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Artworks
Stuart Donald Campbell Architecture
Horyu-ji Pagoda - Nara, Japan1:50 Structural Model
50 x 50 x 90 cmThe Horyu-ji Pagoda is one of the oldest and tallest timber structures in the world, standing at just over 32m tall with the central column (Shinbashira) dating to c.594 AD....The Horyu-ji Pagoda is one of the oldest and tallest timber structures in the world, standing at just over 32m tall with the central column (Shinbashira) dating to c.594 AD. This should serve as inspiration to future designers that tall timber construction should be explored and developed further.
This is an ever-contentious area for debate amongst architects and building professionals, my MArch thesis looked specifically at the benefits of building tall using timber construction. This led to an investigation and analysis of existing historical precedence, one of the most significant of which is the Japanese Pagoda.
The mastery over the raw material and the structures longevity should be admired. The purpose of this model it to highlight these points and provoke a positive reaction to tall timber construction, rather than restrict and limit its use. Whether it be the obvious carbon benefits or the materials’ natural charring effect that will self-extinguish, the design and construction industry today should try and replicate and perhaps mimic the standards and quality of the Japanese Temples and Pagodas.
