Symbiotic Beauty: The Sustainable Wisdom of Samurai Residences

Azby Brown, a leading authority on Japanese architecture, design, and environmentalism, explains how the samurai house of the Edo period was a marvelous design solution that embodied the aesthetics of comfortable restraint and the ethics of wasteless use of materials and energy. Conceived from the start as a symbiotic linkage of house and garden, samurai residences provide us with many ideal models for circular design that is highly applicable to our own age. This talk will look at The Huntington’s Japanese Heritage Shōya House, placing it in context with the values and practices of the era in which it was built and highlighting the many continuities it displays across centuries and social hierarchies.

A book signing will follow the lecture.

Just Enough: Lessons from Japan for Sustainable Living, Architecture, and Design by Azby Brown

This book explores how the mindset of traditional Japanese society can guide our own efforts to lead a green lifestyle today.

Purchase from the Huntington Store

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