House Week #5
Comments: 5
Been slipping a bit with house week, so let me show you one that occupies an entire block (what’s been missing in punctuality we’ll make up for with size).
This house is huge. I’d give anything to be able to have a look around inside and often think about just knocking on the door and introducing myself. Hard to say how old it is but it’s well kept up. At least the occupants know how to spend their money. This is how extremely rich people with good taste live.
You can walk around the whole block and get nothing but the most tantalising glimpses – the walls are high enough that privacy (perhaps the greatest benefit of wealth) is thoroughly maintained.
The view above is from further back along the road. Quite an imposing wall they have there, although it’s beautifully done. The eaves make it extremely difficult to scale the wall, so it’s secure without being ugly or intimidating. There are a number of techniques where security measures actually enhance the beauty of walls, my favourite being topping the wall with a row of fine upward-facing twigs (like a long row of witches’ brooms). The combined mass of the twigs makes them strong while their shape makes it next to impossible to climb over.
The other end of the wall showing the old keijiban (notice board). Keijiban are still widely used although nowadays they’re mostly ugly metal things. Notices would have been posted here about festivals and other events or general municipal news.
What a tease this photo is (sorry) showing just a glimpse of the main house through the gate (by far the most impressive gate in the neighbourhood). Maybe it’s just my non-Japanese point of view, but what strikes me about this place is that although the owners are obviously very, very wealthy, there’s nothing ostentatious about the house at all (apart from the fact it occupies an entire suburban block). There’s a level of restraint and elegance here that’s rare these days when money seems to entitle people to advertise their luck in a variety of ridiculous ways. You see some places being built that obviously cost an awful lot of money and yet they’re just hideous. Testaments to the fact that money never bought anyone any taste. The occupants of this house (lucky bastards!) show how you can have it both ways.
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Posted to Architecture • 2002.11.07 (Thu) • 22:59
Comments
Posted by resonance 2002.11.08, 01:12
Beautiful.
I’m curious—what kind of woods are used in traditional Japanese architecture? The wood in the shots above has a very distinctive grain.
Posted by jason 2002.11.09, 13:54
I’m really enjoying this series and wanted to let you know that your effort at putting these together is appreciated.
Posted by jh 2002.11.09, 20:37
Resonance — many, many kinds of wood. Japanese carpentry is without doubt unequaled anywhere in the world. You can see massive wooden structures (temple gates, pagodas, entire buildings) built without the use of a single nail. The joinery is so good (and complex) that everything holds together.
As for the most common types of wood, Engel gives the following (my comments in brackets):
Hinoki (chamaecyparis obtusa), or Japanese cypress. [A beautiful, very aromatic wood with a light golden colour. The smell is one of my all-time favourites.]
Asunaro (thujopsis dolobrata), another kind of cypress. [More commonly known as hiba, very similar to hinoki.]
Akamatsu (pinus densiflora), red pine. [I think this is the wood used in the wall.]
Kuromatsu (pinus thungbergii), black pine.
Tsuga (tsuga sieboldii), hemlock spruce.
Sugi (cryptomeria Japonica), Japanese cedar. [Straight-growing so often used for structural beams.]
Zelkova is another one, and paulownia and mulberry are also used although mainly in ornamental applications or cabinets as they don’t last as long as some of the others. Paulownia is often used to make koto — the long stringed musical instruments you may have seen.
Jason — Glad you’re enjoying it. I’ve got more photos and things to show so may as well spin it out for a while longer. Let me know when you get bored!
Posted by resonance 2002.11.12, 05:29
Jeremy, thanks for the very informative response. I have read about Japanese joinery; I’ve recently (last 2-3 years) been building up a small woodworking shop (have to build shelves and shelves for all those aforementioned books…) Almost all of the reference books I’ve acquired mention not only Japanese techniques but the very unique tools used in Japanese woodworking as well. My local woodworking shop, for example, has a fairly large selection of Japanese saws. They’re very noticable because their stark packaging stands out quite a bit from the usual American fare. I asked about them once and they guy behind the tool counter said, “well, we don’t sell a lot of those…they’re a specialty item, but I know this: when someone comes in here and buys one, I’m going to be asking him for advice, because he probably really knows what he’s doing.”
That red pine is particularly pleasant, though. I don’t know if it’s as soft as some of the North American pines, but as I said before, it seems to have a beautiful grain. One of my favorite things about working with wood is hearing old carpenters talk about the various characteristics of different types of wood as if they’re all old friends.
Posted by John 2005.02.10, 15:25
I would like to know if you have any suggestions as to the best way to remove paint from red pine doors I have in a home I am renovating. I have been advised to dip the doors with caustic but they will come out fairly dark. Can you advise me if i there are other alternatives or options
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