{"product_id":"hakokaidan-or-kaidan-dansu-japanese-step-chest-von-karel-bos","title":"Hakokaidan or Kaidan-dansu","description":"\u003cp\u003eEssay from the year 2012 in the subject Art - Architecture \/ History of Construction, , language: English, abstract: The Japanese step-chest (kaidan-dansu or hakokaidan) is inextricably linked with the traditional 'machiya'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ein Kyoto. In contrast to the 'minka', which are farmhouses, fishermen's houses and mountain dwellings, the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'machiya' is a merchants' and craftsmen's town-house, specifically in Kyoto, also often called 'kyo-machiya'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKyoto 'machiya' are traditional townhouses with distinctive Kyoto-style latticework doors and slatted\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esecond-story windows (fig. 1+2). Machiya are already depicted on 17th century screens and they were still\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebuilt during the Taisho period and beyond until about 1936.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese wooden houses, where merchants and artisans both lived and worked, provided a space in front for\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ea store, in the middle for family quarters with small garden, and in the rear for workshops and warehouses.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of them can still be seen in the Gion district and they came to be regarded as one of the typical\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etraditional structures which characterise the ancient city of Kyoto.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKyoto, Japan¿s capital of traditional culture, is one of the few Japanese cities that was spared from the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebombings of World War II, yet every year scores of 'machiya' are destroyed, victims of neglect and urban\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eredevelopment, thus rapidly erasing the traditional urban fabric. Luckily civic groups in Kyoto are working\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehard to save the buildings that remain and to preserve this superb example of Kyoto vernacular architecture.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTypically the 'machiya' has a narrow front of about 5.5 to 6.4 m (3 to 3.5 ¿ken¿) and a depth of around 20 m\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(11 ¿ken¿). As homes were taxed according to the size of the street frontage, this design originated from\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eeconomic necessity (fig. 16). However, as merchants became richer, they built larger 'machiya' and it is not\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eunusual to find a frontage of 6 and 7 ¿ken¿ (12.7 m).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe meaning of the modern concept of the 'module' has an exceptional antecedent in Japan, where for\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehundreds of years the ordinary houses have been built on the basis of a modular order which is unique.  [...]\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"aw-variant-hidden-subtitle-div\" id=\"aw-variant-subtitle-9783656822820\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003eJapanese step-chest\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Libri","offers":[{"title":"Softcover - 9783656822820","offer_id":39447382360157,"sku":"9783656822820","price":15.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0940\/0622\/files\/e23023f5-b145-4436-ab37-7e4116a89f7b.jpg?v=1778130719","url":"https:\/\/shop.autorenwelt.de\/products\/hakokaidan-or-kaidan-dansu-japanese-step-chest-von-karel-bos","provider":"Autorenwelt Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}