The hermit's hut : architecture and asceticism in India / Kazi K. Ashraf.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ashraf, Kazi Khaleed, author.

Series:

Spatial habitus (Series)

Spatial habitus

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buddhist architecture--India.

Buddhist architecture.

Asceticism--Buddhism.

Asceticism.

India.

Physical Description:

xiii, 222 pages ; 27 cm.

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, [2013]

Summary:

"The Hermit's Hut offers an original insight into the profound relationship between architecture and asceticism. Although architecture continually responds to ascetic compulsions, as in its frequent encounter with the question of excess and less, it is typically considered separate from asceticism. In contrast, this innovative book explores the rich and mutual ways in which asceticism and architecture are played out in each other's practices. The question of asceticism is also considered--as neither a religious discourse nor a specific cultural tradition but as a perennial issue in the practice of culture. The work convincingly traces the influences from early Indian asceticism to Zen Buddhism to the Japanese teahouse--the latter opening the door to modern minimalism. As the book's title suggests, the protagonist of the narrative is the nondescript hermit's hut. Relying primarily on Buddhist materials, the author provides a complex narrative that stems from this simple structure, showing how the significance of the hut resonates widely and how the question of dwelling is central to ascetic imagination. In exploring the conjunctions of architecture and asceticism, he breaks new ground by presenting ascetic practice as fundamentally an architectural project, namely the fabrication of a "last" hut. Through the conception of the last hut, he looks at the ascetic challenge of arriving at the edge of civilization and its echoes in the architectural quest for minimalism. The most vivid example comes from a well-known Buddhist text where the Buddha describes the ultimate ascetic moment, or nirvana, in cataclysmic terms using architectural metaphors: "The roof-rafters will be shattered," the Buddha declares, and the architect will "no longer build the house again." As the book compellingly shows, the physiological and spiritual transformation of the body is deeply intertwined with the art of building." -- Publisher's description.

Contents:

Asceticism and architecture

Home in the ascetic imagination

The Buddha's house

The two houses: body and building in the ascetic imagination

Asceticism and the primitive hut

A hut with many meanings

The end of architecture.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-215) and index.

ISBN:

9780824835835

0824835832

OCLC:

830682701