Download Komyo-ji Temple, SAIJO

K omyo -j i Tem p l e ,
TA DAO A N D O
Te c h n i s c h e U n i v e r s i t e i t E i n d h o v e n
14-05-2012
Professor:
ir. T. Veeger
Wr itten by :
Teodora Cirjan, S ara N ikouyeh, Ülk ü O guzk ur t
SAIJO
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Table of contents
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INTRODUCTION
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KOMYO-JI TEMPLE
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MATERIAL AND WATER
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LIGHT AND SHADOW
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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TADAO ANDO
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K O M Y O - J I T E M P L E , J A PA N
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INTRODUCTION
Komyo-ji is a new temple which is renovated from a 250 year old structure. The
temple consists of a square laminated
wood structure that is an interpretation
of traditional Japanese temple architecture.
Ando’s design idea for this project as he
said was:
“A main building of wood, shrouded in gentle light and floating over
water.”1
The Komyo-ji temple is one of the works
of Tadao Ando that is less known when
it’s the discussion about light. The Church
of light seems to be a very successful and
highlighted work of Ando.The reason
why we chose to analyse the Komyo-ji
temple is because of its wooden structure that is different from Ando’s usual
language of concrete constructions. We
started modeling the temple to witness
the role of light in this wooden structure
and to realize the quality of light in combination with wood and the surrounding
water. The night visualization was also
important and wonderful to see how
the lights from inside the temple reflect
on the water surface around the temple.
This creates an united piece of architecture.
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Komyo-ji temple by night
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1 http://www.faithnform.com
TA D A O A N D O
TADAO ANDO
Tadao Ando was born in 1941 in Osaka,
Japan. He seems to be one of the most
successful uneducated architects of the
time. When he was 15 years old he became interested in architecture and
studied the sketches of a book he bought
from Le Corbusier. He learned the finest
of architecture in his own way outside
classrooms and universities. He started
architecture by seeing the original buildings and read about them in books.
After a lot of travels to Europe, United
states and Africa he started his own design ideas and along with that he became
the winner of many prestigious awards,
when in 1969 he founded Tadao Ando
Architectural & Associates in Osaka.
Now he is one of the most successful
contemporary architects in the world
and is famous for designing with the respect to nature and by using the natural materials such as light and water.
It seems that materiality, tactility and
emptiness are the features of his works.
“The first impression of his architecture is its materiality. His large
and powerful walls set a limit. A
second impression of his work is
the tactility. His hard walls seem
soft to touch, admit light, wind
and stillness. Third impression is
the emptiness, because only light
space surround the visitor in Tadao
Ando ‘s building.” 2
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Tadao Ando
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2 http://architect.architecture.sk
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TADAO ANDO
Ando’s works consists of simple forms
and in the same time as complex as
possible when he mentioned himself
indebted to Le Corbusier and Mies van
der Rohe. His most remarkable works
are the religious buildings such as the
Church of light and the water temple.
Although it seems that he is much influenced by Japanese architecture he
creates spaces of enclosure rather than
open spaces. His architecture is characterized with the use of reinforced concrete, with geometric simplicity and spatial articulation by using light, water and
nature itself.
Water temple, Awaji
Komyo-ji temple, Sajio
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The Church of light, Osaka
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Komyo-ji temple dancing on the water surface
KOMYO-JI TEMPLE
The Komyo-ji temple is a reconstruction
of the temple of the pure land Buddhist
dating from the Edo period (1606-1867).
The temple is situated in the eastern part
of Sajio city in Ehime Prefecture. It is a
small city on an Inland sea with a mild
climate. The city is known as a gateway
to Mount Ishizuchi with at 1,982 meters
the highest mountain in Western Japan
and is crossed by a network of canals
carrying fresh mountain water.
As in the meantime there is no religious
use for the temple, the temple’s chief
priest had no particular requests concerning the architecture. He simply expressed that the temple “should be a
place where people can come together;
a temple open to the community”.
After 250 years of the construction of
the main temple, the decision of renovating and reconstructing the temple as
well as constructing a guest room, offices and housing for monks came true.
There was no specific role for designing the temple, so Ando referred to the
original temple and tried to preserve the
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3 http://www.theplan.it
cent additional volumes for community
meeting space and offices and housing
for monks are constructed in concrete. A
large open space has been created filled
with natural light roofed by three layers
of crossed beams supported by sixteen
columns, divided into four parts. The
space has a floor covered by hundred
mats and is bordered by a glass screen
and surrounded by an outer wall consisting of poles measuring 15 x 21 cm, they
are set 15 cm apart and separated by
glass in between. After passing through
the hall of the building, the visitors pass
through a bridge and walk over natural
spring water that surrounds the temple.
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Drawings of the Komyo-ji temple
The main wooden construction
Japanese architecture tradition with assembling the wooden elements and the
theme of unity. The temple has a square
laminated wood structure that is a version of traditional Japanese architecture.
Although it seems to be different from
Ando‘s usual architecture with monolithic concrete constructions, the adja-
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KOMYO-JI TEMPLE
The visitors can walk around the temple through a corridor between the inner part which is defined as a wooden
screen of frosted glass, and the outer
façade. This space is an intermediate
seperation between the inside and the
outside. The light goes through the glass
between the woods in the outer façade
and creates rhythmic shadows on the
wooden floor of the corridor, this is an
amazing play of light during the daytime.
The effects of light and the remarkable
forms of shadow which is created by the
effect of wood, are emphasized by the
water around the temple, which increases the sacred soul of the temple.
At night the temple changes into a mystical appearance when the light from the
interior is reflected on the water surface
around the temple. The water around
the temple plays a strong role in making
this design as a sacred space, by reflecting the wooden structure. On the concrete walls of the new volumes of housing and offices are also shadows created.
The surrounding areas maintained without touch and the stones and the trees
are remained. Although with the permission given to Ando to demolish the
pavilion and entrance he saved them
to preserve the original geometry of
the site and to create a path that winds
around the pavilion. All in all creates a
poem with a combination of wood, light
and water.
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Interior of the temple
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Japanese tradition of wood
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4 www.floornature.com
TA D A O A N D O
Tadao Ando himself noted ”once the project was completed, that the unplanned
elements fit perfectly into the context,
increasing its value and creating effects
of depth in the architectural spaces, and
that the design of the building evolved
bit by bit, without following any prior
plan, gradually rediscovering the value
of memory of tradition and the mystic
essence of the place in a progressive dialogue with context which gradually took
form in the process of definition of the
architecture. “
MATERIAL AND WATER
Natural light filters through into the
main area. The floor which is covered
by straw mats to create an open, luminous space. From the outside it is possible to perceive vaguely what takes place
inside. For this design Ando uses wood
together with water. The wooden building is cloaked in light and appearing to
float on the water. He emphasises the
importance of water by reflecting its appearance into it. The temple is serene
and at the same time dynamic. Together
with the wind the temple is dancing on
the water surface. It is a poetic game between materials and light.
Facade contruction model
K O M Y O - J I T E M P L E , J A PA N
Soft reflections from the interior
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LIGHT AND SHADOW
For the model we used wooden sticks to
make the construction which contains of
joints. The wooden slats in the facade
together with the light coming from the
outside creates a light game in the corridor which changes every time of the
day. At night the building changes with
light coming from its interior it creates
a soft, vague, mystical reflection on the
surface of the water. By looking to the
façade by night it seems like looking at
harmonious infinity.
A lot of wooden parts are cut for a single building. The building takes shape
as these parts are assembled and fitted together. Ando wanted to create a
space that would return to the origins of
wooden architecture. The building became a single structure made from multiple parts, each full of tension. Though
Ando uses a lot of elements, he succeeded to create a calm and at the same time
in a nice way distracting total.
A single structure made from multiple parts
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LIGHT AND SHADOW
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LIGHT AND SHADOW
Changing light game
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LIGHT AND SHADOW
The temple during
night
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Bibliography
Websites:
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/komyoji/index.htm
1. http://www.faithnform.com/features/39_2_ando/index.php2. http://mattycsmith.blogspot.com/2011/12/church-of-light.html
3. http://www.builderasia.com/tadao-ando/
4. http://www.floornature.com/projects-commerce/project-tadao-ando-komyo-ji-saijo-temple-ehime-japan-4038/
5. http://www.floornature.com/projects-commerce/project-tadao-ando-water-temple-ho mpuki-japan-1989-1991-4043/
6. http://www.cen-zhang.com/
7. http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/komyoji/index.htm
8. http://www.cen-zhang.com/
9. http://www.floornature.com/projects-commerce/project-tadao-ando-komyo-ji-saijo-temple-ehime-japan-4038/
10. http://www.floornature.com/projects-commerce/project-tadao-ando-komyo-ji-saijo-temple-ehime-japan-4038/
Books and articles:
1. Light in Japanese Architecture, Henry Plummer, 2003
2. A Temple Reborn, The Interfaith Journal on Religion, Art & Architecture, Volume 39, Issue 2: Feature Article
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