Date: Year One Fall (BEDS)
Group Members: Conor Cruz, Mathew Rodrigues, Marcel Tarnorgski
Tutor: Cristina Verissimo
The Ise Grand Shrine is the most important Shinto monument in Japan. One of the first formal shrines to be built, it also celebrates one of the most important Kami of the Shinto religion, the goddess Amaterasu. Since its construction in 678 BCE it has been rebuilt every 20 years. This rebuilding process is called Sengu and acts as a ritual of the Shinto belief in the impermanence of all things as well as the symbolic death and renewal in the natural world. This model aims to study the structure and layers of the shrine as its materiality is of great importance contextually and ceremonially.
Date: Year One Fall (BEDS)
Tutor: Cristina Verissimo
In my counterpoint design I decided to create a space for one of Ise’s most important ceremonies. The Kagura Pavilion hosts the Ise Kagura, a traditional Shinto dance performed at the Ise shrine. The Kagura is performed on the central courtyard stage which is initially obstructed from view. The pavilion is comprised of 334 young cypress tree columns that form partitions of varying density. As one enters the pavilion the view of the center stage is initially blocked by the partitions and the viewer is forced to weave their way through the screens seeing only fragments of the dance until they reach the courtyard and are granted full viewing access to the ritual.