auaesmrtsrfcs: 025_idealhouse

Heino Engel, Measure and Construction of the Japanese House:

The construction of the Japanese house, both the act and the system, albeit very refined in detail, has in fact never quite left its original primitive stage. When, during the first and second centuries, dwellings with elevated floor, taka-yuka, first appeared, Japanese residential architecture not only found one of its distinct constructional-organizational features, but also made its first and last, though major, technical achievement. All fundamental constructional distinctions of the Japanese residence already existed in taka-yuka, and no essential change took place thereafter.

While in the constructional system of the earliest "house," the pit dwelling, tate-ana, the slanting rafters rose directly from the ground and were themselves the major members forming both the framework and roof, in the system of the dwelling with elevated floor, taka-yuka, the vertical columns became the major supporting members...

...Until the advent of Western methods, diagonal ties or struts were not used, or, if known of at all, certainly their structural value in saving material and granting firmness and durability was not realized.

Yet, this form of setting up the framework is surprisingly fast. As the components have previously been dressed, the assemblage itself takes but a few days. With hardly more accomplished than what appears to be circumscription of space by fragile timbers, the roof will already be covered and heavily loaded with tiles that are traditionally inbedded in clay or, as is often done today, laid upon latticework. The roof, then, is the first component of the Japanese residence to be completed in the construction process, and it appears as if the preceding work is primarily orientated to achieve that aim in the quickest way possible. Once material and man is protected against the frequent rains, the carpenters can continue his work with more ease and leisure.

縄文時代 14000-4000 BCE: