Friday 24 April, 2026
2:30pm BST - 4:30pm BST
This talk forms part of the International Seminar: Architecture Design and Research 2026. Full programme available here.
For researchers and postgraduate students, organized by Prof. Maria
Rita Pais, Prof. Ana Neiva, Prof. Carlos Guimarães, Prof. Dana Arnold, Prof. Tadeja Zupancic, and Prof. Spela Hudnik.
A collaborative initiative between the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (University of East Anglia), Universidade Lusófona, and the University of Ljubljana.
About the Talk
In this lecture, I will introduce historical documents and tools of Japanese carpenters from the Edo period. In the Edo period, carpenters were ruled by the shogunate and domains. Of special interest is the area near Kyoto where a carpenter family called the Nakai family controlled other carpenters. Documents and drawings related to the construction were submitted to the Nakai family, and the Nakai family supervised the main construction. Among the construction of the Nakai family, the construction of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the residence of the emperor Tenno, was one of the most important projects, and historical documents related to this have been preserved.
I would like to introduce these historical documents and tools related to these craftsmen, as well as the existing architectural survey using these documents.
About the Speaker
Satoshi Unno is an architectural historian whose work focuses on Japanese and East Asian architectural history and the conservation of cultural properties. His research is grounded in the study of architectural and archaeological remains, historical documents and visual sources, through which he examines construction systems, maintenance practices, and the transmission of architectural technologies.
He holds a Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Tokyo and is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo. His research addresses technology transfer between Japan and East Asia in antiquity, building maintenance and reconstruction, and international principles for the preservation of wooden architecture. He is the author of several books on Japanese architectural history and heritage, including The Construction System and Maintenance of Architecture in the Nara Period (2015) and Cultural Heritage and Reconstructionology (2019).