JAILCD2025-006: A Study on the Complexity Inherent in the Catholic Shibata Church -Through the Plan and Structure of Wooden Houses and Existing Wooden Churches-

Abstract

This study focuses on the existing wooden churches and exposed-frame wooden houses designed by the architect Antonin Raymond, and aims to clarify Raymond's scissor truss architectural ideas. The scissor truss seen in wooden churches has changed little by little over the years, and aims to understand the complexity of the framework of the Shibata Catholic Church by analyzing the relationship between the scissor truss seen in wooden churches and scissor truss wooden houses. Raymond had consistent ideas about naturalness, sincerity, directness, and economy, but he went through four different design styles throughout his life. The Shibata Catholic Church is the last style, and it stands out from other wooden churches not only in the shape of the scissor truss, but also in the floor plan.

Most previous studies on Raymond have been analyses of Raymond's architectural ideas, introductions to his discourse, and considerations of the framework of wooden houses or wooden churches. Uchida's paper analyzes the wooden structures seen in St. Paul's Church and home and office in Kogaimachi, and considers the reasons why Raymond's wooden works should be called "wooden modernism," touching on the structural form of both.1) However, to the best of my knowledge, I have not been able to find any research that analyzes works by focusing on the structural composition of the Catholic Shibata Church or the relationship between the structural structures of wooden churches and wooden houses. This research not only deepens our understanding of Raymond's design ideas, but also contributes to a deeper understanding of the ideas behind frameworks that are not based on the function of the building.