Hōryū-ji pagoda and shinbashira
Pagoda con pilar central (shinbashira) de Hōryū-ji
- Date
- c. 700-711 · confidence medium
- Place
- Hōryū-ji, Ikaruga, Nara, Japan
- Credited to
- Carpenters of the Asuka period
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A five-storey pagoda among the oldest wooden buildings in the world, with an independent central pillar and floors that move separately. It has withstood thirteen centuries of earthquakes and has inspired modern damping systems.
The temple was rebuilt after a fire in 670; the pillar's wood was felled in 594 according to dendrochronology. Whether the shinbashira acts as a damper or whether stability comes from the joints as a whole is a matter of debate.
What it led to
- Buddhist wooden architecture in Japan and Korea
- the study of the seismic response of flexible structures
- central damping in skyscrapers (Tokyo Skytree, 2012)