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Lao Tze and Confucius' Philosophies Influenced the Designs of Kisho Kurokawa and Tadao Ando

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Lao Tze and Confucius' Philosophies Influenced the Designs of Kisho Kurokawa and Tadao Ando Trisno and Lianto City Territ Archit (2021) 8:8 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-021-00138-x RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Lao Tze and Confucius’ philosophies infuenced the designs of Kisho Kurokawa and Tadao Ando Rudy Trisno* and Fermanto Lianto Abstract Japanese architecture retains the characteristic of appreciating its culture, despite the growing infuence of Western architecture. Based on this issue, it is a very interesting area to study to understand the design concepts behind two masterpieces from the world’s architects Kisho Kurokawa and Tadao Ando. This study uses a qualitative method by analyzing theories and case studies in the work of the architects Kisho Kurokawa and Tadao Ando. It conducts the fol- lowing detailed analyses; (a) Western architects who infuenced both design concepts; (b) The primary considerations of the two architects in facing the demands of the times. The study concludes that Kisho Kurokawa was infuenced by Kenzo Tange, while Tadao Ando has been infuenced by Le Corbusier and Louis Khan. The primary consideration of Kisho Kurokawa is Hanasuki, while for Tadao Ando it is Shintai. The fndings in this study are that the two architects in the design concept were inspired by Japanese culture, where Japanese culture is infuenced by the philosophy of Lau Tze and Confucius. Keywords: Design concept, Hanasuki, Kisho Kurokawa, Shintai, Tadao Ando Introduction been used in Japanese architecture (Chang 1985). As a Te design of modern architecture in Japan is strongly designer, it is only natural to pay attention to local cul- infuenced by local indigenous culture, in line with the ture in its genius loci. In some ways, a genius loci exert a development of the level of fnancial and architectural powerful desire to be able to maintain culture (Norberg- technology, which itself is increasingly advanced. Japa- Schulz 1971). nese architectural design follows the advancements of Based on the above issues, this area of research is Western technology, although its architectural character quite interesting to study, especially concerning two and design still pay attention to Japanese culture (Nose Japanese architectural masters, namely Kisho Kurok- 2000). In general, countries with advanced economic awa and Tadao Ando, who already have a reputation at levels tend to follow the development of buildings from the national and international level, and in terms of the Western countries. Tis can lead to a situation whereby role of the design concept in dealing with this issue. Te the identity of the country’s culture is lost, and the cul- research questions explore the following areas; (1) West- ture that emerges may be that of Western countries. ern architects who infuenced both design concepts; Japanese architecture is diferent from other forms of (2) Te primary considerations of the two architects in architecture as it is usually characterized by simplicity dealing with the demands of the times. Tis research is as a symbol of longevity and durability, which has long expected to contribute to the knowledge of architectural theory to increase the scope of architectural theory and *Correspondence: [email protected] Department of Architecture, Universitas Tarumanagara, Jl. S. Parman No. 1, Jakarta 11440, Indonesia © The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ licen ses/ by/4. 0/. Trisno and Lianto City Territ Archit (2021) 8:8 Page 2 of 11 enhance the ability of architect practitioners to design designing it. According to Louis Khan, “Monumental- concerning local culture. ity in architecture may be defned as a quality, a spiritual quality inherent in a structure which conveys the feeling Materials and methods of its entirety, that it cannot be added to or changed. We Material feel that quality in the Parthenon, the recognized archi- Te material in this study comprised buildings designed tectural symbol of Greek civilization” (Harrison-Moore by architects Kisho Kurokawa and Tadao Ando. However, and Price 2006). before tracing the works of the two architects, it is neces- sary to link them with the title of the research, namely; Primary considerations in facing the demands of the times Lao Tze and Confucius infuence the design concepts Te primary consideration in the design of Japanese of Kisho Kurokawa and Tadao Ando. A search of the architecture is greatly infuenced by the view of life, prior literature enabled us to determine whether other as found in the philosophy of Lao Tze and Confucius; researchers have studied this area; as such, we searched indeed, this view is a very signifcant infuence. Tus, for previous studies using the keywords Kisho Kurokawa space in Japanese architecture is a combination of two and Tadao Ando. From the keyword “Kisho Kurokawa,” Lao Tze and Confucius’ philosophies, and this is an we identifed that the concepts of Metabolism and Sym- essential infuence on the cultural-religious Japanese biosis are found in the urban and building context. Te society (Chang 1985; Barrie 1996). Te inclusion of nat- keyword “Tadao Ando” generated results linked to the ural elements following the philosophical views of Lao geometric shape of buildings, exposed concrete, natu- Tze in the book Tao Te Ching teaches the concept of Yin ral enrichment, and ideas related to natural elements. Yang, which is a balance between two diferent binary Te details of the search for prior studies are shown in opposites such as day and night, light with dark, outside Table 1. and inside, and other elements that are the opposite of Based on Table 1, the research discussing the architects each other (Chang 1988; Handoyo 2007; Ven 1987; Bar- Kisho Kurokawa and Tadao Ando is associated with the rie 1996). In the context of a building and garden, “Te infuence of the philosophy of Lao Tze and Confucius, building and the garden surroundings attempted to re- which nobody has discussed. Terefore, this research create this ideal, which refected the harmony and bal- aims to fll a gap that has never been studied so that the ance of the universe” (Bring and Wayembergh 1981). state of the art and the fndings obtained by this study From this Lao Tze philosophy combined with Confu- have novelty value. cius’ philosophy, Confucius teaches personal morality to humans, so that the merging of these two philosophies Theoretical greatly infuences the cultural-religious Japanese society Western architects who infuenced to be able to survive, despite the strength exerted by the Te role of the idol architect has infuenced the work of entry of Western culture into Japan. Since the entry of Kisho Kurokawa and Tadao Ando so that their work pro- Western culture on July 8, 1853, by the American Com- vides an advantage for them in the form of an architect’s modore Matthew Perry who frst came to Japan. So that insight to produce his architectural designs (Johnson Japan has modern commercial relations with America, 1994). Along with the architect’s experience, the design which at its peak in 1868 Japan carried out a Meiji resto- results change based on his experience as an architect ration to modernize Japan (USA 2018). practitioner; for example, this can be seen in the work Te geometric shapes and solid structures had a sig- of Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier, where the design of the nifcant infuence on Le Corbusier in the thought and building was infuenced by the architect who designed design of the building. Tis indicates that Le Corbusier the Parthenon temple building. Te Parthenon is geomet- uses basic and geometric shapes as functional philoso- ric with Doric columns and inspired Villa Savoye in such phies of buildings. Tese basic and geometric shapes a way that the latter appears to be foating. Tis “foating” are also widely used in the contemporary architecture of building is supported by a column structure referred to as Japan (Chang 1985; Meyhofer 1994). Te use of primary pilotis by the architect Le Corbusier (Trisno et al. 2019). and geometric shapes is a designation of natural form Te relationship between architectural theory and his- following the view of Lao Tze, such that the concept of tory is thus very close, with each infuencing the other in architect Le Corbusier can be accepted by Japanese soci- terms of architecture (Johnson 1994). It can therefore be ety. Te Yin Yang concept of Lao Tze reveals the dark said that if an architect is idolized earlier in the course of and light used by Yoshinobu Ashihara to express sacred his track record, then this, of course, can afect the design buildings (Ashihara 1970). In a church, natural light on work. Tis can be seen in Villa Savoye as the work of Le the altar is an expression of a sacred building, yet besides Corbusier, who was infuenced by the Parthenon when that, the natural light in a church symbolizes holy light
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