Japanese architectural style of mansion-estates constructed in the Heian period (794–1185). The form consisted of a shinden (central building) to which subsidiary structures were connected by corridors. The shinden faced south on an open court, across which was a pond garden. The eastern and western tainoya, or subsidiary living quarters, were attached by watadono (corridors), from which narrow corridors extended south, ending in small pavilions. This layout resulted in a U-shaped arrangement around the court. Seealso shoin-zukuri.

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The were palatial or aristocratic mansions built in Heian-kyō (平安京, today's Kyoto) in the Heian period (794-1185), especially in 10th century Japan).

Shindenzukuri later developed into shoinzukuri and sukiyazukuri (数奇屋造 detached teahouse type architecture). During the Kamakura era, it developed into bukezukuri(武家造 housing for a military family).

Structure

Main characteristics of the shindenzukuri are a special symmetry of the group of buildings and undeveloped space between them.

A mansion was usually set on a one chō (町) square (120 m ground). The main building, the shinden is on the central north-south axis and faced south on an open courtyard. Two subsidiary buildings, tainoya (對屋), were built to the right and left of the shinden, both running east-west. The tainoya and the shinden are connected by two corridors, called sukiwatadono (透渡殿) and watadono (渡殿). A chūmonrō (中門廊, central gate corridor) at the half way points of the two corridors, leads to a south courtyard, where many ceremonies were celebrated. From the watadono, narrow corridors extend south and end in tsuridono, or small pavilions that travel in a U-shape around the courtyard. Wealthier aristocrats built more buildings behind the shinden and tainoya.

The main room of the shinden is called the moya. It is surrounded with a secondary roofed hisashi, or veranda. The moya is one big space partitioned by portable screens. Guests and residents of the house are seated on mats.

In front of the moya across the courtyard is a pond garden. Water runs from a stream (yarimizu 遣水) into a large pond to the south of the courtyard. The pond had islets and bridges combined with mountain shapes, trees, and rocks to create a feeling of being in the land of the Amidah Buddha.

Officers and guards lived by the east gates.

Since the Shindenzukuri-style house flourished during Heian period, houses tended to be furnished and adorned with characteristic art of the era.

Other Influenced Styles

Bukezukuri

The Bukezukuri is a house created for a military family. It is similar in structure to the regular shindenzukuri with a few room changes to accommodate the differences between the aristocratic family and the military family. During the time when military families rose in power over the aristocrats, living quarters changed. Each lord had to build extra space in order to keep his soldiers around him at all times with their weapons within reach on the grounds in case of a sudden attack. To help guard against these attacks, ayagura (櫓) or tower was built and torches were scattered around the gardens so they could be lit as quickly as possible.

With the increase of people living under the same roof, extra rooms called hiro-bisashi ("spacious room under the eaves") were built grouped around the shinden. The zeze (膳所 kitchen) was also built bigger in order to accommodate the required people needed to cook all the food for the soldiers and members of the household.

Unlike the Shindenzukuri, bukezukuri homes are simple and practical, keeping away from the submersion into art and beauty that led to the downfall of the Heian court. Rooms characteristic of a bukezukuri home are as follows (taken from the cited work by P.D. Perkins below):

    Dei (出居　reception room)

    Saiku jo (細工所　armory)

    Tsubone (局　a divided place in the mansion)

    Kuruma-yadori (車宿　a shelter for kuruma 車 and gyusha　牛舎)

    Jibutsu do (持佛堂　a room in which the ancestral tablets and other symbols of Buddhist worship were kept)

    Gakumon-jo (place or room for study)

    Daidokoro (kitchen)

    Takibi-no-ma (焚火間　place for fire)

    Baba-den (馬場殿　horse-training room)

    Umaya (厩　stable)

The bukezukuri style changed throughout the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, and over times the rooms in a bukezukuri style house decreased as daimyos and started to use castles.

Shoinzukuri

(see Japanese kitchen)

Current Examples

There are no remaining original examples of Shindenzukuri-style homes, however some current structures follow the same styles and designs:

Heian Palace

Byōdō-in's Phoenix Hall

Hojoji

References

• AISF | Shindenzukuri

Encyclopedia Brittanica

"The Rise and Decline of Bukezukuri" P. D. Perkins, Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 2, No. 2. (Jul., 1939), pp. 596-608.

"The Phoenix Hall at Uji and the Symmetries of Replication Mimi Hall" Yiengpruksawan, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 77, No. 4. (Dec., 1995), pp. 647-672.

"Shinden-zukuri no kokyu" (The Study of Shinden-zukuri) Dr. Shoin Maeda, Nippon Kenchiku Zasshi (The Japan Architectural Journal)

External links

• Very extensive article with pictures