Wood, joinery and the art of the roof. For two thousand years, builders in China, Japan and Korea worked mainly in timber. Interlocking wooden brackets lift heavy tiled roofs into their famous upturned curves, while halls line up along a central axis and open onto courtyards and gardens in strict order of rank — from Beijing’s Forbidden City to Seoul’s Gyeongbokgung. Wood burns and rots, so this architecture survives through repair and renewal: Japan’s Ise Shrine is rebuilt every twenty years. Yet Horyu-ji’s halls have stood since around 700 AD, among the oldest wooden buildings on earth.
A weekly dispatch of forgotten buildings, untold stories, and the craft behind the world’s greatest architecture.
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