Materials and Spatial Experience in Vernacular Japanese Architecture of the Edo Period

Abstract

This study investigates the role and aesthetics of materials in Japanese vernacular dwellings during the Edo period (1603–1868) through the relationship between human beings, space, and materials within a highly stratified social context. A phenomenological perspective is employed as a framework for explaining spatial perception and experience arising from material qualities and architectural atmosphere. The study adopts a qualitative research approach and purposively selects three types of dwellings as case studies: the farmer’s house (minka), the merchant’s house (machiya), and the samurai residence, representing major social groups in Edo-period society. The analysis focuses on material use, spatial hierarchy, and spatial experiences within the dwellings. The findings reveal that materials played an important role in conveying the ways of life, values, and social status of their inhabitants. Material aesthetics can be categorized into two types: practical aesthetics, emphasizing simplicity, functional appropriateness, and material durability; and symbolic aesthetics, in which materials were used to express status and formality. In addition, social differences clearly influenced material use, spatial hierarchy, and the formation of architectural atmosphere. The farmer’s house reflected simplicity and functional needs, the merchant’s house expressed economic status through refinement in material use, while the samurai residence employed materials and architectural elements to establish order, hierarchy, and spatial control. The findings indicate that materials in Edo-period vernacular dwellings served not only constructional purposes but also played an important role in shaping spatial experiences and reflecting the social meanings of architecture.