A New Direction

After reviewing the subject matter and method of past capstone projects, I have decided to take my project in a more personally interesting direction. Staying with a focus on Japanese woodworking craftsmanship, I would like to focus more on its potential reapplication in modern furniture making. Initially I was simply too focused on a wider impact to the architecture industry, but I’ve been reminded that design occurs at all scales. I would love the opportunity to learn about the history and uses of these joints, but also to execute them myself.

A revised question could be stated as: How could (or why should) traditional Japanese woodworking joinery make a return in modern furniture construction (particularly in an era dominated by metal fasteners like screws)? What are the beneficial applications? What has been lost?

This change down to a smaller scale will be reflected in the next three entries in my annotated bibliography below, where I look less toward the numbers and figures behind Japanese wood craft and architecture, and more on the social and societal impacts of it, the lives of craftsmen, and the historical development of it all.

Lubchenko, Cole. “7 Things You Need to Know about Japanese Joinery.” Japan Objects, Japan Objects, 27 Aug. 2021, https://japanobjects.com/features/japanese-joinery. 

This article covers a number of introductory subject matters regarding Japanese joinery. While less specific and focused than other sources, this makes for a good personal introduction for myself as I dive into this area, because I must learn what specifics need to be researched, before I can research them…

DOMINIC MCIVER LOPES, Shikinen Sengu and the Ontology of Architecture in Japan, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Volume 65, Issue 1, September 2007, Pages 77–84,https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-594X.2007.00239.x

This Journal entry covers some of the more nuanced, cultural, specific aspects of a ritual rebuilding of an Ise shrine. Japanese joinery is required to make such deconstruction and reconstruction possible, and I am looking here for the cultural impact and relevance of this.

Velasquez, Juan Felipe Cardona. “Japanese Joinery.” Academia.edu, 18 Dec. 2014, https://www.academia.edu/9831583/Japanese_Joinery. 

This guide provides a very informative list containing two key items: The Japanese names, and diagrams of many different joints. This will no doubt, be vital to my exploration in to what joints I will study, and for what application.