Abstract
The term Yukotai means porous body. Hiroshi Hara, one of the most famous Japanese architect, began to develop his Yukotai Theory in 1965. Yukotai refutes the validity of Modernism's homogeneous space and its unity of form. The main concepts of the theory are as follows. First, a basic architectural unit(usually a room) is designed as a "closed domain" or spatial unit that corresponds to an individual within society. Second, covering is the outer layer of a space, in other words a building's frame and exterior. Third, aperture in this covering are based on various factors such as air, light, heat, energy and information. Through this shaping process, the closed(or dead) space is transformed into a living space. Hara's three completed projects, the Ito House of 1967, the Shimoshizu Primary School and the Keisho Kindergarten of 1968, could be regarded as attempts to implement the Yukotai Theory. This paper investigates the outline of the Yukotai Theory and analyzes those three completed projects that were based on the theory. Then in the final part of the paper, the implications of Yukotai Theory and its influence on his later works of following period will be discussed.