O-YOROI SAMURAI ARMOR - BLOG III

NICHOLAS LEBLANC

ORNAMENT IS DESCRIBED AS A THING USED TO ADORN SOMETHING BUT USUALLY HAVING NO PRACTICAL PURPOSE: DECORATION ADDED TO EMBELLISH. IN ARCHITECTURE, ORNAMENT CAN TAKE ON MANY FORMS AND LANGUAGES. WHERE CAN ONE DRAW THE LINE BETWEEN AN ORNAMENTED MOVE AND A CALCULATED FUNCTIONAL MOVE IN ARCHITECTURE?

TADOA ANDO IS THE ARCHITECT THAT I HAVE CHOSEN TO ACCOMPANY MY VIEWS ABOUT ORNAMENTATION. ANDO IS A PRACTICING ARCHITECT FROM OSAKA JAPAN. HIS STRICT UPBRINGING BY HIS GRANDMOTHER HELPED MOLD HIM INTO A RESPONSIBLE AND CONSCIOUS DESIGNER. HE HAS STRONG BELIEFS ABOUT UN-NECESSARY AESTHETIC ELEMENTS. HE BELIEVES ARCHITECTURE IS NOT PURE AESTHETICS BUT IS CALCULATED AND INFORMED MOVES THAT EXPRESS WISDOM.

THE CHICHU ART MUSEUM BY TADAO ANDO IS LOCATED ON NAOSHIMA ISLAND IN THE INLAND SEA OF JAPAN. IT IS DEDICATED TO A PERMANENT EXHIBITION SPACE FOR 9 WORKS OF ART BY ONLY THREE ARTISTS, CLAUDE MONET, WALTER DE MARIA AND JAMES TURRELL. THE TRADITIONAL FUNCTION OF AN ART MUSEUM IS TO DISPLAY AN OBJECT FOR WHAT THE OBJECT IS AND THE MESSAGE THAT IT CONVEYS TO THE VIEWER. THE SPACE MUST BE NEUTRAL IN ODER TO ALLOW THE ARTWORK TO BE MORE EFFICIENT. IN SHARP CONTRAST, THE FUNCTION OF THE CHICHU ART MUSEUM IS TO HOUSE WORKS OF ART. THE VIEWER MUST BE CONVINCED THAT THE ARTWORK IS APPART OF THE ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECTURE APPART OF THE ARTWORK. THE ARCHITECTURE AND ARTWORKS CANNOT BE CONSIDERED SEPARATELY AND THEREFORE THE CONNECTION CANNOT BE BROKEN.

EACH PIECE OF ART HAS THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL GALLERY SPACE. THESE SPACES ARE TAILORED AND CONFORM TO THE NEEDS OF THE ART PIECE THAT INHABITS THE SPACE. CALCULATED MOVES ARE MADE BY ANDO IN EACH GALERY TO CREATE A UNIQUE SPACE - A UNIQUE HOME.

THE O-YOROI SAMURAI ARMOR AND THE CHICHU ART MUSEUM ARE BOTH FREE FROM ORNAMENTATION BECAUSE OF EVOLVED KNOWLEDGE OF FUNCTION. 15TH CENTURY ARTISANS HAVE MASTERED THE CRAFT OF AN EFFECTIVE DEFENSE DURING WAR. IN TURN, THE SHAPE, MATERIALITY AND CONSTRUCTION OF SAMURAI ARMOR BECOME CALCULATED MOVES TOWARDS THE FUNCTION. TADAO ANDO HAS GAINED KNOWLEDGE FROM PAST EXPERIENCE TO DESIGN SPACE THAT FOLLOWS THE FUNCTION OF A HOME - A PLACE WHERE SOMETHING BELONGS.