A Taste Of Japan In Istanbul

Picture taken by Desirée on Iphon

Many western architects were fascinated with Japanese architecture, some of them have been in Japan and others were merely influenced by what was offered to them in their own part of the world, like all the books that were published about Japanese architecture or the world exhibitions that took place at the end of the 19^th and beginning of the 20^th century. Some famous names were, Edward William Godwin, Frank Lloyd Wright a very prominent representative of this fashion movement, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who actually has never been in Japan himself and Bruno Taut, to mention some.

All of them were fascinated with Japan in their own way. Wright wrote in an essay of his: „The first and supreme principle of Japanese aesthetics consists in stringent simplification by elimination of the insignificant, and a consequent emphasis of reality.“ He absorbed a very essential part of the Japanese architecture, the ornamental aspects in combination with the abstract reduced style.

Japonism is what they called the influence of Japanese art and architecture in the Western part of the world, meaning, a study of the art and genius of Japan. It referrers to a time, where the Japanese fashion occurred in Paris. Many magazines and books were published about Japan and prominent art dealers like Samuel Bing, who was also the editor of the magazine „Le Japon artistique“, was one of them. In a lot of different cities the reception of Japanese art began after the world exhibitions, like in 1862 London.

We can tell when western architects have create houses under the influence of Japanese architecture. That they never possess a pure Japanese style is also clear. One good example can be found in Istanbul.

Who hasn’t taken a walk at the Bosporus and realized on the path from Ortaköy to Kuruçesme, hidden amongst the green, the interesting claret-red house of Bruno Taut, baptized as “Bruno Taut Villası” (Bruno Taut Villa). Almost immediately this house reflects on our minds Japan.

Taut a German architect had to leave Germany during World War II and immigrated to Japan where he lived for four year and worked as teacher. He did not receive any architectural jobs so he immigrated to Turkey, where he received many jobs and designed many buildings like the “Faculty of Languages, History and Geography” of Ankara University and taught at the renown Mimar Sinan University. One of the buildings he designed, if not his best, was his own house the previously mentioned „Bruno Taut Villasi“ (Bruno Taut Villa). When we look at this house, we can immediately tell especially from the front of the house, that is has been influenced by the Japanese style. But a closer look makes us see details that are not referable to Japanese architecture. From the front many elements are not the way they must be in Japan. This house resembles a Pagoda. A Pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves and is common in parts of Asia of which some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship and not as house to live in. A closer look at the windows of the house makes us realize that they are of glass. Istanbul is a city haunted by earthquakes just like Japan if not so severe, so Taut could have used paper glass like in Japan, but there would have been two problems: First, the house is set on a hill and is close to the sea, there is a lot of wind which would make it hard to live there during the winter and second, it would have been a big loss, not to be able to see the beautiful view of the Bosporus, which this exquisite house has to offer. Paper windows don’t usually show the outside world, the window has to stand open for that, so in this case it would have been a poor choice. The small narrow windows between the lower and upper floor show some ornamental Japanese style, due to the lattice work on the window, which is very common in Japanese architecture. A further difference to an actual Pagoda or Japanese houses is that the Bruno Taut's villa seems to be built out of concrete and not wood as most the traditional Japanese houses are.

Picture taken by Desirée on Iphone

Impressive about this villa however is that though the house was build towards the end of the 1930s, it still seems very modern, sometimes even more modern than houses in its surrounding that are newer. This proves that Adolf Loos was right with his theory, that modern art is when Japanese architecture and European tradition unite.

Simplicity therefore speaks for modernity and Bruno Taut proved this to be true in Ortaköy, Istanbul. Since, no one who takes a stroll from Ortaköy to Kuruçeşme and discovers this very unique and perhaps one of a kind building in Istanbul can tell how old it actually is. It gives the impression that, they might just have built it yesterday.

Further this influence of style from Japan shows that hardly any influence can be taken exact, but always with slight changes, which is also visible on the Bruno Taut Villa. It would not have been possible to copy it exactly, since every country has it’s own geography and tradition, which should not be left behind for the sake of another. So a mixture of style is always edible, till the next one follows.

Bruno Taut died in 1938 in İstanbul, where his remains remain and rest in peace. 
The Bruno Taut Villa was named one of the most beautiful buildings in Turkey of the early republic period, by the Turkish newspaper „Hürriyet“ a while back.