Sho-Sugi-Ban

While thinking about what I wanted to do as a career, I started looking around me and considered my surrounding. This interest lead to an interest in architecture and a research in the styles used throughout history. Although I have failed to get into the architecture school of my choice, I still like to consider my space and the style of the space.

This post is an introduction to Sho-Sugi-Ban, an ancient Japanese technique of charring the cypress wood to preserve the wood. Before we had paint sealants to coat the wood, the japanese would burn the face of the wood to give it a deep brown color that would serve to keep the wood from rotting, as well as give it texture.

Taken from stock.xchng

Not quite sure of the technique of this picture, but the color is really close to the finished product. For some visual examples of what the wood actually looks like in applied architecture, visit this blog.