Watch: How Japanese Woodworkers Constructed Buildings Without Nails Or Glue
Image via Shutterstock
These days, you have 3D-printed buildings and places with floating swimming pools—but architecture back then was just as fascinating. Japanese carpenters in the past completed entire buildings only with blocks of wood, a true practice of minimalism.
There was no nailing, gluing, or noisy drilling; instead, they’d meticulously cut chunks of wood into shapes to be fitted together like a jigsaw. Think LEGO blocks, but with dire consequences if you didn’t fasten them properly.
Dylan Iwakuni, a woodworker from Yamanashi, has been sharing ASMR videos demonstrating the Japanese art of wood joinery. Some of these methods are still used today.
“At the end of the 12th century, fine woodworking skills and knowledge were brought into Japan from China,” he wrote. “Over time, these joinery skills were refined and passed down, resulting in the fine wood joineries Japan is known for.”
Iwakuni’s video of the Shihou Kama Tsugi (four-way goose neck joint) style has amassed nearly 1.3 million views since its debut on 7 September. The awe is warranted; the configuration being shown is known as the “impossible joint” due to its diagonally-cut parts that, when pieced together, cannot be disassembled.
The joinery processes are incredibly satisfying to watch. View a couple of videos below, and ease your stresses with Iwakuni’s entire playlist here.
[via Open Culture, videos via Dylan Iwakuni, cover image via Shutterstock]
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