Japanese Architecture Influence on LA

[Robert Docter]

This session was very fascinating and a much differest taste versus the other seminar sessions. Architecture goes beyond the art, but reveals the values, traditions, family and social structure, and resources of a particular society (just to name a few of a long list of examples). Zen Spaces... provides so much information beyond the architecture and dives deep into the historical progression of Japan. It also reveals the urban planning in Japan, especially the modern age. A few highlights of this book and Bharne's presention caught my eye personal interest and relating it back to my life. Charles and Henry Greene's Gamble House has always fascinated me as I grew up near Pasadena, but seeing how its styles and influences from the Greenes admiration of Japanese syles and designs is an early example of Japanese culture, style, and influence have made it west. From Gamble to Frank Lloyd Wright, LA's most famous houses derive from the Japanese influences - influece that makes its way to movies, television, and photography of LA.