Space and Time in the Architectures of the East and the West

동서양 건축에서의 공간과 시간

The tradition of architecture in the East and the West are different in many ways. One of the basic cause of such difference, however, is the different ways of perception of space and time. This paper aims to identify the attitude of perception of space and time in the cultures of the East and the West, and its influence on architecture. Degrees of importance placed on either space or time, as well as the modes of perception of space and time are discussed in relation to architecture. Basically, the architecture of the West seems to be more spatially oriented than the East, and this have much to do with the fact that the tradition of Western architecture is visually oriented. On the other hand, East Asian architecture have been more conscious on bodily feeling and its movement in architecture. Spatial units of traditional Eastern architecture, are arranged in such a way in which man can experience the change of space that is supposed to be organized to form a sequential message. Thus, in the East, temporal dimension is more deliberately included in the course of architectural experience compared to the cases of the West. Although it is not easy to attempt any kind of value judgment on such aspects, it is necessary to understand how the different perception of space and time influenced architectural outcome, especially when one wants to understand the cultural cause that have made the architectures of the East and the West very different. Such understanding is particularly important in East Asia where their future of architecture depends much on how they harmonize the Eastern and Western background which are already built up as two cultural structure in their consciousness to be able to create more desirable architecture for themselves.