October 13, 2010

Not Just Any Old Roof

Osaka, 2009

I'm joining Wordless Wednesday and Sepia Scenes
Visit the sites for links to more takes on the themes.

18 comments:

Kay L. Davies said...

Kyoto, 2009, it says. Interesting, the differences and yet the similarity between Japanese roofs and Chinese roofs.
I've never been to Japan, although I know quite a few people who have.
Very interesting. Thanks, Francisca.

Kay, Alberta

Pat Tillett said...

brilliant!
In a minute or two the name of that temple is going to pop into my head...If not I'm going to have go dig through my photos!

Rinkly Rimes said...

Such an unusual view of a beautiful building!

Annie Jeffries said...

Indeed it isn't. Beauty and function - what a wonderful merger.

Francisca said...

@Pat... I went back to look where I took this photo, and oops, it wasn't in Kyoto, but Osaka. It was a small building next to the Himeji Castle. I could do a whole series just on Kansai roof details - I just love them.

@Kay, don't tell my Japanese friends this, but from a design perspective, the origins of these roofs are from China; it's an older civilization. But with some wonderful exceptions, I think Japan has the better selection of roofs (and temples) these days - probably because Communism in general and the Cultural Revolution in specific, frowned on these religious buildings - many were destroyed, or left to ruin, and few new ones built.

cieldequimper said...

Excellent photo. I like the idea of a detail like this.

Unknown said...

I love it, nice one for a sepia photo.

catsynth said...

Great detail on the roof, and I also like sepia tone.
The architecture does seem to share a lot with traditional buildings I saw in China as well.

Julie said...

WELL GO ON oops stop shouting Julie ... go on do a whole series. This is gorgeous ... is that sort of tiles for rainwater or just decorative? And is that a bow?

jabblog said...

Such intricate work on something so mundane - but the Japanese present everything so beautifully.

Kaori said...

You took this photo perfectly! So gorgeous! I love old kawara roofs! I would of thought Kyoto for this photo, too :-D

Gattina said...

Very interesting ! beautiful picture too !

Francisca said...

@Julie... the conventional kawara roofing tiles are ceramic made of dark gray clay. The terminal pieces are used both for decoration and perhaps as an amulet. Because the angle of my photo focuses on the ends, it's hard to see, but I'd say this one has a small branch with a fruit and two leaves. I'm sure to post more roof photos in future.

shirley said...

I love the details of the roofs in the far east. Just beautiful.

Julie said...

ahh Murakami ... I am a sponge to his sentence structures, to his brevity, to his sensibilities ... 'After Dark' is my own personal 'Fowlers'!

I have read twice and am now dipping in and annotating paragraphs. Sad, eh?

He is teaching me how to vary my style in my own language. I am learnig pacing and viewpoint and applying to the little stories in my Riff blog.

I would not give you tuppence for his storylines though ...

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Words -- I need words! Where, when ....? It is beautiful though Francisca! Thanks

Lowell said...

Yikes! I'd sure hate to have to put a new roof on that place!

Prity said...

Hey, just came across your blog.. and simply loved it ;) Pics are great!