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  3. Teisuke Sakai

Teisuke Sakai Teisuke Sakai

Lecturer, Faculty of Human Life and Environment, Nara Women's University *Profile is at the time of the award.

2026AccelerateHumanities & Sociology

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Research topics
Towards a Comprehensive History of the Pavilion (Tei/Azuma-ya)
Keyword
Summary
Architectural history has traditionally focused on monumental buildings that stand at the center of historical narratives. In contrast, this research focuses on a small garden structure about three meters in size known as an azumaya (pavilion). Because the pavilion has almost no walls, it incorporates the surrounding natural scenery and even distant mountains, creating a spatial experience that extends for several kilometers. Despite its small size, this rich space frequently appears in landscape paintings and came to be associated with the ideal dwelling of literati, transcending the physical limits of architecture and merging with a spiritual world. This cultural form originated in China, spread to Korea and Japan, and reached the West in the eighteenth century, making it a global theme. This project aims to clarify the cultural history of the pavilion from a global perspective.

Message

In this study, I aim to comprehensively interpret the culture of East Asia—where architecture, gardens, painting, and literature are closely interconnected—by focusing on the small architectural structure known as the azumaya (pavilion). By examining sources and fields that have often been discussed separately and approaching them in an interdisciplinary manner, I seek to reconsider architecture not merely as a structural object, but as a cultural space through which people perceive nature and express their ideas and aesthetic sensibilities._x000D_
This project was generously supported in recognition of its research perspective, which reinterprets architecture not simply as a physical structure but as a cultural medium where nature, thought, and artistic expression intersect. The theme of this research emerged through discussions that crossed disciplinary boundaries among garden history, art history, and architectural history. Looking ahead, structures comparable to pavilions likely exist in regions such as the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. By continuing this research while keeping other regions and disciplines in view, I will strive to produce internationally oriented and interdisciplinary scholarly outcomes.

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Humanities & Sociology(takameru)

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