2007-09-24

2007-09-22

On Saturday, September 22, Junya OOBA, a friend of mine, and I visited the construction site of Mr. UEDA, a timber frame builder and architect. UEDA has an architect’s license (of the highest degree in Japan), but works mainly as a timber framer.



The Japanese art of timber framing is known as 宮大工 (Miyadaiku), which literally means temple carpentry. Due the natural abundance of trees and high humidity that rusts nails, Japan has a long tradition of timber framing.

Traditionally, 荒土壁 (aratsuchikabe), that is walls of bamboo and mud plaster, are built between posts. Junya checks out the plaster mixing station: trough, mud, chopped straw.

As commercial building materials become the norm, traditional timber framing is not being included in modern building codes. Mr. UEDA is a member of a study group that actually runs experiments to provide data to building officials.

1 comment:

Dave Kruse said...

That's pretty cool. I can't imagine building a house without nails. I suppose the idea is similar to some timber building in these parts, except the bamboo is missing.