Student:	Alper TÜFEKÇİOĞLU
Supervisor:	Doç. Dr. Mustafa VAR
Department:	Peyzaj Mimarlığı
Institution:	Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences
University:	Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey

Title of the Thesis:	The Design Elements Used in the Japanese Gardens and their Evolution Through History
Level:	M.Sc.
Acceptance Date:	4/1/2008
Number of Pages:	214
Registration Number:	i1888

Summary:

Formed with the effect of Korean and particularly Chinese culture and art

movements, the Japanese gardens have been influenced by the philosophical reflections

pertaining to Shintoism, Buddhism and Taoism beliefs. Despite being man-made, these

gardens, symbolizing nature in every respect, draw a worldwide attention with the abstract

concepts in their composition.

Blending the Japanese society’s values with an aesthetic taste, the Japanese garden

art existed in seven separate historical periods. Known as Nara, Heian, Kamakura,

Muromachi, Momoyama, Edo and Meiji, the gardens of these periods present the living

standards, cultural and artistic values and religious beliefs of the society.

Besides the design elements and their evolution through history, the Japanese garden

art, its classification according to the periods have been handled and some of these gardens

have been examined in this study.

Some developments were observed in the diverse fields of art with the effects of

Buddhism and Shintoism in the Nara Period in the 8th century. In the Heian and Kamakura

gardens, spacious lake gardens made for the upper-class of the period were designed. The

plainness and naturalness typical of the Zen culture in the 14th and 15th Muromachi and

Momoyama Periods caused some differences and diversities in the garden designs. In these

periods, when plain landscape gardens and tea gardens were designed, the gardens were

used as settings where temple monks could refine their minds and hearts. In the Edo and

Meiji Periods, when the garden art switched from the Zen culture to a Western style, a

tendency towards the West existed in spite of the conservation of the cultural values.

Besides the application styles, the design elements used in Japanese gardens

diversified depending upon material, form, texture, scale and hue. In garden designs,

plants, rocks, water, sand and pebbles, floors, fences, walls, water vessels, stone lanterns

and bridges have been used functionally, aesthetically and symbolically.

Key Words: Japanese Gardens, Temple Gardens, Design Elements