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ORI GIN AL PA PER
The Taxonomy of a Japanese Stroll Garden:An Ontological Investigation Using FormalConcept Analysis
Michael Fowler
Received: 24 January 2012 / Accepted: 28 May 2012
Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract This paper introduces current acoustic theories relating to the phe-nomenology of sound as a framework for interrogating concepts relating to the
ecologies of acoustic and landscape phenomena in a Japanese stroll garden. By
applying the technique of Formal Concept Analysis, a partially ordered lattice of
garden objects and attributes is visualized as a means to investigate the relationship
between elements of the taxonomy.
Keywords Formal concept analysis Japanese garden Acoustic theory Design studies
1 Introduction
Some of the most recent research into Japanese garden design has focused on
uncovering underlying structural traits via the human process of visual perception as
a means to describe general spatial principles used by garden designers (van Tonder
2007; van Tonder and Lyons 2005; Yamaguchi et al. 2008). The impact of the
Japanese garden as a richly visual encounter has led to a substantial body of
discourse relating to the aesthetics of these spaces, which are often understood as a
nexus between nature and art (Carlson 2000) facilitated through highly controlled
manifestations in landscape form (Nitschke 1999; Keane 1996; Young et al. 2005;
Itoh 1972; Kuitert 2002). That the widely known karesansui, or dry rock gardens ofthe Muromachi era (13361573) have similarly been frequently discussed with
regards to understanding their semiotics (Casalis 1983; Berthier and Parkes 2000;
Holborn 1978; Bring and Wayembergh 1981) have placed what Schafer (1977)
M. Fowler (&)Fachgebiet Audiokommunikation, Technische Universitat Berlin, Berlin, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
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Axiomathes
DOI 10.1007/s10516-012-9195-y
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describes as the acoustic ecology of such spaces as an unexplored realm for Westernscience or Western metaphysics (Fowler 2010).
Within the two surviving historical Japanese garden treatises, the eleventh
century Sakuteiki (The Classic of Garden Making) and the fifth century Senzuinarabi ni yagyo no zu (Illustrations for Designing Mountain, Water and HillsideField Landscapes) there is no direct mention of gardening for acoustic effects. But
given the oral traditions of Japanese garden design and production, and its
traditionally secretive approach to the passing down of information between niwashi(master gardener) and minarai (apprentice) (Slawson 1987), the consideration ofthe acoustic qualities of a garden may have played an equally important, yet
undocumented role in the landscape design. There is just such a suggestion in
Murasaki Shikibus eleventh century Heian text Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji),which contains a considered passage on the effects of tuning a water feature in a
Japanese garden:
The new grand Rokujo mansion was finished The hills were high and thelake was most ingeniously designed Clear spring water went singing off intothe distance, over rocks designed to enhance the music. There was a waterfall,
and the whole expanse was a wild profusion of autumn flowers and leaves
(Seidensticker 1976).
As a means to examine more closely the role of acoustic design within traditional
Japanese garden landscapes, this paper will introduce key concepts of three
prominent acoustic theorists, R. Murray Schafer, Barry Blesser and Linda-Ruth
Salter as a means to construct a taxonomy of the Japanese stroll garden Kyu
Furukawa Teien. Such an approach will allow for an examination of the connection
between designed elements of landscape and soundscape form (Schafer 1977).I further utilize the methodology of Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) (Willie 1982)
to explore the garden as a constructed ontology via the visualization of a partially
ordered lattice, which then allows for deep-level concepts and sub-concepts of the
gardens contents to be revealed for discussion.
2 Acoustic Theory: Soundscape and Aural Architecture
Theories on sound and the sounding environment as a discourse linked to
Heideggers notion of phenomenology have most prominently, and moreover only
very recently, been forwarded by the Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. His
interdisciplinary research group founded at Simon Frasier University in Vancouver
in the late 1960s was an amalgam of researchers active in musical composition,
noise engineering, psychoacoustics and urban planning. As a means to place a
greater emphasis on the sounding environment of cities as spaces for greater design
control regarding acoustic phenomenon, Schafer introduced the notion of sound-scape as a derivation from the word landscape. Much like Heiddegers (1971)notion of place, Truax (2001) describes Schafers concept of soundscape asrepresenting the total sounding environment (or acoustic ecology) in which the
subjectivity of the listener places them within it. The soundscape is thus not merely
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emerging from the physical environment, but may also be experienced through
virtual simulations or audio recordings.
Central to the theory of soundscape is the method by which a taxonomy is
constructed that describes the constituent sounds of the acoustic space as well as a
knowledge of the auditors or the acoustic community of the environment (includingtheir cultural, social, political or aesthetic expectations). Schafer (1977) introduces
three classes of sounds, soundmarks, keynotes and sound signals whose numerousinstances compete within an environment, in effect producing particular sensory
experiences that meaningfully connect an auditor to a place.
Soundmarks are those sounds that are considered culturally significant or deemed
by an acoustic community to warrant preservation (e.g., church/temple bells, town
square clocks, foghorns), while keynote sounds are those which are continuously
operable within a site and form a background (e.g., traffic, air conditioner sounds,
muzak). Sound Signals represent foregrounded sounds within a soundscape and thus
may dynamically change and include local soundmarks, though as Truax (1999) and
Augoyard and Torgue (2005) have noted, within modern cities the increase in the
SPL (sound pressure level) of emergency warning signals is a direct consequence of
the increased noise floor level of urban spaces. Truax (2001) also argues that within
urban environments, sound signals are overwhelmingly generated through electro-
acoustic means and are contributing to the masking of historical soundmarks and
thus producing lo-fi (low fidelity) auditory environments.In contrast to Schafers focus on the taxonomy of a soundscape as a distinct and
separable entity of an environment or ecology (Carter 2003), Blesser and Salter
(2007) have built an acoustic theory more closely aligned with the architectural
phenomenology of Alberto Perez-Gomez (2001). For Blesser and Salter the auditory
experience of a sounding environment might equally be facilitated through real or
virtual means, though their notion of the aural architecture of space is contingent onthe materiality, geometry and texture of its context. Using the key terms of activeand passive aural embellishment, an environments spatial context can beconsidered not only in regards to Schafers taxonomy of sound classes, but also
the effects of landscape or architectonic forms in filtering, reflecting, diffusing and
diffracting sound waves, which consequently create particular acoustic typologies
(or identifiable behaviors). Like Schafers theory of soundscape, the notion of aural
architecture also implies listening as a subjective activity in which particular
combinations of active and passive aural embellishments sum to activate an
auditors spatial auditory awareness.
3 The Garden of Kyu Furukawa Teien
Given that most of the interest in the field of design studies of the Japanese garden
has arisen from investigations that focus purely on the visual manifestations of
landscape form (Nitschke 1999; Keane 1996; Young et al. 2005; Itoh 1972; Kuitert
2002), the case for considering the taxonomy of a Japanese garden as a spatial
phenomena in which objects or elements are sources emerging from landscape andsoundscape contexts seems feasible. In fact Blesser and Salter (2007) have used
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their theory of aural architecture to position the Japanese garden as an example of a
highly considered aural design space, though historical Japanese garden treatises are
remiss with instructions regarding design considerations of the acoustic environ-
ment (Takei and Keane 2001; Slawson 1987). But recent visits (Fowler 2010;
Fowler and Harvey 2006) to the Tokyo garden Kyu Furukawa Teien suggest Blesser
and Salters notion of a highly considered acoustic design operating within the
Japanese garden is a quality readily experienced on-site. In particular, the presence
of a shakkei no oto or auditory shakkei (borrowed sound scene) (Fowler 2013) setsthis garden apart from many of its more famous Kyoto contemporaries.
Completed in 1917 and featuring a Western-style house designed by ex-patriot
English architect Josiah Conder (18521920), the garden of Kyu Furukawa Teien in
Kita-ku, Tokyo is an excellent example of a chisen-shiki-kaiyu-teien or strollgarden. Using the slope of the surrounding Muashino highland, the garden, designed
by Ogawa Jihei (18601933), exhibits many of the common traits of Taisho
(19121926) landscaping. By typically combining the elements of previous
Japanese garden styles, Kyu Furukawa Teien uses rock features (including a
karetaki or dry waterfall) prominent in the Muromachi-era (13361573), a largepond (shinjiike) favored in Heian (7941185) garden aesthetics, and a tea house andtea garden most commonly found in Meiji (18681912) designed landscapes. As
van Tonder and Lyons (2005) have noted, the traditional focus of rocks, rock
groupings or rock formations are also abundant in Kyu Furukawa Teien, as is the
preference for odd numbering, the suggestion of numerous landscape typologies
(e.g., ravines, mountains, rivers), predilection for asymmetrical compositions,
uniform textures and natural looking features.
The landscape features of the garden (see Fig. 1) also combine what Carlson
(2000) considers the dialectic relationship they construct when elements of the
naturally appearing environment (topography, plantings, water) are juxtaposed with
artificial architectonic objects (lanterns, bridges, architecture). Indeed all the
elements of a garden, from the topography, rock placements, paths and water
features have been codified and named within the two extent treatises on garden
making (each available in modern translations): the eleventh Century Sakuteiki(Takei and Keane 2001) and fifth Century Senzui Narabi ni yagyou no zu (Slawson1987). But in the case of Kyu Furukawa Teien, a number of the landscape features
are also active aural embellishments and thus contribute to the gardens soundscape
design.
The most prominent of the landscape features that contribute to the acoustic
activation of the site is the ootaki or large waterfall and the suiro (a smallwatercourse) that empties shinjiike to the southwest. With a drop of 10 m theprojection of the sounds of falling water from the ootaki can be heard across the site.In what Schafer would identify as a soundmark, the ootaki represents thepredominate sound signal of the garden in which other sounds such as the exterior
hum of the city or the sound of wind in the trees provides a background keynote.
Other signals that occur seasonally within Kyu Furukawa Teien include bird life,
aquatic animals (such as the movement of fish and turtles) as well as insects (cicadas
during summer months). The other passive landscape features of the garden act in
concert with these active aural embellishments. In particular, shinjiike and its low
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Fig
.1
Rep
rese
nta
tive
landsc
ape
elem
ents
of
the
gar
den
atK
yu
Furu
kaw
aT
eien
(see
also
Tab
le2).
To
pro
w(L
-R):
keik
oku
(rav
ine)
,is
hid
oro
(sto
ne
lan
tern
),ch
a-s
hit
u(M
eiji
tea
ho
use
),ka
reta
ki(d
ryw
ater
fall
).S
econd
Row
(L-R
):so
ri-b
ash
i(w
oo
den
arch
bri
dge)
and
myo
seki
(tu
rtle
rock
),sh
inji
ike
(po
nd
),is
hid
xoro
(sto
ne
lan
tern
),n
ori
-n
o-i
shi
(mo
un
tain
pat
h).
Th
ird
Ro
w(L
-R):
saw
ata
riac
ross
the
kare
taki
,ex
teri
or
arch
itec
tura
lco
nte
xt,
ish
iba
shi
(sto
ne
bri
dge)
,to
bi-i
shi
(ste
ppin
gst
on
ep
ath
).F
ourt
hR
ow
(L-R
):se
kito
(sto
ne
pag
oda)
,F
uru
kaw
are
sid
ence
,h
eav
ytr
eeco
ver
,o
ota
ki(w
ater
fall
)
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lying topographic aspect together with the various acoustically reflective rocks
around it, including the formation of the karetaki (dry waterfall comprised of stonesemulating the movement of water), enable the soundmark of the ootaki to penetratethe site and produce what Blesser and Salter (2007) describe as an acoustic arena(a localized area in which sounds can be heard). This arena then facilitates the
operation of the gardens shakkei no oto (Fowler 2013), in which the distant soundof falling water at the ootaki, while hidden from view at the karetaki by over 50m, isclearly heardan effective borrowing of the waterfalls soundscape to compliment
the implication of moving water that is manifest within the rock sculpture of the
karetaki.
4 Generating an Ontology Using Formal Concept Analysis
That the theories of Schafer, Blesser and Salter can be readily used in analyzing the
acoustic qualities of Kyu Furukawa Teien through naming or identifying the
function of various landscape/soundscape elements leaves the deeper question of
the structure and connections between such elements as an unaccounted one
especially in the case of the shakkei no oto. As a particularly relevant question to thediscipline of design theory, an inquiry into the garden as a synthesis between
qualities of landscape ecology that produce or enable acoustic behaviors may
provide a new discourse on the conceptual attributes and goals of the Japanese
garden designer. By positioning the Japanese garden as a design space (Woodburyand Burrow 2005) in which a networked structure of related descriptions of partial
and/or intentional designs are housed, allows for a systematic analysis of the design
artifacts using the technique of FCA (Willie 1982). With FCA, an ontology of the
garden is constructed in which a systematic investigation into its taxonomy may
reveal deeper spatial predilections regarding its design space.
As Priss (2006) notes, FCA has most widely been used in the information
sciences, Artificial Intelligence, information retrieval and software engineering as a
method for data analysis, knowledge representation and information management.
Wolff (1994) describes the fundamentals of FCA as an mathematical exploration of
incidence relations between objects and attributes. Vogt and Willie (1995) define a
formal context (see Table 1) as a collection of binary relations between a set of
objects, G (derived from the German word Gegenstande) and their correspondingattributes M (Merkmale). Given that it may be impossible to list all attributes of anygiven object, a specific formal context or closed world is assumed (Davey and
Priestley 2002). This formal context (K) is then expressed as: K G; M; I forwhich G and M are sets while I is a binary relation between G and M, i.e., I GM (Ganter et al. 2005). This fundamental tenant of FCA is understood as objectg has the attribute m, and is notated as gIm or g; m 2 I:
Table 1 is a generated formal context of objects and attributes from site visit
observations of the Japanese garden Kyu Furukawa Teien. By utilizing attributes
forwarded by Schafer (1977), Blesser and Salter (2007) together with Carlsons
(2000) contention that Japanese gardens are a dialectic construction between
natural and artificial elements, the context attempts to canvas qualities of both
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landscape and acoustic phenomena. The additional attributes of seasonal, terrestrialand architectonic similarly provide a scope for interrogating the myriad instances ofobjects within the garden. Rather than pursuing the impracticality of specifying all
instances of garden objects (e.g., every species of tree etc.) object classes are used,
of which instances (i.e., g 2 G) can be found in Table 2 and represent anexhaustive account of meaningful garden objects.
Formal concepts, cn; are derived from K through a mapping of the intention andextension of a concept: ext(cn), int(cn). The extension of a concept consists of a set
Table 1 K (Kyu Furukawa Teien)
AAE PAE Ter. Nat. Art. Sea. Arch. Sou.
Rocks 9 9 9
Garden ornaments 9 9 9
Moving water 9 9 9 9
External sounds 9 9 9 9
Topography 9 9 9 9
Still water 9 9 9
Fauna 9 9 9 9
Habitable architecture 9 9 9
Paths 9 9 9
Flora 9 9 9 9
Earth 9 9 9
Bridges 9 9 9
AAE active aural embellishment, PAE passive aural embellishment, Ter. terrestrial, Nat. natural, Sea.seasonal, Arch. architectonic, Sou. soundscape
Table 2 Instances of g in G
G g 2 G
Rocks myoseki (named rocks), mumyoseki (unamed rocks)
Garden ornaments sekito (pagoda), ishidoro (stone lanterns)
Moving water ootaki (large waterfall), suiro (small water course)
Exterior sounds traffic, air conditioner noise, aircraft, human activity
Topography miyama-no-sakai (mountainous area), jiban (plain or flat ground),keikoku (ravine), karetaki (dry waterfall)
Still water shinjiike (pond in shape of the Chinese ideogram for heart)
Fauna koi (carp), turtles, birds, insects
Habitable architecture Furukawa residence, cha-shitu (tea house), pavillion
Paths tobi-ishi (stepping stone path), nori-no-ishi (mountain path)
Flora azaleas, conifers, maples, cowberry, honeysuckle, bamboo, plum,
cherry, moss, grasses
Earth soil, sand
Bridges ishibashi (stone bridge), soribashi (wooden arched bridge)
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of all formal objects that have all the formal attributes of the concept and vice versa
(Priss 2008). Ganter et al. (2005) use a derivation operator to account for formalconcepts of K through assigning arbitrary X G and Y M conditions thatundergo the following mappings:
X ! XI fm 2 M j gIm for all g 2 Xg;Y ! YI fg 2 G j gIm for all m 2 Yg:
But as Priss (2006) has noted, the success of a formal context within disciplines
outside of those concerned purely with the inherent mathematical qualities lies in
the careful modeling of attributes, for which the derived concepts need not spe-
cifically correspond to intuitive notions of the user. In Table 3 a detailed definition
of M is presented along with examples of G for K of Kyu Furukawa Teien. A formal
concept of K is thus defined as a pair (A, B) with A G; B M; A BI ; andB = AI. The collection of all concepts of a formal context is then denoted as BK:Ganter et al. (2005) further describes the subconcept-superconcept-relation withinBK as operable under the conditions:
A1; B1 A2; B2 : () A1 A2 () B1 B2:This property then generates a hierarchy among concepts for which higher order
superconcepts, (A2, B2), may include lower level subsets, or subconcepts,(A1, B1), which then correspondingly account for the notion of an inheritance ofattributes or class inclusion (Priss 2008).
Table 3 Definitions of M in BK with respect to GM Definition of M G
Soundscape Sound class instances (signals, soundmarks,keynotes) according to Schafers (1977)theory of soundscape
Fauna, moving water, exterior sounds
Active aural
embellishment
Blesser and Salters (2007) definition of
sound sources of an environment as agents
that provide acoustic identity to a space
Fauna, moving water, exterior sounds
Seasonal Objects or agents that are influenced by
seasonal changes
Flora, fauna, exterior sounds
Natural pertaining to the natural environment Rocks, moving water, topography,
flora, earth, fauna, still water
Artificial Objects that are produced or designed or
serve functional purposes: also ephemera
that are a function of human activity
Garden ornaments, exterior sounds,
topography, habitable architecture
paths, bridges
Terrestrial Features or land-form elements of the earth Topography, flora, moving water,
still water, paths, earth, rocks
Passive aural
embellishment
Blesser and Salters (2007) definition of the
acoustic properties (materiality) of a space
in governing the behavior of sound sources
(filtering, diffraction, reflection, absorption)
Topography, flora, still water, paths,
earth, rocks
Architectonic Pertaining to the built environment or
architectural features or fabrication
Habitable architecture, garden
ornaments, bridges
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But the notion of superconcepts and subconcepts is perhaps best revealed through
FCAs most distinct feature, the Hasse, or line diagram which is a visualization of
BK: As shown in Fig. 2, circles denote objects or attributes with labels sittingabove indicating an attribute, and below an object. At the top of the diagram is an
empty circle representing the power set, PS; and at the bottom of this diagram theempty set, . The reading rule of the line diagram states that an object g has anattribute m if and only if there is an upwards leading path from the circle named byg to the circle named m (Wolff 1994). As an example, within the KyuFurukawa Teien lattice, the concept seasonal is notated:
fcSeag ffauna, exterior sounds, florag; fSea.g Another interesting property that arises from a partially ordered lattice are
unforeseen concepts such as those ones unnamed in BKsee Fig. 2. The oneinstance of a formally named subconcept, fcArchg; architectonic, within the latticeoccurs as a subset of the extents of the superconcepts fcArtg; artificial, and fcPAEg;
Fig. 2 Line diagram of BK generated using ConExp software (Yevtushenko 2000). Abbreviations asfollows: Sou. soundscape, AAE acoustic aural embellishment, Sea. seasonal, Nat. natural, Art. artificial,Ter. terrestrial, PAE passive aural embellishment, Arch. architectonic. See Table 3 for definitions
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passive aural embellishment. By tracing the intent of the set of objects that intersectthese concepts, we find:
fcArchg habitable architecture,
garden ornaments,
bridges
8>:
9>=
>;; fArch., Art., PAEg
0
B@
1
CA:
extcArch habitable architecture,
garden ornaments,
bridges
8>:
9>=
>;
) fcArchgfcArtg; fcPAEgFrom this example, what Ganter et al. (2005) describe as the attribute
implications can be deduced under the conditions:
A ! B () AI BI with A; B MWhich in BK of Kyu Furuakwa Teien corresponds to the notion that
farchitectonicg ! fArt., PAEg (i.e., the attribute architectonic implies the attri-butes artificial and passive aural embellishment).
5 Design Praxis and Ecology
One of the more striking characteristics that emerges from BK of Kyu FurukawaTeien is the sense of a distinct partitioning between the sets of attributes {Sou.,
AAE, Sea., Nat.} and {Art., Ter., PAE, Arch.} (see Fig. 2 for key to abbreviations).
Using Yevtushenkos (2000) ConExp software for line diagram generation, the node
sizes of the attributes are varied according to object extension count (larger the
diameter the greater number of objects within the extent). The six unnamed
subconcepts within the diagram highlight its hierarchical partitioning, though
assigning an arbitrary naming convention allows a deeper interrogation into the
nature of the partitioning within BK. If assigning the three far left subconcepts asca; cb; cc; then the extents of these subconcepts and their implications are comprisedof:
extca ffauna, exterior soundsg;fcag ! fSou., AAE, Sea.g:
extcb ffauna; movingwaterg;fcbg ! fSou., AAE, Nat.g:
extcc ffauna, florag;fccg ! fSea., Nat.g:
One of the first readily understood characteristics to emerge from this sub-lattice
is of the attribute equivalence relation between Schafers notion of {Sou.} and
Blesser and Salters concept of {PAE}, which can be identified through the
subconcept-superconcept relations of ca and cb
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fcagfcSoug; fcAAEg:fcbgfcSoug; fcAAEg:
and extfcSoug extfcAAEg) fSou.g fAAEg
Further to this is the association between each of the attributes of this sub-lattice.
The union of these three subconcepts highlights a feature of the Kyu Furukawa
Teien sub-lattice that might best be described as one concerned with, or pertaining
to the Ecological (as a landscape and soundscape phenomena) given the nature ofthe objects as living or dynamic organic instances that may produce active acoustic
phenomena. By considering the instances, a and b in the extension a 2 A; andintention b 2 B; of the summed subconcepts, SE; reveals:
[E fca [ cb [ ccg;
a 2[
E () 9A 2 E; a 2 A ;b 2
[E () 9B 2 E; b 2 B ;
thus:
extfca; cb; ccg [
A2EA
flora, fauna,
moving water,
exterior sounds
8>:
9>=
>;:
intfca; cb; ccg [
B2EB Sou., AAE,
Sea., Nat.
:
That Schafer (1977) and Truax (2001) have positioned soundscape studies as a
form of ecological analysis of site despite criticism from Ingold (2009), Arkette
(2004) and Carter (2003) that their approach lacks a greater engagement with the
environment as a totality remains a point of contention, though within BK; thesuggestion that Kyu Furukawa Teiens ecological elements might be described in
terms of qualities relating to acoustic and environmental systems points toward amulti-sensory dimension of the garden. What I have interpreted here as pertaining to
the Ecological stems from the inheritance of the attributes ofS
Esoundscape,active aural embellishment, seasonal, naturalwhose corresponding objectsrepresent a distinct subgroup within BK: Similarly, the inclusion of the objectexterior sounds highlights Blesser and Salters (2007) notion that the acoustic
arena of an aural architecture may extend well beyond the visual horizon. Its
inclusion here alludes to the fact that considerations about the ecology of the garden
must regard the greater context of the site beyond its own demarcations. But by the
same token, this concept may also be applied locally within the garden when
reading it as a series of connected landscape encounters. Through the traditional
technique of miegakure, a visitors movements through the garden is carefullyorchestrated so as to both reveal and focus awareness on specific aspects, features,
or sounds within the garden at particular points. This could then account for the
previous study of shakkei no oto operating at the karetaki (Fowler 2013). Here, the
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outside sounds are captured from beyond the local visual horizon (yet still within
the greater confines of the garden) and usurped to provide an auditory signal for the
obvious denotation of moving water encoded in the karetakis sculptural rockformation.
But that the sub-lattice ofS
E can be viewed as a descriptor of the notion of theEcological is further alluded to when considering the intersection,
TE; between the
extent of the three subconcepts:\
E extca \ extcb \ extcc
;
a 2\
E
$ 8A 2 E; a 2 A;thus :
\
A2EA ffaunag:
The object {fauna} then is perhaps the axiomatic element of this sub-lattice of
BK, and moreover both an active acoustic phenomenon of the gardenssoundscape ecology as well as a crucial element in its landscape ecology. That it
may function as both a design element within the garden (e.g., as with those
introduced animals such as ornamental koi and turtles), as well as a representativesymbol of the natural eco-system (e.g., through migratory birds, insects) implies that
the garden is a highly dynamic multi-sensory design space. This also suggests that
the garden is bounded by the intersection between those obvious manifestations in
which the designer is wholly present and controlling the landscape form and
soundscape qualities, and those instances in which uncontrolled agents or natural
phenomena seem to freely occupy or inhabit the space.
But that the object earth is vacant fromS
E is the next point of investigation forthe secondary group of unnamed subconcepts. Naming the secondary group of
subconcepts (left-to-right), cd; c; cf; the (A, B) values and implications arecomprised of:
moving water, earth,
still water, rocks,
topography
8>:
9>=
>;;fcdg
0
B@
1
CAand : fcdg! fNat., Ter.g:
earth, still water,
rocks, flora,
paths, topography
8>:
9>=
>;;fcg
0
B@
1
CAand : fcg! fTer., PAEg:
paths, topography,
architecture,
garden ornaments
bridges
8>>>>>:
9>>>=
>>>;
;fcfg
0
BBB@
1
CCCA
and : fcfg! fArt., PAEg; also fcArchgfcfg
I consider this area of the Kyu Furukawa Teien lattice as suggestive of the notion of
Design Praxis if one considers this collection of formal objects as associated with theparameters and tools of garden design (i.e., objects that are placed within or transform
the extant landscape conditions). The objects and spatial typologies located in this
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partition of the lattice have been named, codified and well documented in the traditional
Japanese garden treatises (Slawson 1987; Takei and Keane 2001) and represent a
repertory of compositional forms and structures available to the garden designer. That
they include elements of a garden which may produce not only visual articulations of site
but also auditory behaviors points towards the notion that Japanese garden design
contains potential structures for synthesizing manifestations of landscape and sound-
scape form. Examining more closely the secondary group of subconcepts as a united
group,S
D; the extent and intent contain pertinent qualities and objects that aredistinct from
SE: Defining the conditions for finding
SD and the instances, b in the
intention b 2 B; and instances of a in the extension a 2 A; the objects andattributes of
SD are comprised of:
[D fcd [ c [ cfg;
a 2[
D () 9A 2 D; a 2 A;b 2[
D () 9B 2 D; b 2 B;
thus : extfcd; c; cfg [
A2DA
moving water, flora
earth, still water, rocks,
topography, paths,
architecture, garden ornaments,
bridges
8>>>>>>>>>>>:
9>>>>>>=
>>>>>>;
;
intfcd; c; cfg [
B2DB Nat., Art.,
Ter., PAE
:
That the superconcepts fcNatg; fcArtg; fcTerg; fcPAEg represent elements thatinform
SD reveals that the notion of the design of a Japanese garden involves a
balancing of qualities in terms of acoustic behaviors and the nexus between naturaland artificial landscapes. Though the complimentary attribute to passive auralembellishment is located within
SE (i.e., active aural embellishment), the common
object moving water acts as a pivotal element between each sub-lattice of BK.This then means that as an active aural embellishment, moving water is an object
that is both an element for landscape/soundscape design as well as a constituent of
an ecological system. But the complete extents ofS
D contains a further commonobject, flora and one shared attribute, Natural, which seems to further suggest thatthe structure of BK implicates the design space of Kyu Furukawa Teien as onethat convalesces notions of the Ecological with Design Praxis:
[
A2EA \
[
A2DA fflora, moving waterg:
[
B2EB \
[
B2DB fNatg:
where : fflorag 2 fcg ! fNat.g;and : fmoving waterg 2 fcdg ! fNat.g:
Axiomathes
123
-
That the lattice might be read in this fashion allows for a generalized design
theory to emerge from the formal context of Kyu Furukawa Teien. Using the
premise that the extent of attributes can be understood as a synthesis between active
notions of the Ecological interleaved with considerations about Design Praxisallows for a proposition that the garden is a highly considered entity that seeks to
balance what Carlson (2000) identifies as manifestations between the artificial and
the natural in a Japanese garden. Indeed the extent of the attributes Natural andArtificial within BK penetrate both sub-lattices as superconcepts, and thusestablish themselves as important thematic entities.
The distinctiveness of the sub-lattices yet their shared elements is further
revealed inT
D whose single element topography acts as a compliment to theobject fauna which represents the nexus of
TE
\D extcd \ extc \ extcff g;
a 2\
D
$ 8A 2 D; a 2 A;\
A2DA ftopographyg;
\
A2EA ffaunag;
\
A2DA;\
A2EA
( )
2 extcNat
The situation of the objects {fauna} 2 SE and ftopographyg2 SD; andtheir shared attribute Natural, alludes to the distinct yet interleaved nature of KyuFurukawa Teiens design space. That the nexus between landscape design and
landscape ecology (Naveh and Lieberman 1984; Turner 1989; Zonneveld 1990) has
only recently been extended through considerations on acoustic phenomena (Truax
and Barrett 2011) has been a point of inquiry central to this investigation. What is
evident then at least within this cursory study of B K) is the that objects that relateto the landscape eco-system and soundscape eco-system are located within the
ext(S
E), and their implications point towards the attributes {Sou., AAE, Sea.,Nat.}. In terms of garden design, the lattice indicates that those objects that
contribute to its geospatial attributes, ext(S
D), are variously acoustic {Sou., AAE,PAE}, architectonic {Arch.} or a landscape feature {Art., Ter., Nat.}. That the
object earth is contained in the partitionS
D rather than withinS
E is a functionof the objects intent, which includes: {Nat., Ter., PAE}. If earth had been
designated seasonal, it would of been located differently, and though it shares theattribute {Nat.} 2 SE; this characteristic perhaps highlights what (Priss 2008)identifies as the utilitarian nature of FCA to visualize the assertions at the point that
the lattice was made in terms of the definitions of M in K:
6 Conclusion
As a method for the examination of the taxonomy of Kyu Furukawa Teien, FCA has
allowed for a deeper level of investigation regarding the gardens design space. In
reading the formal ontology of Kyu Furukawa Teien as an amalgam between the
Axiomathes
123
-
Ecological and Design Praxis creates what I believe is a new form of analysisrelevant for design theorists. That design theory (particularly within architecture)
has commonly focussed around analysis using philosophical modes of inquiry (Hays
2000, 2010; Kipnis 2005), semiotics (Broadbent 1994; Leon 2008; Dreyer 2003) or
shape grammar Mitchell (1990) points to the diversity and complexity of the field of
inquiry. What has been generally lacking in the discourse though is an investigation
into the application of phenomenological acoustic theories, or how such theories
might be systematically appropriated to varied design contexts or extent modes of
inquiry. Perhaps an advantage of FCA for design theory, and one revealed in the
formal context of Kyu Furuakwa Teien, is the systematic nature of the construction,
reading and interpretation of the lattice whose principles are based on mathematical
relationships, yet are a function of the observed world. That a design might be
understood in terms of its underlying visual and auditory attributes, which then areused in the construction of formal concepts is a powerful property of FCA.
Similarly, the notion that an object within an ontology can be described as an
element of a larger collection (a garden, building or design), and whose relationship
within this collection can be accounted for in a very specific non-technical way
enables a high degree of malleability in the communication and dissemination of the
structure to other designers and design theorists. In this sense, FCA may be a
valuable utility that not only describes designs, but aids in their construction.
In the most general terms, this study into Kyu Furukawa Teien has also revealed
that though the documentation of Japanese garden design techniques concerning
acoustic qualities are historically scant, there are inherent instances within the
garden, which due to their attribute qualities, synthesize to create particular
landscape/soundscape encounters. The significance of the intersection between the
sub-lattices of BK, through the attribute Natural and objects {flora, movingwater} perhaps encapsulates the deeper purpose of a Japanese garden to emulate the
natural environment (Nitschke 1999; Young et al. 2005). But for the garden
designer, the manipulation and integration of moving water and flora have particular
acoustic consequences that may richly inform the resulting design space. By
delicately balancing the impact between landscape form and soundscape stimuli, the
notion that a garden is a multi-sensory environment contained within a landscape
ecology presents the garden designer with a spatial framework to operate within.
This is perhaps most readily revealed in Kyu Furukawa Teien in the use of shakkeino oto, where the intersection between the Natural, Ecological and the artificial(Design Praxis) produces a particularly considered landscape/soundscape encounterthat at once emulates the serene topography of a natural environment, as well as the
controlled hand of the intervening garden designer.
Acknowledgments This research is supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung.
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The Taxonomy of a Japanese Stroll Garden: An Ontological Investigation Using Formal Concept AnalysisAbstractIntroductionAcoustic Theory: Soundscape and Aural ArchitectureThe Garden of Kyu Furukawa TeienGenerating an Ontology Using Formal Concept AnalysisDesign Praxis and EcologyConclusionAcknowledgmentsReferences