Chapter Two: The Trajectory of Minimalism During Twentieth and Twentyfirst Century Architecture within Sacred Interiors This chapter will explore the trajectory of minimalism and the direction it has taken in late twentieth and twenty-first century architecture, alongside examining the influences of minimalism within sacred interiors. This chapter will explore how minimalism developed as a manifestation and interpretation of Japanese culture and how this culture has been reinterpreted as an aesthetic within westernised society to emphasise how Japanese culture instigated the thinking behind the minimalist movement. The discussion will analyse the development of minimalism during post-war modernism and explore how it was influenced from Japanese culture. This will demonstrate how the emergence of the minimalist movement, during the late twentieth century, influenced the development of minimalism within sacred interiors. The overall aim of this chapter is to highlight how contemporary influences have impacted the evolution of minimalism within sacred interiors.
Minimalism initially emerged as a design movement during post-war modernism (Verhetsel & Pombo, 2013: 30), as it expressed new ways of thinking at the end of the twentieth century (Vasilski, 2014: 277). Modernism arose through Marxism, which was influenced from Japanese culture (Barshay, 1992: 368). Marxists implemented aspects of Japanese culture into western society through the reinterpretation of this culture (Barshay, 1992: 368). The use of commonly found materials, such as concrete, timber and steel, and lack of detailing, as seen in Japanese culture, was interpreted as being able to be mass-produced in western society to provide higher levels of equality amongst the masses, which ultimately led to the rise of modernism (Almodovar-Melendo, 2014: 44). Whilst it has been substantially problematic to define minimalism, John Pawson, a British architect and an established influencer of minimalism, recognised that minimalism can be identified when ‘it is no longer possible to improve subtraction and when all the components and details are reduced to the essence’ (Pawson, 1996: 07). Verhetsel & Pombo claimed that minimalism was thought to have derived as an attempt to ‘embrace sobriety and cleanliness upon the search for pure form and visual silence’ (Verhetsel & Pombo 2013: 31), which is an adverse reaction to minimalism being criticised for being seemingly ‘cold, abstract and sterile’ (Obendorf, 2009: 56).
This section of the dissertation will examine Japanese culture as it has been considered a significant factor of inspiration for minimalism within contemporary sacred interiors. An analysis will also be undertaken to interpret how characteristics of the Japanese aesthetic have been translated as minimal within contemporary interiors in order to comprehend the intention of this phenomenon. A framework 17
