Cat’s Eye View of Japanese Architecture vol. 5 – Perishable Landscape
Do you know what colored maple leaves and cherry blossoms have in common? The answer is that both are perishable. Their colors, red of maple and pink of cherry, last only for a few days. Japanese people cherish them because of their short lives. Yes, I said “because of”, not “in spite of”. The logical […]
Cat’s Eye View of Japanese Architecture vol.3
If you want to find cats in Japan, you would have the best luck by going to shrines and temples. Why? There are two reasons: One is that the shrine and temple grounds are “public” places where nobody stops you to come in, even if you are a cat. In fact, they used to be the only public […]
Cat’s Eye View of Japanese Architecture Vol.2 – Crawling
At the beginning of “I AM A CAT” by Soseki Natsume, an abandoned cat crawled through a gap in a bumboo fence looking for some food. It found itself in a yard of someone’s home and said “How strangely the wheel of fortune turns! Had it not been this gap, I might have starved to […]
Cat’s Eye View of Japanese Architecture vol.1
Architects often visualize objects through a “bird’s eye view”. But at PED, we try to use a “cat’s eye view”, instead. Why? A view through “bird’s eye” is an image of space that you would never actually see as a human being. It would make you understand the total form of architecture, but if you never see it once built, what […]
