To Soothe, To Comfort, To Bless?
Cover | Above. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden [between 1800 and 1829]. Artist: Johann Wenzel Peter [1745-1829].
What bearing, then, do these values - standardisation, variety in unity, conformity to a mode of living, connexion with nature, simplicity, and, of course, usefulness to purpose1 - of the Japanese house, have upon the solution of problems in contemporary architecture?2
Anyone involved in building design since the publication of The Limits of Growth and The First Global Revolution by the sinister 'think tank', the Club of Rome, will have been confronted in one way or another by the term sustainability, which according to the United Nations Brundtland Commission is: 'development that meets the needs of the present without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.3 In response to this, architects and designers from around the world joined a movement to create buildings that mitigate the notion that current [and historic] human activities - the burning of 'fossil' fuels and carbon dioxide [CO₂] emissions - are affecting the environment. Differing in size, location, and scope: these projects, pilot studies and experimental endeavours explored and expanded the role of the sun and wind, state-of-the-art technologies and new, innovative approaches to high-performance building envelopes to heat, light, and cool our buildings, and thus, reduce or eliminate our dependence on 'fossil' fuels.4
Since then, the need to re-engineer or retrofit our ageing domestic building stock and urban infrastructure - to increase thermal performance and energy efficiency - has gained increasing prominence.5 In the UK, for example, there are 22.2 million homes in England, and approximately 26 million homes in the UK as a whole: 20% were built before 1919, 56% were built between 1919 and 1980, and 24% were built after 1980.6 The UK is ranked lowest for energy [or fuel] poverty out of 13 western European countries and near the bottom of the other league tables on affordability of space heating [14th out of 15], share of household expenditure spent on energy [11th out of 13], homes in poor state of repair [11th out of 15], thermal performance [6th out of 8], and the gap between current thermal performance and what the optimal level of insulation should be in each country [7th out of 8]. Overall, no other country of the 16 assessed performed as poorly as the UK across the range of indicators.7
And yet, despite the negative environmental and social impacts of 'fossil' fuel extraction, transportation, refining, and consumption i.e., deforestation, ecosystem destruction, chemical contamination of land and water, long-term harm to animal populations, and displacement of indigenous communities; war and the millions of violent civilian deaths for who owns, controls, or has access to this resource;8 the mechanically repeated and sterile clichés of 'climate change' propaganda; and the fact that the average dual-fuel energy bill for a typical household increased from around £605 in 2004,9 to approximately £2,500 in 2024, there are many reasons for homeowners not to 'retrofit'. This indicates that there are multiple issues and perceived problems with 'trigger points' - the times in the life of a home where key measures like internal wall insulation [IWI] can be addressed alongside other refurbishment projects, on a room-by-room basis over several years.10
Of all the findings on how to promote energy efficiency in homes, one that receives relatively little attention, is the aesthetic-usability effect: a phenomena in which people perceive aesthetically beautiful design as easier to use, and has a higher probability of being readily accepted and used over time, whether or not they actually are, easier to use. More usable but less-aesthetically pleasing design, may suffer a lack of acceptance that renders issues of usability moot [debatable; doubtful]. These perceptions bias subsequent interactions, and have significant implications regarding the acceptance, use, and performance of a design.11 For example, in 2010 the Design Council et al. brought together a cross section of public and private sector groups for a design workshop to map hurdles across the customer journey - actions taken before and after a purchase. When it came to home insulation: 'people are proud of their homes and fearful that insulation products are ugly and unattractive', 'the problem is invisible and the solution is often invisible too', and 'people better understand the idea of keeping the ‘outside out’ e.g. double glazing than keeping the ‘inside in’ e.g. insulation.12
Underpinning most of this analysis is the concept of change resistance: the tendency for something to resist change even when a surprisingly large amount of force is applied. There are two forms: individual and systemic change resistance. Individual change resistance is the refusal of a social agent [independent entity's such as people, cultures, organisations, nations, etc.] to fully support or adopt new behaviour. Systemic change resistance is the tendency for a system as a whole to reject an attempted change, even if that change is promoted over a long period of time by a substantial fraction of the population. Thus when dealing with large difficult social problems, it is systemic change resistance we're speaking of when we say 'change resistance.' This is because the root cause of the problem invariably lies within the structure of the system, the 'architectural-industrial complex', and not within its individual agents - no other explanation is possible because we've seen huge numbers of perfectly workable solutions proposed.13
Evidence of this is found in legislation, green standards and guidelines, new evaluative tools, and in design firms that are striving to learn more about the issues e.g. the Climate Change Act, Building Regulations Part L: Conservation of Fuel and Power, Energy Performance Certificates [EPCs], Standard Assessment Procedure [SAP], Building Information Modelling [BIM], Stefano Boeri Architects, Shigeru Ban, etc. Some have been adopted by the masses: high grade - in terms of wind load, watertightness and air permeability - prefabricated window and external door systems. energy-efficient combination boilers, and LED lighting. The rest have run smack into a brick wall of change resistance, most notably, the Passivhaus: a world-leading energy efficiency and thermal performance standard delivering high standards of occupant comfort as well as heating and water costs that remain a fraction of the cost for dwellings of comparable size.
How then can the crux of the sustainability problem, change resistance, be solved? Architect Heino Engel [1925-2013] in his monumental opus The Japanese House: A Tradition for Contemporary Architecture presents examples of what can be done versus what is being done today,14 through the lens that distinguishes Japanese residential architecture from any other architecture, past and present, order in building - the prerequisite to humanism in architecture and to the physical, spiritual, and hence, aesthetical unity of all human work.15 The results are not definitive. They are the work of a single analyst and have not yet been subjected to the rigours of experimentation, calibration, expert opinion review, further iterations, and so on. Thus this is not the analysis or the solution. It's only an example of how a process that fits the problem can be applied. Most important of all, the analysis offers a new way forward for contemporary residential buildings that, if the root causes are anywhere close to correct, will work.16
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'Just as neither an engine nor an orchestra nor a sports team can perform without the integrated cooperation of all its parts, so a work of art or architecture cannot fulfill its function and transmit its message unless it presents an ordered pattern.'17
- Rudolf Arnheim
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The Japanese order of construction throughout its evolution has preserved a unique balance between form, space, and construction. Indeed, construction in the Japanese house is an essential component of space, as well as the major source of form.18 That is to say, everything that is a component of, or contributive to the erection of a Japanese house is standardised: fabric, measure, design, and construction; even the garden. This comprehensive standardisation, then, not only holds the value of instructive comparison with contemporary architecture, but also should remove many misconceptions and thereby promote a better understanding of the potential of standardisation and prefabrication in building. For in its history of more than three hundred years, Japanese modular coordination has produced certain results that have immediate relationship to modern standardisation:
Since the house is decided in all its major building elements, such as posts, lintels, rafters, sliding panels, mats, etc., and modulating agents: the cross-section of the standard post [121mm. = 4.8 in.] and the standard distance between the main posts [1,818mm. = 6.0ft], everyone is familiar with both design and construction of a building, even in detail. Since residences of any size and room arrangement are built with identical units, the component parts are prefabricated at the carpenters workshop. As a result, the actual building process consists of merely assembling the various units, and requires a minimum of time and labour. Since in his work the carpenter is confined to only a few standard forms and methods, he attains exacting technical precision and skill and accomplishes highly qualified work with a minimum of time and material. He does not need working drawings, nor is he concerned with constructional problems. Instead, he concentrates his creative instinct solely on the refinement of that which standardisation has not yet reached.19
By contrast, the supply chain for the architecture, construction, and building product manufacturing industries is extended and fragmented. Architects often rely on uncoordinated and poorly integrated product supply references, such as the Sweets Catalog, to research, understand, and specify products. Those products are often placed into documents and projects as open choices to be further whittled down by the construction bidding and procurement process. From there, a vast array of mostly uncoordinated products is destined for an onsite construction project with the workforce relegated to coordinating, fitting, and integrating these products into a coherent whole. This process is pure chaos, even under the best and most organised conditions. Often, a vast number of trades converge on a single point of finish within a project - bathrooms and kitchens often the most cited example - where they cannot all work, let alone fit, at one time.
Yet each is under great pressure to complete the work not just on time, but head of time. Add to this chaos unpredictable weather or work conditions, outside of the normative comfort zones for a normal workplace, and the stress of completing the work increases with the likelihood of diminishing the quality that most architects and clients demand. Now imagine approximately 2.0 ft square of each and every sheet brought to the site ending up in a dumpster and headed to a landfill. Add to that load after load of metal stud ends, wires, components, broken glass, aluminum, concrete block, and brick and it adds up to a small building’s worth of components and raw materials [approximately 40%] wasted each and every time we construct a building. The industry, the profession, [the client], and the Earth [should] no longer tolerate that sort of waste, let alone continue to absorb the economic impact of it.20
While architecture has passively accepted this as universal law, as though it were a force of nature, other industries have refused to do so. As Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake chronicled in Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies Are Poised to Transform Building Construction: the automobile, shipbuilding, and aerospace industries have remade themselves completely, sometimes twice over, since 1995. Their production methods are leaner, more time and material efficient, and more worker friendly. Their output range extends from a fully mass-customised product [automobiles] to a nearly fully customised one-off product [ships]. The scale of these products on average also exceeds the complexity and scale of almost anything produced in architecture. Arguably, a ship, plane, or car, all of which have to move and carry occupants and products safely, day in and day out, are more complex overall than many of the buildings the construction industry produces. Simply, the construction industry needs to deliver a product that meets the requirements of design, on budget, on time, without falling down or leaking. It often fails at this task.21
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'Architecture can be art. It can, in some circumstances, come to exist in an elevated realm – an art market beyond the general economy. Or architecture can be a commodity, an artifact of use to be bought and sold in accordance with prevailing principles of economic exchange. Only rarely, here in the twenty-first century, is architecture both art and commodity. The rest merely provide shelter with a minimum of means.'22
- Stephen Kieran & James Timberlake
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Already, therefore Japanese architecture has taught us something. Faced as we are with the problem of 'change resistance', we can learn from the order of construction, the possibility of designing and producing what Kengo Kuma calls 'structures for our time':23 small, low, Japanese-influenced indoor-outdoor architecture, of standardised and prefabricated timber building components; devised not for the sake of sustainable architecture, but for the sake of sustainable living. For, almost everyone will agree that we live in a deeply troubled society: boredom, demoralisation, low self-esteem, feelings of inferiority, defeatism, depression, anxiety, guilt, frustration, hostility, spouse or child abuse, insatiable hedonism, abnormal sexual behaviour, sleep disorders, eating disorders. etc. - are on the rise, and gaining a greater foothold, with each passing day. We attribute the social and psychological problems of modern society to the fact that society requires people to live under conditions radically different from the world of only one hundred years ago, and that it bears virtually no resemblance to the world in which human beings lived for thousands of years before that.24
Look round your neighbourhood,25 specifically the ordinary, everyday spaces and architectural elements adjacent to, beside, behind, and in front of our homes – in short, the spaces between buildings - and what do you see?26 Thick heavy, load-bearing masonry walls separate the inside from the outside. A large picture window or bay window facing onto the street, makes the outside world look like a picture, with a view of nature as something that is very far away, something 'out there.'27 What is generally referred to as a threshold – a zone of passage or pause, mediating movement from the very private interior to the very public exterior, is resolved by nothing more than a solid, functional entrance door or 'movable barrier'.28 In what is euphemistically called a ‘garden’ today, one typically sees: flat, empty rectangles of grey ‘brutalist’ concrete and/or lawns; a tangle of bushes, or wretched attempts to crowd as many different kinds of plants as possible into a given area;29 one or two private cars; and the preternaturally ugly ‘wheelie bin’ with its orbit of litter - but few people, if any, because conditions for outdoor stays [the key word is staying], are more or less impossible.30
In a study of the preferred areas for stays in Dutch recreational areas, the sociologist Derk de Jonge mentions a characteristic edge effect. The edges of the forest, beaches, groups of trees, or clearings were the preferred zones for staying, while the open plains or beaches were not used until the edge zones were fully occupied. Comparable observations can be made in city spaces where the preferred stopping zones also are found along the borders of the spaces or at the edges of spaces within the space. What they rarely choose is the middle of a large space. A supplementary explanation is discussed by Edward T. Hall in the book The Hidden Dimension, which describes how placement at the edge ... helps the individual or group to keep its distance from others. At the edge ... one is less exposed than if one is out in the middle of a space. One is not in the way of anyone or anything. One can see, but not be seen too much, and the personal territory is reduced to a semicircle in front of the individual. When one’s back is protected, others can approach only frontally, making it easy to keep watch and to react. In his book A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander summarises the experiences regarding the edge effect and edge zones in public spaces: 'If the edge fails, then the space never becomes lively.'31
Thus, the thesis’s main proposal is that of moving towards a remodelling practice, insertion. As the word suggests, it is the introduction or installation of Japanese-influenced, indoor-outdoor timber architecture into, between or besides an existing edge of a structure or space.32 The process is described as rapid accelerated timber frame construction. Building materials are largely timbers and boards, selected for grain and natural beauty, and seldomly, if ever, marred by paint.33 It involves the use of an interactive computer aided design [CAD] system and a computer aided manufacturing [CAM] system for programming a Computer Numerically Controlled [CNC] machine for precise and clean timber building components, such as floor planks, posts, lintels, and rafters.34 Because the structure is a simple post-lintel framework without the use of any metal connectors such as plates, nails or screws; the setting up of the assemblage is surprisingly fast, a few days, and is led by a small construction team of two carpenters. The roof is covered and heavily loaded with tiles laid upon latticework. Once material and man is protected against the frequent rains, the carpenter can continue his work with more ease and leisure.35
Bibliography and footnotes
1. Jiro Harada [1936]. The Lesson of Japanese Architecture, pp. 9.
2. Heinrich Engel [1964]. The Japanese House: A Tradition for Contemporary Architecture, pp. 23.
3. United Nations [1987]. Our Common Future [also known as the Brundtland Report]. Oxford University Press.
4. Mary Guzowski [2010]. Towards Zero Energy Architecture: New Solar Design, pp. 7-8.
5. Malcolm Eames; Tim Dixon; Simon Lannon et al. [2014]. Retrofit 2050: Critical Challenges for Urban Transitions, pp. 1.
6. Department for Communities and Local Government [2014]. English Housing Survey 2014 to 2015: Housing Stock Report.
7. Pedro Guertler; Sarah Royston [2013]. The Cold Man of Europe. Association for the Conservation of Energy, pp. 1.
8. Dara O’Rourke; Sarah Connolly [2003]. Just Oil? The Distribution of Environmental and Social Impacts of Oil Production and Consumption.
9. Committee on Climate Change [2011]. Household Energy Bills: Impacts of Meeting Carbon Budgets, pp. 4.
10. Energy Savings Trust [2015]. Trigger Points: A Convenient Truth. Promoting Energy Efficiency in the Home.
11. William Lidwell; Kritina-Holden; and Jill Butler [2003]. Universal Principles of Design: 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design, pp. 20-21.
12. Design Council; DECC; Energy SavingTrust; Eaga [2010]. How Can We Help People Make Their Home More Energy Efficient, pp. 32 & 46.
13. Jack Harich [2024]. Change Resistance. thwink.org.
14. Jack Harich [2024]. Summary of Analysis Results. thwink.org.
15. Heinrich Engel [1964], pp. 431.
16. Jack Harich [2024]. Summary of Analysis Results.
17. Rudolf Arnheim [1977]. Dynamics of Architectural Form. Quoted in Francis D.K. Ching [1996 2nd Ed.]. Space, Form, & Order. Wiley, pp. 319.
18. Heinrich Engel [1964], pp. 101-102.
19. Ibid, pp. 66.
20. Stephen Kieran; James Timberlake, Introduction. In: Ryan E. Smith [2010]. Prefab Architecture: A Guide to Modular Design and Construction, viii.
21. Stephen Kieran; James Timberlake, Introduction. In: Ryan E. Smith [2010], viii.
22. Stephen Kieran; James Timberlake [2004]. Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies Are Poised to Transform Building Construction, pp. 3.
23. Kengo Kuma, Introduction. in: Philip Jodidio; Kengo Kuma [2022]. Kuma. Complete Works 1988 – Today.
24. Theodore J. Kaczynski [1995]. Industrial Society and Its Future, pp. 6; Jerry Mander [1978]. Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television, pp. 56.
25. 'Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition, but the following may serve as a starting point: 'Neighbourhood is generally defined spatially as a specific geographic area and functionally as a set of social networks. Neighbourhoods, then, are the spatial units in which face-to-face social interactions occur - the personal settings and situations where residents seek to realise common values, socialise youth, and maintain effective social control;' Amie Schuck; Dennis Rosenbuam [2006]. Promoting Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods: What Research Tells Us about Intervention. The Aspen Institute. Quoted in Wikipedia [2024]. Neighbourhood.
26. Jiro Harada [1936], pp. 10; Larry R. Ford [2000]. The Spaces between Buildings. The John Hopkins University Press, pp. 3-4.
27. Kisho Kurokawa [1994]. Philosophy of Symbiosis. Chapter VIII: Intermediary Space; Philip Jodidio; Kengo Kuma [2022].
28. The Sleep of Rigour [2013]. Threshold: Link and Separator; Nato Giorgadze [2008]. The Greater Reality Behind Doors, pp. 21.
29. Edward S. Morse [1889]. Japanese Homes and their Surroundings. Chapter IV: Gardens, pp. 273.
30. Jan Gehl [2011]. Life Between Buildings: Using Public Spaces, pp. 31.
31. Ibid, pp. 149; William H. Whyte [1980]. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Project for Public Spaces, pp. 22.
31. Jan Gehl [2011], pp. 149-150.
32. Graeme Brooker; Sally Stone [2004]. Re-readings: Interior Architecture and the Design Principles of Remodelling Existing Buildings, pp. 102-103, 127.
33. Robert Wetterau [July 1955]. Arts and Architecture, pp. 6.
34. Science2Direct [1994]. Computer Aided Manufacturing. From: Mechanical Engineer's Reference Book [Twelfth Edition], 1994.
35. Heinrich Engel [1964], pp. 103-108.
23. Kengo Kuma, Introduction. in: Philip Jodidio; Kengo Kuma [2022]. Kuma. Complete Works 1988 – Today.
24. Theodore J. Kaczynski [1995]. Industrial Society and Its Future, pp. 6; Jerry Mander [1978]. Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television, pp. 56.
25. 'Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition, but the following may serve as a starting point: 'Neighbourhood is generally defined spatially as a specific geographic area and functionally as a set of social networks. Neighbourhoods, then, are the spatial units in which face-to-face social interactions occur - the personal settings and situations where residents seek to realise common values, socialise youth, and maintain effective social control;' Amie Schuck; Dennis Rosenbuam [2006]. Promoting Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods: What Research Tells Us about Intervention. The Aspen Institute. Quoted in Wikipedia [2024]. Neighbourhood.
26. Jiro Harada [1936], pp. 10; Larry R. Ford [2000]. The Spaces between Buildings. The John Hopkins University Press, pp. 3-4.
27. Kisho Kurokawa [1994]. Philosophy of Symbiosis. Chapter VIII: Intermediary Space; Philip Jodidio; Kengo Kuma [2022].
28. The Sleep of Rigour [2013]. Threshold: Link and Separator; Nato Giorgadze [2008]. The Greater Reality Behind Doors, pp. 21.
29. Edward S. Morse [1889]. Japanese Homes and their Surroundings. Chapter IV: Gardens, pp. 273.
30. Jan Gehl [2011]. Life Between Buildings: Using Public Spaces, pp. 31.
31. Ibid, pp. 149; William H. Whyte [1980]. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Project for Public Spaces, pp. 22.
31. Jan Gehl [2011], pp. 149-150.
32. Graeme Brooker; Sally Stone [2004]. Re-readings: Interior Architecture and the Design Principles of Remodelling Existing Buildings, pp. 102-103, 127.
33. Robert Wetterau [July 1955]. Arts and Architecture, pp. 6.
34. Science2Direct [1994]. Computer Aided Manufacturing. From: Mechanical Engineer's Reference Book [Twelfth Edition], 1994.
35. Heinrich Engel [1964], pp. 103-108.