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  The light inside the building grows lighter or darker along with the changing brightness of the sky, so that the space seems to breathe. With each change in the intensity of the light, in other words, the space seems to swell or shrink. -- Takashi Yamaguchi

  In Japan, one of the few countries where religious syncretism is deeply rooted, the practice of the original shintoism coexists with Buddhism (1). The White Temple is designed as an additional hall for offering prayers to deceased maternal ancestors for the secluded and private temple of Zuisen-ji in the outskirts of Kyoto (2). In a culture that reveres the male lineage above all, Yamaguchi provides a chapel to worship the often forgotten maternal line that customarily never receives memorial services. The temple has a fixed, rectangular form made of thick white marble representing purity (3). Within its position beside the scenic mountains, lake, and forest, the striking white and manufactured box-like form draws on the dynamic power of the landform and asserts itself as an intensified and enticing presence. A smooth marble slab floating above the ground and jutting out from the building draws visitors into the seating area for mourners marked by a tatami mat. Ahead on the same level, the white marble floor extends as a naijin, a space for monks who conduct mass (4). Intended to draw the gaze upward, the stepped platform hovers slightly above the floor and culminates in a modest altar where the bodhisattva Kannon (goddess of mercy) presides (5). Unfolding along its steps a series of Buddhist mortuary tablets necessary for ritual. The Buddha figure is illuminated from behind with an abstract soft natural in the traditional manner of gokou, the golden halo accompanying many Buddha statues. Such light symbolizes attaining Buddha's luminous clear wisdom. 

  The rear window of opalescent glass echoes the generous front entrance and tautens the main axis. A pair of narrow frosted-glass skylights running down either side of the building spans the distance between the two openings. The building's dominant axis and strong sequence of spaces symbolize the passage from this world to the next. The planes of glass filters the sun's brightness, and replaces it with an otherworldly glow. Thus, as intensity of illumination changes throughout the day, the building also grows lighter and darker alongside the sun so that the space seems swell and shrink--breathing. Yamaguchi intended for this diffusion of light to softly envelope visitors in a womb-like atmosphere (7). The temple is a materialized recognition of woman as the generator of life. The movement of light within the opaque enclosure evokes the vision of a return to the mother's womb, embraces the visitor, and invites them to remember their maternal relationship and to give thanks for being born (8). 

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  1. “Buddhist Temple Kyoto.” AV Monografías 95 (June 2002): 98.
  2. Graham, Patricia J. “Buddhist Sites of Worship, 1945–2005.” In Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600–2005, 244. University of Hawai’i Press, 2007. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wr0x0.16. 
  3. “Buddhist Temple Kyoto.” AV Monografías 95 (June 2002): 98.
  4. Pollack, Naomi R. “White Temple: Kyoto, Japan.” Architectural Record (October 2001): 162.
  5. Graham, Patricia J. “Buddhist Sites of Worship, 1945–2005.” In Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600–2005, 245. University of Hawai’i Press, 2007. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wr0x0.16. 
  6. Pollack, Naomi R. “White Temple: Kyoto, Japan.” Architectural Record (October 2001): 164.
  7. Yamaguchi, Takashi. “White Temple.” Oz 24, no. 1 (2002): 48. https://doi.org/10.4148/2378-5853.1375.
  8. “Buddhist Temple Kyoto.” AV Monografías 95 (June 2002): 101.