In Furnishing the Modern Metropolitan: Moriya Nobuo’s Designs for Domestic Interiors 1922-1927, author Sarah Teasley introduces Moriya Nobuo; an interior designer with plans of modernizing Japan’s architectural and interior home structures. The Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century created many opportunities for more western impacts as Japan began to trade and create a closer bond with higher western powers such as the US and European countries. The “western influence” on Japanese architecture attempted to turn the once accessible, useful, and multifunctional homes of Japan into modern, luxurious, commonplaces with less socialization, more structure, and bigger emphasises on capitalist tendencies such as desks and chairs for students in order for them to get acclimated with the surroundings and resources of a classroom as well as study rooms for past scholars and the everyday man. Teasley does a fine job of creating a visual analysis with pictures located throughout the text as well as vivid and clear imagery in the texts. With the use of words such as modern, western, efficient, and luxurious, Tealey excellently provides examples of Moriya’s preferred style and the desire for Japanese homes that housed the everyday man (salariman) and chose to focus in on chairs and tables as a transition into a more modern and westernized way of living for the Japanese people. With increased functionality in capitalistic tendencies such as income efficiency, studious workplaces, and rigid chairs and beds, the western impression of capitalism particularly took off after Moriya heavily influenced the architectural styles of Japan after the Great Kanto Earthquake destroyed over 10,000 homes. The need for reconstruction was imminent and clear in Nubuo’s mind as he rallied to convince furniture manufacturers to decrease prices and increase efficiency so as to create affordable modern styled furniture for everyone that wanted it. The visual analysis also helps support the argument as we see a few images and descriptions of Moriya’s designs such as A Study Whose Window Reflects a Bird’s Shadow (Chiisaki shitsunai bijutsu) which provides a look at a typical Japanese study room and gives textual analysis of the uses, purposes, and fundamental qualities of the room.
I enjoyed reading this article because it was very interesting to read about the benefits and drawbacks of the western expansionism on the architectural community and interior design agencies that are separated by an ocean. The article makes me want to analyze the idea of modernization and its impact on architecture and how capitalism and western nationalism affects and plays a large role in the influential process.
