• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.173-180
• /
• 2004

The cultural identity of each nation has appeared as a major issue in this multi-cultural era, and needs to define It clearly through comparisons with other cultures have been raised. The purpose of this study is to figure out ‘similarity’ and ‘dissimilarity’ on design characteristics of traditional storage furniture in interior context of Korea, China and Japan. Comparative analysis of traditional furniture was conducted in two terms, in terms of inner space, first, spatial elevation and front patterns, second, flooring materials of the interior space and types of furniture legs. Result of first comparative analysis showed that composition of windows, one of the major decorative elements of interior space, positively influenced on furniture, and reflected unique patterns of each country. Second comparative analysis showed that structures and shapes of traditional furniture vary depending on flooring materials. As a result of it, Korean furniture has the structure of ‘punghyeol’ and Chinese furniture has the structure of ‘aja’ with ‘takni’ , a combination of legs. In contrast to the two countries, Japanese furniture has rarely legs. The result of analysis is expected to act a role of establishing the cultural identity of our own country.

• Journal of The Korean Digital Architecture Interior Association
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.29-34
• /
• 2007

Purpose of this paper is find the similarity and dissimilarity of Korean, Chinese and Japanese traditional furnitures for storage. Also this paper tries to have a comparative analysis on life style, characteristics of housing space and furniture's form of three countries. The study can be summarized as follows. First, space scale and seat levels of three countries are related to furniture's height and form, so that Chinese furniture have over scale than human, and Japanese furniture have the type of box for stacking. Second, the way of heating and materials of floors are concerned with the type of furniture's legs. Third, even if these dissimilarities, the aesthetic characteristics of three countries furniture would be a data base for making design identity of East Asian modern housing furniture.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.183-193
• /
• 2013

The study aimed to find the fundamental differences of aesthetics in Korea, China, and Japan by analyzing expressive features and structural meanings of the storage furniture from $17^{th}$ to $19^{th}$ century. The study was performed in four steps; analysis of expressive features, isotopic analysis, semantic structure analysis, and comprehensive interpretation. The results showed that three countries had linear shapes with curvilinear elements, closed forms with open spaces, natural material hues with change of tone or color, and symmetrical forms with asymmetrical patterns and structures in common. Korea comparatively accented on the natural material colors and wood grains. China stressed on the big and wide faces using three-dimensional carving. Japan accented on the linear elements with strong color contrast and decorative metal fixtures. These features were caused by the traditional thoughts and according aesthetic principles. Korea and China were affected by the Confucianism focused on establishing the order of rank. Meanwhile, Japan was more influenced by the Buddhism emphasized on the individuality and communication. Therefore, the differences of the expressive features in furniture among the three countries were inevitable consequences of the different ideologies.