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PHILOSOPHY AND ARCHITECTURE IN THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIOCULTURAL SPACE // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2015. Issue 4 (6). P. 65-75

The article presents analysis of the problem of interaction and mutual influence of philosophical and architecture worldviews. Theoretical and methodological foundations of the of the paper were laid by semiotic conceptions of U. Eco, Ch. Jenks, existential-phenomenological conceptions of M. Heidegger and P. Virilio as well as works of postmodernist philosophers. The change in perception of space and its reorganization via architectural forms is viewed in the light of sociocultural transformation of the “fluid” modernity. Regularities in development of philosophical knowledge and architecture are revealed by the example of the ideas of postmodern philosophy embodying in new architectural forms, representing various trends of non-linear architecture. In general, postmodernism is viewed as a philosophical and world outlook foundation of the contemporary architecture.

Keywords: philosophical worldview, architectural worldview, space, perception, non-linear architecture, postmodernism, poststructuralism

VISUALIZATION OF TRADITIONAL AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES IN MODERN ARCHITECTURE OF JAPAN // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2022. Issue 4 (34). P. 82-101

The article analyzes the problem of the correlation of traditions and innovations in modern architecture in Japan. The problem of preserving architectural identity has become especially relevant in the context of globalization. The uniqueness of modern Japanese architecture consists in the effective explication of traditional aesthetic principles in visual art, whose development is inevitably determined by the socio-historical context. The traditional aesthetic principles which were formed in the Middle Ages and have preserved their significance and influence on the modern socio-cultural space of the Land of the Rising Sun are considered. Among them are the principles of mono-no avare, yugen, wabi, sabi. These principles reflect the traditional Japanese worldview and peculiarities of thinking, since they go back to the traditional religious and philosophical teachings that have spread in Japan. Their visualization by means of architectural techniques is especially significant because it allows us to maintain socio-cultural continuity and the connection of times. They are the elements of the modern aesthetic paradigm on the basis of which architecture develops, they determine the formation of codes of architectural space. The most important is the aesthetics of wabi-sabi, which has combined two principles. It defines moral qualities as well as their visualization in material culture, particularly in architecture. It underlies the simplicity and incompleteness of forms close to emptiness, proximity to nature, appeal to the inner essence of things that are inconspicuous externally, the value of damages reflecting the course of time and events in the past. Japanese minimalism originates in the aesthetics of wabi-sabi. Taken together, these aesthetic principles form the quintessence of the Japanese worldview, which is notable by contemplation and positioning of nature and man as a unity. Visualization of this aesthetics in architecture has proved to be achievable through the use of natural materials (wood, bamboo, rice paper) and planning of residential space. New trends have been developed in modern Japanese architecture, including minimalism and metabolism. Despite the influence of Western architectural patterns, representatives of the trends managed to preserve architectural identity by forming new architectural styles. This turned out to be feasible due to the flexible balancing between traditions and innovations, and their effective synthesis. The main architectural techniques that are the conductors of tradition in modern architecture are considered: (a) positioning of architecture as a continuation of nature, which is the reason for special shaping; (b) embodiment of traditional aesthetic principles through elements of architectural space – emptiness–gap–shadow; (c) combination of traditional and modern materials. The article presents a semiotic analysis of several architectural objects: the Museum of Modern Art, Hiroshima, architect Kisho Kurokawa; Global Loop, EXPO 2005, Aichi, architect Kiyonori Kikutake; Church of the Light, Ibaraki, architect Tadao Ando; the Water Temple, Awaji, architect Tadao Ando. The analysis demonstrates some spatial codes that reveal the deep iconic and symbolic wholeness of architectural objects, reflecting the amalgamation of traditional and modern consciousness of the Japanese.

Keywords: Japanese aesthetics, Japanese modern architecture, metabolism, minimalism, wabi-sabi

The symbolic space of the Japanese garden: Ideological foundations // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2024. Issue 2 (40). P. 79-102

The article considers the conditionality of the Japanese landscape garden’s space of signs and symbols by historical and religious-philosophical factors. The chronological framework of the study covers the Heian epoch (794-1185). Its significance in the development of Japanese landscape architecture and, in particular, garden art is connected with the emergence of a new refined aesthetics, which became the theoretical basis for the formation of the “feminine” style in Japanese culture. The rise of the aristocracy in this period gave impetus to a new style of life: palace-park and temple architectural complexes were built, part of which was a Japanese garden. In this regard, a special type of Japanese garden – landscape pleasure garden – was formed, as well as the canon of landscape architecture, reflecting the spatial and symbolic representations of the Japanese and the methods of their reproduction in the garden space. The uniqueness of the worldview foundations of the sign-symbolic space of the Japanese garden of the Heian era is expressed in the synthesis of several religious and philosophical teachings coexisting in Japan: Shintoism, Taoism, Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, and a number of religious schools that emerged as a result of the interpretation of Buddhism and its combination with Shintoism. Their symbiosis formed a special worldview, which was explicated in the culture of Japan. Japanese garden in any style is an embodiment of the model of vision of the universe through the prism of a certain philosophical and aesthetic system. Religious and philosophical foundations of the Japanese society determined the content of the symbolic-symbolic space of the garden and the choice of appropriate architectural and design techniques of its construction. The methodological basis for the semiotic analysis of the Japanese garden is the typology of spatial codes, including object-functional, architectonic, and social-symbolic codes. The significance and specificity of the application of each code in the process of constructing a landscape Japanese garden with its inherent sign-symbolic space are considered. The basic architectural and design methods of realization of spatial codes, the purpose of which is to embody the concept of the universe in the format of a Japanese garden, are revealed. The architectonic code structures the garden space, as a result of which its compositional solution corresponding to the garden concept is designed. Technically, this goal is achieved through the use of a number of architectural and design techniques. The most significant of them are the technique of suggestive metaphor, the technique of textural modulation, the technique of asymmetry, as well as planning techniques based on the theory of contrasts. Hinting metaphor is used in the coding of separate objects of the garden, for example, stones. The essence of the texture modulation technique is the alternation of the material of the paths, which is felt both tactilely and visually, which in general symbolizes the passage of different stages of human comprehension of the truth of existence in the unity of space and time. The reception of asymmetry allows visualizing the changeability of the world, its permanent movement. Justification and disclosure of the mechanism of spatial codes application allows positioning the Japanese garden as a communicative space, the sign-symbolic content of which is conditioned by the socio-cultural factor and depends on the aesthetic paradigm of the era underlying the architectural and garden art.

Keywords: space of signs and symbols, Japanese garden, Heian era, landscape architecture of Japan, semiotic analysis of Japanese garden