsmen. For laymen, it continues to offer insight into a type of architecture (and a way of life) that is having an increasing impact on Western ideas.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Dutch in Japan, by Professor K. Mitsukuri, the author has occasion to refer to the uncle of one of the three famous Japanese scholars who translated into Japanese a Dutch book on anatomy. He says this uncle -M iyada was almost eccentric in his disposition. He held it to be a solemn duty to learn any art or accomplishment that might be going out of the world, and then describe it so fully that it might be preserved to posterity. The nephew was faithful to his uncles instructions, and thougli following medicine for his profession, he took it upon himself to learn hitoyogiri, a certain kind of music which was well-nigh forgotten, and even went so far as to study a kind of dramatic acting. Though not animated by Miyada sspirit when I set about the task of collecting the material embodied in this work, I feel now that the labor has not been altogether in vain, as it may result in preserving many details of the Japanese house, some of them trivial, perhaps, which in a few decades of years may be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. Whether this has been accomplished or not, the praiseworthy ambition of the old Japanese scholar might well be imitated by the ethnological student in his investigations, since nothing can be of greater importance than the study of those nations and Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. v. part i. p. 207.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

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Présentation de l'éditeur

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Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Dover Publications Inc.
• Date d'édition: 2000
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0486207463
• ISBN 13: 9780486207469
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 372
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Soc. Agr. La Raia Ss; http://www.la-raia.it; ; Strada Monterotondo, 79; Novi Ligure; 15067; Italie