【日本建築・空間文化と北海道 竹林寺探訪-7】

　現代の建築は日本の建築文化にとってどんな存在なのだろうか。ふと考えることがある。日本の建築・空間への感受性の文化伝承は、この竹林寺には豊富に積層している。
　写真は竹林寺本坊と名勝庭園の様子。庭と建物の関係は日本ではこのような美的昇華が図られていって、日本文化の底流に沈殿している。このような様子を見ると建築構造本体は、切り取られた風景としての自然のなかで「息をしている」存在のように感じられる。
　人間が造作する建物は外皮であって自然と向き合うとき五感と一体化している感覚がある。対して庭もまた、人為的に空間構成された自然であり、建物とは違う成り立ちではあるけれど、人間の美的選択眼に即して展開構成しているもの。
　やはり「家庭」というような日本人の言い方は、いかにも日本文化的な表現なのだと思う。
　こんなふうに先人たちは仏教寺院などに託して、それぞれの時代の美的感覚をピンナップして、連綿とわたしたちに建築文化を伝えてきてくれているのだと思う。その舞台装置として寺院という存在はそれこそ、この世とあの世の臨界点としてあり続けたのだろう。
　そういう文化背景のなかで現代の建築家・堀部安嗣さんは、先日まで観た「竹林寺納骨堂」を作り上げていった。そのときの端正な創造姿勢がなんとなくわかるような気がする。

　玄関にはこんなふうな豪華な花が生けられてもいた。日本各地域のこうした名刹寺院などで日本的感受性を沈殿させ続けてきたのがこの国の文化風土なのでしょう。
　ひるがえって、北海道はこういう「自然とのウチソト空間連続性」のようなことに難しさがある。
　こんなふうな庭との空間開放体験を一般化しにくい。初期の北海道建築でそれでもこうした「一体化」を志向した建築の流れもあったけれど、半年間に近い寒冷気候とそれによる建物の障害要因によってこうした建築と同じようなライフスタイルはやはり取れなかった。この建物を撮影したのは１月の初旬なのだ。北海道では雪に庭が閉ざされ、また寒気が居住空間を襲撃する。
　庭との対話も３重ガラスなどによる厳重な空間保護が前提化する。場合によっては屋根からの落雪堆積が眺望全体を潰滅させる。
　しかし、そういう自然環境の中でも、わたしたちは日本人なのだ。創意工夫しながら「拡張する花鳥風月」を暮らしの中で楽しみたいと念願している。困難はむしろ発展の最大の資産だと無理矢理にでも、考えたい。


English version⬇

Japanese Architecture, Spatial Culture, and Hokkaido: Chikurinji Temple Visit-7
Japanese architectural design was made possible by a dialogue with the gentle climate. The northern part of Japan wants to share its essence and challenge a new Japanese design.

What kind of presence does contemporary architecture have in Japanese architectural culture? I sometimes think about this. The cultural legacy of Japanese sensitivity to architecture and space is richly layered in this Chikurinji temple.
　The photo shows the main temple of Chikurin-ji and its famous garden. The relationship between garden and building has been aesthetically sublimated in Japan in this way, and has been precipitated in the undercurrent of Japanese culture. In this way, the architectural structure itself seems to "breathe" in the nature as a cutout landscape.
　The human-made building is an outer skin, and when confronted with nature, there is a sense of being united with the five senses. A garden, on the other hand, is also nature artificially created in space, and although it has a different origin from a building, it is developed and structured in line with the human eye for aesthetic selection.
　I believe that the Japanese way of saying "home" is a very Japanese cultural expression.
　In this way, our predecessors have passed on their architectural culture to us through Buddhist temples, pinning down the aesthetic senses of their respective eras. As a stage set for this, the existence of temples has been a critical point between this world and the next.
　It was against this cultural background that the contemporary architect Yasutsugu Horibe created the "Chikurinji Ossuary," which I saw the other day. I think I can somehow understand his neat creative attitude at that time.

The entrance was decorated with such gorgeous flowers. The cultural climate of this country has continued to precipitate Japanese sensibilities at such famous temples and other places in various regions of Japan.
　Hokkaido, on the other hand, has difficulty with this kind of "uchisoto spatial continuity with nature.
　It is difficult to generalize the experience of opening up space with a garden in this way. Although there was a trend in early Hokkaido architecture toward such "integration," the cold weather of nearly half a year and the resulting building obstacles made it impossible to achieve the same lifestyle as this type of architecture. It was early January when I photographed this building. In Hokkaido, the garden is closed by snow and the cold air attacks the living space.
　The dialogue with the garden is also premised on the strict protection of the space with triple glazing and other measures. In some cases, the accumulation of snow falling from roofs destroys the entire view.
　However, even in such a natural environment, we are Japanese. We wish to enjoy the "expanding beauty of flowers, birds, wind, and the moon" in our daily lives with our ingenuity and ingenuity. We would like to think, even if forcibly, that difficulties are the greatest asset for development.

【建築再生・文化継承に賭けた魂魄 竹林寺探訪-6】

　さて日本建築学会賞作品賞を2016年度受賞した堀部安嗣設計による「納骨堂」建築を見て来ましたが、このような建築家に依頼する側、竹林寺という存在について思いが及んでいます。
　どうしてこのような話題になる建築を設計依頼したのか。ふつうに考えると寺院建築だから伝統に安住して保守していればいいのに、堀部安嗣氏のような気鋭の建築家にわざわざ依頼するその動機のようなものに強い関心を持った次第です。
　いま人口減少局面に世界が直面し、その最先端に日本は立っている。そういう時代になってくれば建築もまた、新築から再生の方向に向かっていく必要がある。日本全体としてもそうであるけれど、わたし自身も道庁の住宅施策審議委員の経験から、建築再生の気運がどうしたら盛り上がるかに、強い関心を持っている。行政側の発想では技術的側面での制度設計に向かっていくことが一般的。それは当然としても、わたしとしてはむしろ「動機の盛り上げ」の方がはるかに重要なのではと考えるのです。
　そんな思いを持ちながらこの竹林寺を参観していて、随所に面白い試みを発見した。釈迦像も斬新な「衣装」をまとっているし、本堂内部の額絵もよく見たら那須与一の屋島合戦での様子。どうして竹林寺という高知の寺で高松・屋島合戦が描かれるのかと疑問に思ったのですが「わかりやすさ」「話題性」という寺院経営的な側面が大きいのではと思い至った。

　この建物は「船岡堂」という建築。由緒書きでは明治年代、経営的に衰亡を究め老朽化・廃屋化が進んでいた竹林寺の住職・船岡芳信氏が建築再生、寺院経営立て直しの努力を重ねた様子が記録されていた。明治30年当時、現在の費用で20億円ほどが再生には必要なほど竹林寺建築は傷んでいた。
　そういう状況を改革すべく全国に「復興勧進」の活動を繰り広げた結果、今日のような興隆が生み出されたのだそうです。源平騒乱期、平氏によって焼け落とされた東大寺の復元のために全国を勧進行脚した東大寺・重源和尚を彷彿させる。
　こうした氏の魂魄が、現代に至っても話題の建築を設計依頼する動機を構成している。現代、わたしたちの建築も新築から再生に向かって来つつある。重源さんや船岡氏のような魂魄が、いま、社会全体に共有される必要があると強く思っています。
　東大寺では再建に当たって運慶のような稀有の芸術家作品をも生み出し、それが新時代の雰囲気をも作って行った。日本社会では新築よりもむしろこうした建築再生が連綿と繰り返されたことで、日本文化が正しく継承されてきたのではないか。われわれがいま、学ぶべき事も多い。


English version⬇

The soul that bets on architectural revival and cultural inheritance: Exploring Chikurinji Temple-6
The core of Japanese cultural inheritance revealed by the deep business motives of those who commission architects. The soul that revitalizes even a society with a declining population. ...

Now that I have seen the "ossuary" architecture designed by Yasutsugu Horibe, winner of the 2016 Architectural Institute of Japan Award for Best Work, I have been thinking about the existence of Chikurinji Temple, the entity that commissioned such an architect.
　Why did they commission the design of such a controversial building? Normally, one would think that the temple architecture should be maintained in accordance with tradition, but I was very interested in the motive of commissioning an up-and-coming architect such as Mr. Yasutsugu Horibe.
　The world is now facing a declining population, and Japan is at the forefront of this trend. In such an era, architecture also needs to move away from new construction and toward renewal. I have a strong interest in how to stimulate the momentum for architectural revitalization, based on my own experience as a member of the Hokkaido Government's Housing Policy Council. The administrative side's approach is generally to design systems from a technical standpoint. While that is natural, I believe that it is far more important to "enliven the motive".
　With these thoughts in mind, I visited this Chikurinji temple and found interesting attempts everywhere. The statue of Shakyamuni is dressed in a novel "costume," and the framed picture inside the main hall depicts Nasu Yoichi at the Battle of Yashima. I wondered why a temple in Kochi called Chikurin-dera depicted the Battle of Takamatsu/Yashima, but I came to the conclusion that it was largely due to the temple management aspect of "understandability" and "topicality.

　This building is called "Funaoka-do. According to the history of the temple, Yoshinobu Funaoka, the abbot of Chikurin-ji Temple, which had been deteriorating and falling into disrepair since the Meiji Era, made efforts to rebuild the building and restore the temple's management. In 1897, the Chikurin-ji building was in such a state of disrepair that it would have cost about 2 billion yen in today's terms to rebuild it.
　As a result of the "restoration and promotion" activities that were carried out throughout the country to reform such a situation, the prosperity that we see today was created. This is reminiscent of the monk Shigen of Todaiji Temple, who made a nationwide pilgrimage to restore Todaiji Temple, which had been burned down by the Taira clan during the Genpei uprising.
　The spirit of this monk is what motivates us to commission him to design buildings that are still talked about in the modern age. Today, we are moving away from the construction of new buildings and toward the regeneration of architecture. I strongly believe that the spirit of Mr. Shigen and Mr. Funaoka needs to be shared throughout society.
　In the reconstruction of Todaiji Temple, rare artists such as Unkei were created, which also created the atmosphere of a new era. I believe that Japanese culture has been properly inherited through the continuous repetition of such architectural revival rather than new construction in Japanese society. We have much to learn from this experience.
　

【鎮魂の空間と「音楽性」要素 竹林寺納骨堂-5】

　さて水盤のほのかな水音が支配するコンクリート空間からひとは離脱していくことになる。安藤忠雄「淡路夢舞台」でもちょうど時期的に童謡の「冬の夜」がホテルグランドニッコーによってBGMで流れていて、もう数ヶ月経っているけれど、まだ印象のなかに旋律が残っている。
　こちらの納骨堂での水音は実際の水音としてではなく、映像的な音、というとおかしいのだけれど、そんな感覚の残滓が残っている。建築と音楽ということをこれまであんまり考えたことはなかった。
　しかし司馬遼太郎の文章の中に、日本に最初に仏教寺院が開かれた当時、朝夕に繰り返される「念仏読経」の音楽性が、ひとびとの心に沈殿するように染みわたっていった、というくだりがある。それまで列島に暮らす人びとにとって、見たことも聞いたこともない「音楽体験」がいかに大きな役割を担っていたのか、と。それが伽藍で構成される宗教建築群と渾然一体で文化導入された。仏塔・五重塔という高層建築から回廊形式の内陣、外陣の空間仕分けなどの「曼荼羅」世界観が一気に仏教寺院建築空間で展開されていった。まさに度肝を抜かれるような世界観だったことだろう。
　日本人のDNAレベルとも思える仏教受容には音楽性も含めた体験要素が大きく与っていた可能性がきわめて高い。インドや中国社会で仏教が廃れていったのに対して、日本社会がこの宗教文化を崇敬し続けたのにはとくに「空気を読む」情緒性レベルの高い民族としての日本人の心性が深い関係があったように思われる。あまりに巨大な「変革」要素には後世の人間はほとんど気がつかないものかもしれない。どうもそういった感覚に近いこととして、わたしには音楽要素の典型として水盤装置の印象が刻まれた。
　納骨堂という鎮魂空間を彩る音楽性・建築性として水盤を選び取った感覚には深く同意する。

　内観でも外観でも、コンクリート建築本体には木造で被覆が施されている。納骨室は法で耐火構造が求められる。屋根を構成する木造部はすべて県産材の杉105角。1995mmグリッドで構成。敷き並べたり積層させたりしている。まことに「正直」なその素材の表情が、鎮魂の場の空気感を高めてくれている。また無双窓からの採光と通気がこの地での鎮魂に彩りを加えている。
　そしてやがて納骨堂から離れ、竹林寺の境内に移動していくけれど、ある種の回生にも似た気分を感じながら、日常に還っていく感覚があった。


English version⬇

Space for Requiem and "Musicality" Element Chikurinji Ossuary-5
The Japanese sense of "reading the air" may have been built up from a variety of experiences of Buddhism acceptance at the DNA level. ...

Now, one leaves the concrete space dominated by the faint sound of water from the water basin. At Tadao Ando's "Awaji Yumebutai," a children's song "Winter Night" was played as background music by the Hotel Grand Nikko just in time, and although several months have already passed, the melody still remains in my memory.
　The sound of water in the ossuary here is not the actual sound of water, but a visual sound, or perhaps it is strange to say, but there is a residue of such a sensation. I have never really thought about the relationship between architecture and music.
　However, in one of Ryotaro Shiba's writings, he writes that when the first Buddhist temples were opened in Japan, the musicality of the "Buddhist chanting" repeated in the morning and evening seeped into people's minds like a precipitation. It is said that the musicality of "Nembutsu Yomikyō," which was repeated in the morning and evening at the time the Buddhist temple was first opened in Japan, played an important role for the people living in the archipelago, who had never seen or heard such music. This was introduced into the culture in tandem with the religious architecture of the temple complexes. The "mandala" worldview, from the high-rise architecture of stupas and five-story pagodas to the corridor-style inner sanctuary and outer sanctuary, was developed in the architectural space of Buddhist temples in one fell swoop. It must have been a truly astonishing worldview.
　It is highly likely that the Japanese people's acceptance of Buddhism, which can be considered to be at the level of their DNA, was greatly influenced by the experience of Buddhism, including its musicality. While Buddhism was dying out in India and China, Japanese society continued to revere this religious culture, which seems to have been deeply related to the Japanese mentality as a people with a high emotional level who "reads the air. The "change" factor is so enormous that it may be almost imperceptible to later generations. As something similar to such a feeling, I was left with the impression of the water-board device as a typical musical element.
　I deeply agree with the sense that the water basin was chosen as a musical and architectural element to color the requiem space of the ossuary.

The concrete building body, both interior and exterior, is clad in wood. The ossuary is required by law to be fireproof. The wooden sections that make up the roof are all made of 105 square meters of prefectural Japanese cedar, with a 1995mm grid. The wood is laid out or stacked in layers. The truly "honest" expression of the materials enhances the atmosphere of the place of repose. Also, the lighting and ventilation from the twin windows add color to the repose of souls at this place.
　Eventually, we left the ossuary and moved to the precincts of Chikurin-ji Temple, and I felt a sense of returning to my daily life, feeling a kind of reincarnation.

【建築的クライマックスに「水盤」 を配置 竹林寺納骨堂-4】

建築家・堀部安嗣氏の代表作品、2016年日本建築学会賞作品賞の竹林寺納骨堂を参観してのルポ、第４回であります。
　前章まででいわゆる作家的自己主張とは違う「環境調和型」の志向での設計が意図されていると記述してきた。しかしその趣旨と見事に合致しながら、同時に「この手で来たのか」と驚かされた。それが生と死をつなぐ道を通り抜けた納骨堂の掉尾の空間に印象的に配置された「水室」と名付けられた空間であり、その主装置として据えられていた「水盤」。
　わたしは納骨堂建築の一般的デザイン作法を知らない。わが三木家の場合は北海道に広島県福山市近郊から移住してこの地でなくなった祖父母と両親の世代から札幌の公営墓地に墓を建てている。墓を建てるまでは菩提寺の納骨堂に納められていて、幼少期まではそこに墓参していたけれど、それは菩提寺の本堂内に収納されていた。建築として別個の納骨堂というものの詳細は知らない。自分が見知っている範囲の事例を考えれば、一般的デザインの仕様設定条件として「水盤」は存在しないだろうと思う。
　なので、この配置計画は竹林寺納骨堂の建築家・堀部氏によるオリジナルと考えられ、その建築計画の核心なのではないかと思われた。


　「静的な土と静謐だけれど動的な水を対比させている。納骨室で死者と向き合うだけでなく、強い生命力も感じられる空間を目指した」とされる。堀部氏のHPの紹介には以下のような説明。
　「塀の高さは水面より約２ｍ。壁上部にはプランターが設けられており、五台山に自生する数種の植物が植えられている。壁は土佐漆喰鏡面仕上げ。水盤は黒御影石を使用。水盤には常時水が流れ、その水音は通路空間にまで響き渡る。四周からオーバーフローした水は直下のビット内に設けられたタンクとポンプで循環させている。」
　昨日「納骨堂の中で読書しているひとがいた」ことを書いたけれど、具体的にどの場所でとまでの記載は原文にもなかった。詳細取材までの及ばないブログとしては、想像するしかない。わたしとしてはどう考えても読書していた人は、この水盤の前に置かれた簡素なベンチにいたのではないかと思う。
　水があり空があって、この場所で採取された土壁があり、この地の緑が空間を縁取っているこの場所は、まさに内省的な場であり、自分の近縁者が眠っている納骨堂空間に浸り、抱かれるのにふさわしい。
　ここに水盤を配置した建築構想の意図に、おだやかで環境調和的だけれど端的な作家性・主張性が表現されているようにも思われた。


English version⬇

The "water basin" is placed at the architectural climax of the Chikurin-ji Ossuary.
The water basin is an introspective device that maximizes depth. The water basin harmonizes with the sky, the surrounding nature, and the clay-painted walls of the site to create the harmony of the sound of water. The water basin is a device for reflection.

This is the fourth installment of our report on our visit to architect Yasutsugu Horibe's representative work, the Chikurinji Ossuary, which won the 2016 AIJ Prize for Best Work.
　In the previous chapters, we have described that the design was intended to have an "environmental harmony" orientation, which is different from the so-called artist's self-assertion. However, while it was in perfect accord with that purpose, at the same time, I was surprised to see that it came in this way. The latter part of the ossuary, through which the path connecting life and death passes, is impressively located in a space named "water room," and the "water basin" was installed as the main device.
　I am not familiar with the general design style of ossuary architecture. In the case of the Miki family, the grandparents who moved to Hokkaido from the suburbs of Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and their parents who passed away in this area, built their graves in the public cemetery in Sapporo. Until the cemetery was built, the graves were kept in the ossuary of the family temple, which was housed in the main hall of the temple, although I used to visit the graves there until I was a child. I do not know the details of the separate ossuary as an architectural structure. Considering the examples I am familiar with, I do not think that a "water basin" would exist as a general design specification condition.
　Therefore, this layout plan is considered to be original by Mr. Horibe, the architect of Chikurin-ji Ossuary, and it seems to be the core of his architectural plan.

The static earth contrasts with the tranquil but dynamic water. I aimed to create a space where people can not only face the dead in the ossuary, but also feel a strong life force". The introduction on Horibe's website explains as follows
　The wall is about 2 m high above the water, and planters are placed on top of the wall, in which several species of plants native to Mt. The walls are Tosa plaster with a mirror finish. The water basin is made of black granite. Water is constantly flowing in the basin, and the sound of the water echoes through the passage space. Water overflowing from the four perimeters is circulated by a tank and pump located in the bit directly below."
　Yesterday I wrote that "there was a person reading in the ossuary," but there was no specific location mentioned in the original text. As a blog that does not go into details, I can only imagine. I think that the person who was reading must have been on a simple bench placed in front of the water basin.
　With water, sky, clay walls collected at this site, and greenery surrounding the space, this place is truly a place for introspection, a place to be immersed in and embraced by the ossuary space where one's relatives are laid to rest.
　The placement of the water basin in this space seems to express a gentle, environmentally harmonious, yet straightforward artist and assertiveness in the architectural concept.

【読書する人もいる奥行きの空間 「竹林寺納骨堂」-3】

　この竹林寺納骨堂の日本建築学会賞の受賞に際して審査員による現地審査が行われた。そのとき、審査員が目撃した体験として、たまたま納骨堂で読書にふける来訪者がいたとのこと。
　審査員の方はそのことに驚かれ「この納骨堂に陰湿さはかけらもない」と高く評価したとされる。しかしあえて言えば、わたし的には「陰惨さ」という言葉に表現された評価の感覚はさてどうなのだろうと疑問に思った。もちろんその評価者の方は一般社会の普通の感覚に伝達する比喩として語られたのだろうと思うけれど。
　そのあたりについて、設計者の堀部安嗣氏のことばが伝わっている。「いま、日常の風景から死を感じる機会が失われている。死者を恐ろしいものとして避けるのではなく、人の生と死をつなぐ道のような建築のあり方を考えた」と。
　そしてこの空間で静かに自分の内面と向き合いながら、読書にふけられる方にわたしは自然な感受性と親近感を強く感じさせられる。人間存在は諸行無常であり、生死もまた流転の中のワンシーンという感覚でしょうか。むしろそういう生死があわく融合したような空間性に、祈りと似た読書という行為はきわめて似つかわしい。読書に際して人間は自分の本然のこころ存在として、対手としての人間の書いた文章と「語り合う」。それはきわめて個人的な体験の領域であり、他者からのいっさいの介入を遠ざかった地平にいるのだと思う。いわば内心の自由という確固とした場所にいるのだ。
　自分のごく身近な人間、親兄弟が死んだとき、それを供養し納骨する。そこで悠久との対話を体験するのが多くの人間にとって当然のことだと思う。自分の親族が永遠に眠っている場が、陰惨な場であるわけがない。深くこころと向き合うことで、死者とのつながりを感受する場なのだと思う。


　きのう「環境」という言葉について考えたけれど、要するにこういう魂とか、人間性・社会という側面での環境というものが強く感じられるのだ。これには竹林寺という仏教寺院建築であるということも大きいけれど、高断熱高気密という気候環境への対応技術という側面では基本的な目標はほぼ獲得されてきた北海道住宅にとって、さらに「奥行きを深める」部分として、こうした環境論というのは有意義。
　このポイントについても北海道には豊かな自然との対話という好条件があるのではないだろうか。そういった「住宅の進化」も大いに期待していきたいと思う。


English version⬇

[A space with depth where some people read books "Chikurinji Ossuary"-3
I don't think death is "gruesome. A place like the boundary between life and death is a place where the mind can be self-reflective. An environment that produces a richness of mind. ...

When the Chikurinji Ossuary received the Architectural Institute of Japan Award, the jury conducted an on-site review. At that time, the jury witnessed an experience in which a visitor happened to be reading in the ossuary.
　The jury was surprised by this and highly praised it, saying, "There is not a trace of insidiousness in this ossuary. However, I dare say that I wondered about the sense of evaluation expressed in the word "gruesome. Of course, I think the evaluator may have used the word as a metaphor to convey the ordinary senses of the general public.
　The words of the designer, Mr. Yasutsugu Horibe, are reported here. Nowadays, we are losing the opportunity to feel death in our daily lives. Rather than avoiding the dead as something to be feared, I thought about how architecture should be like a path that connects life and death.
　I feel a natural sensitivity and a strong sense of kinship with the person who is reading in this space while quietly facing his or her inner self. Human existence is an impermanent state of affairs, and life and death are just one scene in the flow of life and death. In fact, the act of reading, which is akin to prayer, is very much suited to this kind of space where life and death are blended together in a wondrous way. When reading, a person "talks" with a text written by another person as his or her counterpart, as his or her own true spiritual being. This is a very personal realm of experience, and one that is far removed from any intervention from others. In other words, we are in a firm place of inner freedom.
　When someone close to me, a parent or sibling, dies, I make a memorial service for them and lay their ashes in a grave. I think it is natural for many people to experience a dialogue with eternity there. The place where one's relatives are laid to rest for eternity cannot be a gruesome place. It is a place where we can deeply feel the connection with the dead by deeply facing our hearts.

　I thought about the word "environment" yesterday, but in short, I strongly feel the environment in terms of the soul, humanity, and society. This is due in large part to the fact that the Chikurin-ji Temple is a Buddhist temple, but the environmental theory is significant as a part of "deepening" the basic goal of Hokkaido housing in terms of technology to cope with the climate environment, such as high thermal insulation and airtightness.
　Hokkaido has the advantageous condition of being in dialogue with the abundant nature. I have high expectations for the evolution of housing in this way.