The colours of steel bridges in Japan – principles and examples

Abstract

It is presently recognized worldwide that the colours of steel bridges -besides their form -serve as one of the key factors of their aesthetic design. This paper refers to the colouring problem being characteristic of Japan, since -in addition to the respect for the usual theory of colours -special Japanese particulars, based on tradition and philosophy of life, are followed. Several bridge examples shown here stand for the accentuation effect of that special approach. Die Farben der Stahlbrücken in Japan -Grundsätze und Beispiele. Es ist heute allgemein bekannt, dass die Farbe einer Stahlbrücke -außer ihrer Form -als einer der Grundfaktoren des äs-thetischen Gestaltens gilt. Der vorliegende Beitrag bezieht sich auf dieses für Japan charakteristische Thema, da -neben der

The steel‐glass art of railway stations in Japan

“…Hereby, special concern is paid on landscape attributes ( [12], [13]). As it has been shown on several examples of Japanese architecture [6] and bridges [7], aesthetics results from the attributes of Japanese soul -such as harmony (wa), beauty (wabi/sabi), refined elegance, mystery (yu  gen), transience of nature, represented e. g. by the cherry blossoms (sakura), form -the mode of gaining and expressing the skills (kata), path -the spiritual advantage of strengthening the form (michi), craft (takumi), warrior's way (bushido), invisible motion of energy (ki), loyalty (chu) etc. [14].…”

“…"Mega-stations" refer to large "station-cities" that have been renovated, extended or newly-built in large metropolises such as: "Tokyo Station City" (To  kyo  Sute  shon Shiti, [7]). Railway stations, which are part of infrastructure, are important elements in urban and natural environment and their aesthetics is paramount.…”

“…Also, the general topic of the aesthetic perception of Japanese steel-glass architecture has been examined in [6]. As a particular problem of bridge aesthetics, the colour characteristics of steel bridges in Japan has been considered in [7]. The current paper promotes further the aesthetic aspects of railway stations referring to the book "Aesthetics of railway stations in Europe and Japan" [1] and its review [8].…”