Architecture: Key Principles of the Traditional Japanese House

Here, there are no windows or doors. The rooms are joined together and change their function at will! This spatial flexibility resides in the very design of this "void," organized hierarchically from the everyday to the sacred. A bit of poetry in this cruel world—follow the guide!

Total flexibility

It is not the room that decides who does what, but the object. The spaces are neutral and vary in size. Place a cushion there, and it becomes a living room. A futon, and it becomes a bedroom!

Throughout the day, the few pieces of furniture move according to needs. Even the paper-covered wooden panels are not fixed. They slide, are replaced, or are simply removed.

Tatamis

A person lying down is represented by a rectangle of approximately 190 x 90 cm, depending on the region. From this observation, the national unit of measurement was born: the tatami. We don't speak in square meters, but in rooms of six, eight, ten... tatamis. You can choose to install them in two directions, or parallel to each other.

Traditionally, the tatami is made of layers of rice straw stacked and compressed, then covered with woven straw. It also serves as a backdrop for the ambiance of light and shadow in these homes.

Buffer zones

Gallery, veranda, hallway… the engawa, literally "edge side," is difficult to characterize. It acts as an insulator and a transition between the inside and outside, but also as a place for relaxation or meditation. This gallery that surrounds the house can also be found indoors, surrounding a patio. It is extended by an awning or noki that protects against sun and rain.

Buildings lifted off the ground

Separating oneself without cutting off from nature. The ancestral house is raised by two steps. The residual space allows for air circulation and cools the dwelling. Two central posts anchored in the ground ensure the building's lateral stability. The rest of the structure is simply placed on large stones. Thus, in the event of an earthquake, the house moves but does not collapse.

An interior courtyard

Entering, leaving, then entering again… Traditional houses alternated between interiors and exteriors to isolate spaces from one another. The interior courtyard, often made of packed earth, separated the public part of the dwelling from the private. This transition space allows for living with the seasons. Whether it is raining or the sun is shining, the Japanese seek to remain connected to the elements.

The garden

The nihon teien or Japanese garden is a staging of nature on a reduced scale. A composition worked to recreate the living character of the world. Simplicity and temporality are at the heart of the concept of Zen beauty. In Europe, we view the landscape at 360°. In Japan, it is not necessary to experience it physically. The mere presence of the garden invites contemplation. Is this due to the whims of Mother Nature, who rarely spares the archipelago? The Japanese integrate microcosms into their homes with respectful distance and boundless admiration.

Omnipresent nature

Plants are an integral part of daily life in Japan. To cut oneself off from them would be a crime. Interior gardens are part of this ancestral culture and remain important to the younger generation. Today, even if space is shrinking, the Japanese do not sacrifice this connection to nature. Like living paintings, nature infiltrates the interiors, an invitation to slow down in an accelerating world.

In praise of shadows

What if we changed our view of shadows? No more fear of the dark or ghosts! In Japan, this "in-between" that allows one to discern without truly seeing is crafted as an art. These are not dark rooms, but an apology for variation, a chiaroscuro of rarely equaled mastery. It is all a matter of dosage. The architect, in the purest Japanese tradition, uses opaque, translucent, transparent, and striped walls to sculpt the moving shadow.