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was a style of
was a style of Japanese architecture
has been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors ('' fusuma'') and other traditional partitions were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space ...
which outwardly resembled Western-style construction but relied on traditional Japanese techniques. It flourished during the early Meiji period
The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
, and disappeared as knowledge of Western techniques became more widespread.
''Giyōfū'' style buildings were built by Japanese carpenters using traditional construction techniques, but with a layout and external ornamentation based on observation of Western-style buildings in person or in photographs, or based on design books such as the ''Shinsen Hinagata Taisho Daisen'', which offered molding designs which could be reproduced. Many of these buildings were symmetric and made use of portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
es or verandahs with columns, classical pediment
Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
s, sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass.
History
...
s, and ornamental gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
s.
''Giyōfū'' style buildings often contained Dutch, British, French, and/or Italian architectural elements, combined with a Japanese-style roof. The Japanese roofs on Western-faced Japanese timber frames became signifiers of giyōfū architecture. The clearest evidence for this is in the '' karahafu'' and '' mukuri'' roofs, as well as common use of shoji-style windows sometimes attached to these Western-influenced structures.
History
''Giyōfū'' style architecture comes out of the port CityYokohama
is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
. The port city boomed and becomes a melting-pot in the 1870s–1880s. This style quickly spreads throughout Japan as well as into Korea and China. Western influences can be traced back to 1860s.
In the 1870s, with the introduction of architecture as part of the curriculum at the Imperial College of Engineering
The Imperial College of Engineering (工部大学校, ''Kōbudaigakkō'') was a Empire of Japan, Japanese institution of higher education that was founded during the Meiji era. The college was established under the auspices of the Ministry of P ...
under Josiah Conder led to the adoption of true Western-style architecture, and the ''Giyōfū'' style was gradually superseded.
In the nineteenth century, ''Giyōfū'' was gradually fading out as the lines between Japanese and western-style became blurry.
See also
* Imperial Crown Style * Japanese-Western Eclectic ArchitectureReferences
External links
Japanese architectural styles Empire of Japan {{arch-style-stub