Author: Dr. Chaim Zins
Translation: Ms. Kyoko Oki,
Editorial Comments by Ms. Kyoko Oki:
“Architecture” in Pillar 8 (THOUGHT & ART)
In this map, “architecture” is in the category of Arts -
Non-Literary, Pillar 8. I cannot definitely tell whether
engineering aspects are more significant than artistic aspects in
Japanese architecture, but, architecture could be perceived in Japan as
a field of knowledge in engineering, rather than a field in arts.
The tradition of architecture over there is that the structural side
(e.g., structural mechanics) drew very strong attentions in the
past. It is believed that this is due to the very existence of
earthquakes, which damage and sometimes destroy buildings and, as a
result, the majority of Japanese universities established their
department of architecture within the faculty of engineering. So,
while people do know that there are artistic aspects in architecture,
along with others (e.g., social, cultural and environmental aspects),
and probably give greater appreciations to them than, say, two decades
ago, architecture could still be perceived as an engineering field.
(In the Nippon Decimal Classification, “Architecture” is
under the main class of “Technology and Engineering”.
In the National Diet Library Classification, on the other hand, it
comes under the main class of “The Arts, Language,
Literature”, and it seems the engineering side of architecture,
e.g., Structural Design, is accommodated in the main class of
“Science and Technology”).
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