What makes Japanese houses so different?
Japanese houses have been the case of admiration for decades. Not only architects have highlighted their neatness and simplicity. But in reality, the construction systems used in ‘traditional’ Japanese houses are as complex as any other or even more (nail-free joinery techniques).
Believe it or not, what makes Japanese houses look so different is the conception of furniture. In the west, we name the house areas depending on the furniture they hold and the activities they serve for: bed-room, bath-room, dining-room and even tv-room. Accordingly, those spaces are designed and measured to hold the furniture: a bedroom will, at least, have enough space to fit a bed.
In Japan, it is completely different, one single room can host diverse activities. You can sleep, eat or read in the same area; however, you will not use the same furniture, you will need to bring the appropriate one into the space. Reason why, their beds and tables are compact, portable and light. Beds– futons– are rolled up and stored until needed again. Therefore, a room will remain empty until an activity takes place in it.
The way Japanese ensure that activities can be performed is by composing their spaces by a number of ‘tatamis’– flooring mats of approximately 90 cm by 180 (2:1 ratio). Tatamis have human proportions, a person is approximately the size of a tatami; therefore, a tatami fits one person sleeping and two persons sitting in the floor.
The tatami’s proportional radio allows diverse orthogonal arrangements. Doors slide to avoid heckling the activities developed in the space; doors and walls turn into the same thing. Consequently, the rooms will always be simple empty boxes enclosed by delicate wooden structures.
Admiration goes both ways. Nowadays, Japanese have adopted western costumes and they use pieces of furniture in their daily life, and glass and concrete are integral materials of their contemporary architecture. Minimalist architecture can be considered a hybrid of both practices; where westerns look for simplicity and Japanese for modernity and commodity.
