Movement
Japanese Sukiya Architecture
Explore in the Atlas →The Japanese teahouse tradition that emerged in the 16th century from shoin-zukuri, formulated around the wabi-cha tea ceremony of Sen no Rikyū and embodying the wabi-sabi aesthetic of rustic simplicity, asymmetry, impermanence and unfinished natural materials. Sukiya-zukuri later extended to dwellings, villas and inns, and was reappraised as a source for modernist architecture.
Ritual Dwelling Ephemerality
Details
- Origin
- Japan
Classifications
- Holder
- Communal intergenerational
- Source of authority
- Lived experienceAncestry
- Subject
- More than human
- Degree of codification
- Protocol performedPattern based
- Mode of transmission
- Apprenticeship
- Knowledge type
- Relational embodied
- Epistemic cluster
- East asian
Referenced by
- Katsura Imperial Villa exemplifies
Sources
- Teiji Itoh. The Classic Tradition in Japanese Architecture. Weatherhill, 1972.
- Various. Sukiya-zukuri. Wikipedia, 2024.
Cite this entry
First published May 2026Last revised Jul 2026
CLAD. "Japanese Sukiya Architecture." Atlas of Architectural Thought. CLAD, 2026. https://www.cl-ad.com.au/research/atlas/movement/japanese-sukiya-architecture/. Accessed July 17, 2026.