Topic summary
Shoin style
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Shoin-zukuri.
Sukiya-zukuri
By the beginning of the Edo period, the features of the shoin and teahouse styles began to blend. The result was an informal version of the shoin style called sukiya-zukuri (数寄屋造). The sukiya-zukuri style has a characteristic decorative alcove and shelf, and utilizes woods such as cedar, pine, hemlock, bamboo, and cypress, often with rough surfaces including the bark. Compared to those in the shoin style, roof eaves in the sukiya style bend downward. While the shoin style was suitable for ceremonial architecture, it became too imposing for residential buildings. Consequently, the less formal sukiya style was used for mansions for the aristocracy and samurai after the beginning of the Edo period.