Architecture & Space– category –
Architecture & Space of Japan
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More Than a Bath: How Japan’s Sentō Architecture Builds Community and Washes Away the World
You've probably seen pictures of them, even if you didn't know what you were looking at. A majestic, temple-like roofline tucked between modern apartment buildings. A plume of steam escaping from a high window on a cold night. The simple... -
The Step Up: Why Japan’s Genkan is the Most Important Room You’ve Never Heard Of
You probably don't think much about your front door. It’s a functional object, a barrier against the elements and unwanted visitors. You might have a doormat for a cursory wipe of the shoes, maybe a small table for keys and mail. You ste... -
The Space Between: Japan’s Satoyama Renaissance and the Quest for a Lost Landscape
Ask most people to picture Japan, and their mind probably jumps to one of two extremes. On one end, you have the Blade Runner-esque cityscape: Tokyo or Osaka, a dense vertical forest of concrete and glass, pulsating with neon and crisscr... -
The Engawa: Japan’s Vanishing Space Where Inside Meets Out
Someone once asked me to describe the most quintessentially Japanese space I could think of. My mind didn't jump to a neon-drenched Tokyo crossing or a serene Kyoto temple. It went somewhere much quieter, somewhere humbler. I thought of ... -
Playgrounds in the Sky: Japan’s Lost Rooftop Wonderlands
Walk onto the rooftop of a major Tokyo department store today, and you’ll likely find one of two things: a chic beer garden with craft IPAs and artfully arranged string lights, or a serene, minimalist garden where people sit quietly on b... -
The Unspoken Sermon: Why Japan’s Rock Gardens Speak in Stone and Sand
Walk up to the veranda of a Zen temple in Kyoto, and you might be confronted with a sight that feels like a quiet riddle. Before you stretches a walled enclosure, not filled with blooming flowers or lush greenery, but with a flat expanse... -
Borrowed Scenery: The Japanese Art of Erasing the Line Between Inside and Out
I was sitting on the polished wooden veranda of a temple in the hills of eastern Kyoto, the kind of place that doesn’t make it into the major guidebooks. It was late afternoon in autumn, and the air was crisp and smelled of damp earth an... -
The Art of Borrowing a Mountain: How Japanese Gardens Dissolve Their Borders
You’re standing in a Japanese garden, perhaps in Kyoto. It feels serene, meticulously composed, yet not entirely contained. Your eyes follow a line of carefully placed stones, past a sculpted pine tree, over a low, moss-covered wall, and... -
Concrete Dreams: The Rise and Quiet Fall of Japan’s Danchi
If you spend any time traveling through the suburbs of a Japanese city, you’ll eventually see them. Rising from the landscape of tiled roofs and tangled telephone wires are clusters of uniform, concrete buildings, usually five stories hi... -
The Art of the Infinite View: Understanding Shakkei, Japan’s Borrowed Scenery
You are standing on the wooden veranda of a small temple in the northern hills of Kyoto. The garden before you is simple, almost austere. It consists of meticulously raked white gravel, a few thoughtfully placed stones, and a low, clippe... -
Beyond the Wall: The Art of Borrowed Scenery in Japanese Gardens
You're standing in a Japanese garden, perhaps in Kyoto. The air is still, filled only with the sound of trickling water and the rustle of maple leaves. Before you lies a meticulously arranged world: moss-covered stones placed with intent... -
The Champagne is Flat: Uncovering Japan’s Abandoned Bubble-Era Resorts
You've probably seen them if you've ever taken a train deep into the Japanese countryside. Tucked away in a mountain valley or looming over a forgotten stretch of coastline, you spot a massive, incongruous structure. It might look like a...
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