and Art
and Art
Internal renovation refers to the division or decoration indoors, including ‘separation’, ‘cover’, ‘antique shelf’, ‘Tai Shi wall’, ‘screen door’, ‘ceiling’, and ‘caisson’, which is only common in palaces or temples. Internal renovation reflects the rank and background of the temple. Generally, the external renovation, exposed to the winds and sun, will be gradually weathered. Yet the internal renovation would not be affected, distorted, fade away by the weather. Therefore, internal renovation is more meticulously made with better quality materials. Besides the function of placement, the internal renovation shows both artistic and practical values. As the richest part in traditional architecture, internal renovation displays the best craftsmanship in the sacred space.
‘Separation’ refers to the partition walls dividing the interior space, either completely or partly. ‘Covers’ and ‘antique shelves’ also have the function of dividing space partly. Therefore, they are functioned as ‘soft’ separation of space. ‘Tai Shi walls’ and ‘screen doors’ are screens at the rear of entrance hall in traditional architecture, serving as soft distinction between two spaces. ‘Tai Shi walls’ are usually located in the center of the rear of the entrance hall. Tai Shi walls are walls that cannot be opened, often decorated with openwork carvings. Besides being decorative, they are more ventilated and bring more light in.
Common railings are not only functioned as protection, but also served as signs. They are often placed at a high area, such as a terrace, floor, corridor, cliff, and other barriers on the edge. A ‘ceiling’ is an interior canopy frame under the roof structure. After grids are formed with wooden sticks, relief sculptures or colored thin wooden panels will be covered on top of them. Besides the ‘ceiling’, the top structure also contains caissons, decoration on top of the interior structure composed of bracket systems. Because they look complicated like cobwebs, they are commonly called ‘cobwebs’.
