Collaborative Research
Comparative History of Architecture in East Asia
| Type of Research | Scientific Research（予備研究） |
|---|---|
| Project Title | Comparative History of Architecture in East Asia |
| Head of the Research Team | TAMAI Tetsuo |
| Research Period | 2006–2008 |
| Research Team |
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| Purpose | Since the Meiji Era, the history of Japanese architecture has been studied in the architectural courses of engineering departments and has been treated as part of the architectural engineering which is currently employed in building construction. Thanks to study of this kind, we have learnt to evaluate architecture as a cultural asset, to develop conservation techniques, and to train engineers. In addition, it may be possible to position the history of Japanese architecture in the field of technological history, which is closely–correlated to what are termed technological theories. For those individuals who look upon architecture as a part of culture and irrespective of technology, the study of architecture belongs to the study of history in the broadest sense of term, as that which deals with human beings. In this case, our interests are attracted to the social and economic conditions which sustain architecture. It is from this point of view that we hope to restructure the history of Japanese architecture. In order to accomplish this purpose, we need to abandon the idea that Japanese history is independent and autonomous and we need to globally study Japanese architecture in East Asia. We want to carry out a program of comparative research which has yet to be fully undertaken through comparison with Korean and Chinese temples and shrines, palaces and castles as well as traditional dwellings so that we can be more conscious of these other East Asian countries as well as other parts of the world. The other purpose of this research is to reveal and intentionally explain to academic fields not only in Japan but also outside of Japan, or at least in East Asia, our research methods which make use of excavated documents, recorded mythologies, paintings and the remains of architectural structures which have left their impressions on the land. The National Museum of Japanese History holds precious materials, such as building models and materials used in old buildings, which have not been fully or efficiently used in understanding the history of Japanese architecture. It holds also the important cultural properties, such as paintings and pottery, which have also not been fully or efficiently used in understanding decoration and construction methods. The main reason for this may due to the fact that the history of Japanese architecture was not abel to escape from the historical vision which sees Japan as a country whose entire history takes place inside of the Japanese islands and because no sufficient effort has been made to understand the history of Japanese architecture from a global point of view. The overarching purpose of this research is to develop a historical understanding of the meaning of the relationship between architecture and society through a re–examination of the history of Japanese architecture by observing it from the wider point–of–view of that of East Asia as a whole. It is also important to disseminate the results of our research by publishing reports that are not aimed solely at researchers but also the general public and to make a contribution to society by holding an exhibition at the National Museum of Japanese History. |
2006
Progress
We held the first workshop on Saturday the 17 and Sunday the 18 of June, 2006, at the National Museum of Japanese History. We two had participants from overseas (one from Korea and one from Taiwan) and five from Japan (three from Kyoto and two from Tokyo) in addition to the participants from the National Museum of Japanese History.
As it was the first workshop, we ascertained the essential problems under our theme "Creating the Framework for a Comparative History of Asian Architecture" and we discussed methods for carrying out this research. Due to the budgetary restraints set for preliminary research on the underpinning research, we postponed on–site investigations inside and outside of Japan at this time. As we were able to obtain approval for a three–year plan of conducting the preliminary research, we made a plan for the remaining two years as we had originally scheduled. The remaining unaccomplished projects of the first year will be completed along with the other projects during the second and third year.
An international symposium was held on December 12th and 13th, 2006, by budgeting the basic expenses, including fees for interpreters and for inviting the Korean researchers, from the Leadership Supporting Budget of 2005 and by budgeting the remaining expenses from the cooperative research budget. See the international communication column for detailed results of this symposium.
With the participation of Mr. Kim Dong–auk from Korea, we were able to hold a workshop with young Japanese and Korean researchers in the history of architecture in the meeting room of the Department of Architecture of School of Engineering of the University of Tokyo on March 13th (Tuesday). We obtained significant outcomes from this workshop in which 15 participants including Tetsuo Tamai, Atsushi Into and Keisuke Fuji and others took part. At this workshop there was an enthusiastic discussion concerning the presentations made by two young Korean researchers.
Two externally budgeted research projects relevant to this cooperative research were presented as follows:
| 1. Investigation on the Plan and Structure of Traditional Houses on Tokyo–do, Pigmy–do and Haul–do (conducted from August 23 to the 28, 2006) |
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Tetsuo Tamai participated as assigner and Kazuko Koizumi participated as collaborator to this Grants–in–Aid for Scientific Research, with the collaboration of Kim Dong–uk. A pratical study was conducted on the typical traditional houses which may be relatively easily found in the south–west of the Korean peninsula. Our research yielded significant outcomes for the Japanese and Korean comparative researchers who examined the traditional houses and also for the other researchers of traditional houses in East Asia. |
| 2. Investigation of Vietnamese Architecture (conducted between December 22 and 30) |
Shigeo Kawamoto, as the head of the research team, Kazuko Koizumi, as the research collaborator, and Tetsuo Tamai participated in the Grants–in–Aid for Scientific Research. The research was carried out on the typical traditional Vietnamese style buildings which remain in Ho Chi Mina, Hogan, Hue and Hanoi. Vietnam, which lies at the extreme south–west of East Asia is included in the architectural culture of China in a broad sense. Therefore we were able conclude that this investigation yielded precious materials for understanding the architectural cultures of East Asian. |
Result
At the first workshop, the situation of our current progress was reported and future projections were made in connection with the comparative research on the history of architecture of in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the other surrounding areas including Indonesia. And we conclude as follows:
- According to our projections, the future of comparative research on the history of architecture in each area is not bright, due to difficulty of generational change;
- No significant analysis of the interrelationships with other areas has been conducted; and
- Even in a single country, researchers do not study buildings which are not in his or her specialized field and they do not communicate with researchers in different fields of specialization.
Taking into consideration such detrimental conditions, we should continue to classify buildings such as palaces, religious buildings and houses, etc., but we must not avoid cross–over discussions. Additionally, we should not consider differences of country or region either. At this moment, we will pursue our research in conjunction with research in urban history which is relatively more advanced than that of other research but we will exclude the modern age, whose problems are of a different character.
