Abstract

The Japanese term “minka” literally means “houses of the people”, and refers to the traditional Japanese dwellings built from the ancient eras up to the mid 19th century. These simple and lightweight houses were commonly made by bamboo, straw and wooden elements, all connected together with wooden joints or ropes. Shirakawa-go and Gokayama regions, in the central area of Japan, west to Tokyo, were isolated for a long period. As a result, a specific type of minka, the Gassho-zukuri, was developed there. Its main feature is the use of an extremely logical and rational construction system as a result of the natural adaptation to the harsh conditions of the environment. Despite being built as permanent structures, these traditional houses are indeed removable: their different components can be disassembled, reused and reassembled without any difficulty. The high potential of disassembly contained in these small constructions invites to reflect on the projective and constructive guidelines found in their solutions that could be recovered and applied to current proposals in order to integrate the disassembly, recovery and transfer of the entire building object as a key factor in a sustainable architectural design.