KATSURA IMPERIAL VILLA

The Katsura Imperial Villa (桂離宮Katsura Rikyū^?), or Katsura Detached Palace, is a villa with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan (in Nishikyō-ku, separate from the Kyoto Imperial Palace). It is one of Japan's most important large-scale cultural treasures.

Its gardens are considered a masterpiece of Japanese gardening and the buildings are regarded among the greatest achievements of Japanese architecture. The palace includes a shoin ("drawing room"), tea houses, and a strolling garden.

Katsura Imperial Villa
Katsura Imperial Villa (桂離宮 Katsura Rikyū?)
Katsura Imperial Villa in spring
Type	Japanese garden
Location	Kyoto, Japan
Coordinates	34°59′02″N 135°42′34″E
Created	17th Century

The palace formerly belonged to the princes of the Hachijō-no-miya (八条宮) family. The Imperial Household Agency administers it, and accepts visitors by appointment.

History

The Katsura district of Kyoto has long been favored for villas, and in the Heian period, Fujiwara no Michinaga had a villa there. The members of the Heian court found it an elegant location for viewing the moon.

Prince Hachijō Toshihito (智仁; 1579–1629), the founder of the Katsura Imperial Villa, was born on 13 February 1579. He was the sixth son of Prince Sanehito, and a descendent of Emperor Ogimachi. In 1586, Toshihito was adopted by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, but they separated in 1589 when Hideyoshi had his own son. He presented Toshihito with land that yielded 3000 koku (15,000 bushels of rice) and allowed him to establish a new house in the imperial line, which became the Hachijo family line.[1]

From an early age, Prince Toshihito was very familiar with the Tales of Genji, the Poems of Past and Present, and the works of Po Chu-i.[2] He was incredibly fond of these works, and was said to copy passages from the works for leisure. One such passage, from the Tales of Genji, had written:

Far away, in the country village of Katsura, the reflection of the moon upon the water is clear and tranquil.

When Toshihito obtained land along the south bank of the Katsura River, the location of the novel the Tales of Genji, he set out to construct a villa modeled on passages from it. However, because he lacked wealth and resources, the first constructed villa was similar to “a teahouse in the melon patch” [4]. However, after the marriage of Tokugawa Kazuko to Emperor Go-Mizunoo, which Toshihito had been active in creating, construction of the villa began. As Prince Toshihito became a greater figure in public life, more guests came to visit the Katsura Imperial Villa. By 1624, he had devoted more of his resources to the expansion of the villa, and it was recorded that hills had been formed and a pond had been dug in the middle of the garden. A priest that visited Katsura in 1624 wrote that it had the “finest view in Japan”. By 1631, the villa was called a “palace”[5].

Prince Toshihito died in 1629, when his son Toshitada (also called Noritada) was ten years old. Because he was only a child, Toshitada made little use of the garden, and the villa was allowed to deteriorate badly. However, he shared the same interests as his father, and visited the villa by 1641. After marrying the daughter of Lord Kaga, which greatly increased his income, he set out to renovate the imperial villa. With the section of the villa his father built known as the “Old Shoin”, Toshitada constructed the main house, as well as several teahouses, and these became part of the section called the “Middle Shoin”[6]. After these renovations, the fame of the Katsura villa grew.

In 1654, Toshitada adopted Prince Sachi, one of the ex-Emperor Go-Mizunoo’s many sons, and a few years afterwards, Go-Mizunoo decided to visit. It is said that the New Palace, also called the “Imperial-Visit Palace”[7], was built to accommodate the ex-Emperor while he was visiting. Prince Toshitada died in 1662, and his heir died a few years later. After this, the fourth and fifth generation princes died in their teens, making additions to the Katsura Imperial Villa impossible. However, the seventh generation prince, Prince Yakahito, visited the villa numerous times and made repairs to it, leaving most of the layout in its original form.

The Hachijō-no-miya house changed its name to Tokiwai-no-miya (常磐井宮), Kyōgoku-no-miya (京極宮), and finally Katsura-no-miya (桂宮), before the line died out in 1881. The Imperial Household Ministry took control of the Katsura Detached Palace in 1883, and since World War II, the Imperial Household Agency has been in control.

Connections to traditional Japanese and Buddhist ideas

The Katsura Imperial Villa is a good example of the essence of Japanese traditional design. The Villa combines principles usually used in early Shinto shrines and merges it with the esthetics and philosophy of Zen Buddhism.

Villa incorporates many traditional Japanese ideas. One example of Katsura's use of traditional ideas is its use of raised floors with tatami mats covering them. Tatami are mats approximately 3 feet by 6 feet in length that are not only used as the floors of the villa, but are also used to define the dimensions of each individual room and the house as a whole. At Katsura, the mats are used to create the sprawling and pinwheel-like plan that it has today. The terraces and porches created by the arrangement of the tatami mats provide opportunities to view the landscape and link interior spaces with the outside world. The floors of each building of the site are also raised as well, which originally was derived from vernacular designs for granaries, as well as early imperial palaces. They serve the purpose of both keeping the floor dry while also giving hierarchy to the space. Another classic characteristic that the Katsura Imperial Villa utilizes is the use of screen walls (the shoji and the fusuma). In traditional Japanese Architecture, the shoji and the fusuma are used to separate the spaces created by the tatami mat into the various rooms of the house. The shoji is the generic term for the white and translucent screen door or wall that is reinforced with wooden lattice and can either be stationary, hanging, or sliding. The fusuma is a subcategory of the shoji and it is the white or painted moving screen partition used on the interior of the house By moving the fusuma, when in conjunction with a stationary shoji, the resident is able to create new rooms within the architecture. For instance by moving one fusuma wall, one could transform two rooms into one large room and a small storage closet. In the Katsura Imperial Villa, the fusuma allows the rooms to change and open up to the natural world with exterior decks becoming extensions of the interior and framing views of the landscape. An example of this type of transformation is the moon viewing platform connected to the Old Shoin. Besides these characteristics, there are many traditional Japanese ideas that are used in the Katsura Imperial Villa, like the decorative alcove (tokonoma), built-in desk (tsukeshoin) and square posts.

At the Katsura Imperial Villa, the tea houses are perfect examples of how Zen Buddhism has affected the architecture and landscape. The tea ceremony, performed at the pavilions, is a very important part of Japanese society because it is a spiritual ritual symbolizing detached perfection in the Zen tradition, and it has greatly affected the architecture and landscape around it to enhance the experience one receives while in the ceremony. The tea houses were constructed expressly to incorporate the qualities of concord, reverence, pureness, and Isolation that are the very essence of the ritual. The five different tea houses are all separated from the main building and are isolated from everything except for the nature around them; to reach each building, one must take a path that doesn’t reveal the view of the pavilion until the very last moment. The tea houses also use rustic elements such as bark covered wooden supports or irregular shaped wooden pieces as extensions of the natural world, for the tea ceremony aims at fusing the spiritual and the natural. Additionally, the tea houses account for many experiences while you are inside of it. The windows and apertures in the pavilion are at eye level when sitting so that one can feel more in tune and closer to nature and so that one can “admire the cherry blossoms in the spring and the crimson leaves in the autumn… while preparing tea and enjoying exquisite cuisine”.^[10]Finally, the interior of the buildings were planned so that the designers imparted their reverence for the materials and spatial harmony, which are intended to promote reflection that will achieve inward simplicity and tranquility of the mind.

Buildings and Gardens

The Old Shoin, Middle Shoin and New Palace are each in the shoin style, with irimoya kokerabuki (柿葺) roofs.

The Old Shoin was constructed by Prince Toshihito. It is composed of rooms with nine, ten, and fifteen tatami, and has ceilings supported by wooden slats. On the southern side, there is a room with a veranda attached, which shows elements of the sukiya style. A bamboo platform, created for moon-viewing, extends beyond the veranda.[8] The Old Shoin was most likely built to accommodate a large amount of people at informal gatherings.

Compared to the Old Shoin, The Middle Shoin appears stiff. It is arranged in an L-shape, and at one end there is a tokonoma, and to its right there is a chigaidana (a staggered group of ornamental shelves). The walls of the tokonoma and chigaidana are decorated with ink paintings of landscapes, as well as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.[9] The Middle Shoin is said to have been built as the prince’s living quarters, which is evidenced by a bath and toilet. A veranda ran along two sides of the Middle Shoin and faced the garden.

The New Palace features a large hipped-and-gabled roof, as well as a veranda enclosed by wooden shutters. The design of the New Palace is more structured than the Old and Middle Shoin, and is composed of an eight-mat room, a six-mat room, and a three-mat area that are arranged into an L-shape. There is a coffered ceiling, and an alcove containing a large window. The Katsura Shelves are especially noteworthy, and are located in the corner opposite of the entrance. Other rooms in the New Palace are the imperial bedchamber, the consort’s dressing room, a pantry, a wardrobe, a bath, a toilet, and a washroom.[10]

Within the garden, there were originally five teahouses.[1] Although currently there are only four standing, the pavilions were implemented for practicing the Japanese art of the tea ceremony. The small structures were built to incorporate qualities that are at the essence of the tea ritual, such as harmony, silence, and reverence. [2] Additionally, the tea rituals tried to incorporate the spiritual and natural world, therefore, the teahouses used natural elements such as wooden supports with bark, continuing the atmosphere of the garden.[3]

The Geppa-rō, also known as the “Moon-wave Tower,” has a view overlooking the pond. Although it is only fifteen by twenty-four feet in area, it is known for its spatial effect due to its exposed ceiling and roof structure. The roof is supported by four slanting beams that rise from the corners of the building with a ridge pole that is further supported by a curving king pole resting on a tie beam. This creates a unique spatial effect as the roof has a decorated underside that exposes the beams and rafters. 

Across the pond from the Geppa-rō is the Shōkin-tei, also known as the “Pine-Lute Pavilion.” The pavilions contrast one another, as the Geppa-rō is active and situated on higher ground looking down onto the pond whereas the Shōkin-tei is less active and elevated not far above the water level. The site in which the Shōkin-tei is located was initially the first point in which the visitors could view the pond. But through the development of the land, such as extending the pond to the southwest and reconstruction of the main house, the entire site developed into a tour garden rather than a view garden. It intends for one to walk through the space rather than just view it from the interior of a house. The most prominent and unusual aspect of the teahouse is the unfloored loggia. It is facing the pond with an open pantry in the center for tea ceremonies. This was very unusual to have in view of the tea drinkers and not in the back of the house. Additionally, three oak logs in their natural states support the extended eaves of the loggia. With the thatched roof, the roughness of the pavilion resembles a rustic kiosk. A prominent feature in the interior is the heavy papering with a blue-and-white checkered pattern on walls of the tokonoma and sliding doors between the First and Second rooms.

Leaving the Shōkin-tei, one follows up a “mountain path” to the Shōka-tei, which roughly means “Flower-Appreciation Pavilion,” as cherry trees surround it. It is a small teahouse that is situated at the highest point in the garden. It has the clearest view of the main house through the trees. The posts are barked logs, as the floor plan is made of only four tatami mats in a U-shaped pattern. Emphasizing the atmosphere of a mountain house, strips of dark blue and white cloth are hung on the front of the pavilion.

As the path away from the Shōka-tei splits, the right leads to the front lawn of the main house, while the left leads to the Onrin-dō, a small ancestral shrine. Following this shrine, there is an open area leading to the Shōiken. [6] It is also referred to as the “Laughing Thoughts Pavilion.” The upper wall of the entry room has uncharacteristic row of six round windows, giving the approaching visitor a feeling that the building is laughing at them. This particular pavilion is different from the others not in appearance but in the arrangement of rooms. From a processing of a narrow toilet to wider rooms to the kitchen and servant quarters, the pavilion appears to operate as an independent house. A small room with a shoin window overlooks the farmlands outside the grounds, connecting the viewer psychologically with the real world rather than the garden. 

Influence  outside Japan

The buildings, and to a lesser extent the gardens, of Katsura became influential to a number of well known modernist architects in the 20th century via a book produced by Bruno Taut. Le Corbusier and especially Walter Gropius, who visited in 1953, found inspiration in the minimal and orthogonal design. Subsequently, Katsura become well known to a second wave of architects from Australia such as Philip Cox, Peter Muller and Neville Gruzman who visited in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Gallery

• 

  Garden of Katsura Imperial Villa
 
• 

  Main gate of the Katsura Imperial Villa
 
• 

  Exterior wall made of bamboo
 
• 

  View of the Shōkin-tei from the Geppa-rō Pavilion
 
• 

  Inside the Shōkin-tei
 
• 

  Main houses (shoin)
 
• 

  View of the pond from the Geppa-rō Pavilion
 
• 

  Asymmetrical column of support at the Geppa-rō Pavilion

References

1. ^ Michael Fazio and Marian Moffett and Lawrence Wodehouse, Buildings across Time: An Introduction to World Architecture (Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009) 94-103.
2. ^ Sir Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method for the Student, Craftsman, and Amateur (London: B.T. Batsford, 1994) 634-651
3. ^ " Tatami,” JAANUS, accessed March 30, 2012.
4. ^ ^a b c Fazio, Buildings across Time, 101.
5. ^ " Shouji” JAANUS accessed March 30, 2012
6. ^ Kazuo Nishi and Kazuo Hozumi, What is Japanese Architecture, (New York: Kodansha USA, 1996) 74
7. ^ [4]“Fusuma” JAANUS accessed March 30, 2012
8. ^ ^a b Nishi What is Japanese Architecture, 74
9. ^ Fazio, Buildings across Time, 99.
10. ^ Nishi What is Japanese Architecture, 79
11. ^ Fazio, Buildings Across Time, 101-103
12. ^ "Katsura | Electa Architecture | Phaidon Store". Phaidon.com. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
13. ^ Lacey, Stephen. "House & Home - Life & Style Home". Melbourne: theage.com.au. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
14. ^ Goad, Philip; Bingham-Hall, Patrick (2003). Architecture Bali: birth of the tropical boutique resort.Tuttle Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7946-0198-0

Bibliography

There are numerous works on Katsura; the following are the main ones recommended as sources for further information:

• Walter Gropius, Kenzo Tange, Yasuhiro Ishimoto (photographs), Katsura: Tradition and Creation in Japanese Architecture (Yale University Press, New Haven, Zokeisha Publications, Tokyo, 1960) is a good (although early) work.
• Teiji Itoh, Takeji Iwamiya, Imperial Gardens of Japan (Weatherill, New York, 1970) covers the gardens in great detail
• Scott, Ted, "Imperial Gardens of Japan" (Amazon.com, 2008) describes and illustrates four imperial gardens in Kyoto.
• Teiji Itoh, Tadashi Yokoyama, Eiji Musha, Makato Suzuki, and Masao Arai and Taisuke Ogawa (photographs), Katsura: A Quintessential Representative of the Sukiya Style of Architecture ( Shinkenchiku-Sha, Tokyo, 1983) gives much internal detail, learned during the refurbishment of 1976-1982.
• Akira Naito, Takeshi Nishikawa (photographs), (translated Charles S. Terry), Katsura: A Princely Retreat (Kodansha, New York, 1977) is a magnificent book, the definitive work on Katsura in English.
• Ponciroli, Virginia (2011). Katsura Imperial Villa (Paperback). New York: Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-0-7148-6254-5. Contains articles by Walter Gropius, Bruno Taut and Kenzo Tange on the impact of the villa.

- Wikipedia 

VERANDA

A veranda or verandah (from Hindi varanda, IPA: [vɐˈɾɐ̃dɐ] is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure.

"Grande" style.

Although the form "verandah" is correct and very common, some authorities prefer the version without an h(the Concise Oxford English Dictionary gives the h version as a variant, and The Guardian Style Guide says "veranda not verandah")

Architecture styles notable for verandas
Australia

The veranda has featured quite prominently in Australian vernacular architecture and first became widespread in colonial buildings during the 1850s. The Victorian Filigree architecture style is used by residential (particularly terraced houses in Australia and New Zealand) and commercial buildings (particularly hotels) across Australia and features decorative screens of wrought iron, cast iron "lace" or wood fretwork. The Queenslander is a style of residential construction in Queensland, Australia, which is adapted to subtropical climates and characterized by its large verandas, often in the filigree style.

Winifred Rawson tending her son on the veranda of The Hollow, near Mackay, Australia, ca. 1873.

United States

The Creole townhouse in New Orleans, Louisiana, is also noted for its prominent use of verandas. In fact, most houses constructed in the Southern United States before the advent of air conditioning were built with a covered front porch or veranda.

Spanish Colonial architecture (as well as the "Mission style" revivalist version that became popular in the Western United States in the early 1900s) commonly incorporates verandas, both on the exterior of buildings and, in cases of buildings with courtyards, along the interior walls of courtyards. In some cases, homes were constructed with every room opening into a courtyard veranda, rather than interior corridors or direct connections to other rooms.

Poland

In Poland, the word "weranda" is commonly used for the unheated roofed--and--fully enclosed porch (with a door) that is used to store things and perishable goods that do not need to be refrigerated (from home--made quark cheese to podpiwek) and leads to the heated part of the house.

References

1. ^ Poppeliers, John C. (1983). What Style is it?. New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 106. ISBN 0-471-14434-7.
2. ^ "Glossary of Anglo-Indian words - Veranda". University of Chicago. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
3. ^ Ching, Francis D.K. (1995). A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. New York: John Wiley and Sons. p. 25. ISBN 0-471-28451-3.
4. ^ http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/veranda?view=uk.
5. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/v, The Guardian Style Guide.

- Wikipedia 

What Should Be Your Biggest Meal?

Although many people typically eat their biggest meal later in the day, there can be benefits to making breakfast your biggest meal instead. The idea of eating a big breakfast, medium-sized lunch and small dinner has been around since the 1960s, but now research is starting to back up the benefits of this type of meal plan, especially if you are trying to lose weight. Whichever meal you decide to make your biggest, make sure it contains healthy foods rather than foods that are high in fat and low in nutrients.

Eat a big breakfast if you prefer, but make it a healthy one. Photo Credit Ahmadmahmood/iStock/Getty Images

Large Breakfast Benefits

A study published in "Obesity" in December 2013 found that overweight or obese women who ate their largest meal at breakfast and their smallest meal at dinner lost more weight, decreased their waist circumference and lowered their blood sugar and triglyceride levels more than women who did the opposite. Both groups ate a set diet that contained 1,400 calories per day for the 12 weeks of the study, with just the timing of the largest meal changing. Another study, published in "Obesity" in October 2013, found that diabetics who ate a large breakfast containing fat and protein were better able to control their blood sugar levels than those who ate just a small breakfast.

Large Lunch Benefits

Not everyone likes to eat a big breakfast. Although you shouldn't skip breakfast, some research shows that waiting until lunch to eat your largest meal may still be beneficial. A study published in "Obesity Research" in April 2013 found that people who ate the majority of their calories before 3 p.m. lost more weight than those who ate their main meal after 3 p.m. Both groups ate a similar number of calories throughout the day.

Large Dinner Benefits

Although people may lose more weight when they make breakfast their largest meal, a study published in "The Journal of Nutrition" in 1997 found that those who make dinner their largest meal tend to have an easier time maintaining muscle mass while dieting. Making dinner your largest meal may help you lose more fat and less muscle, resulting in a better overall body composition at the end of your diet.

Other Considerations

If you're trying to lose weight, the most important thing is to eat fewer calories, and this may be easier to do if you eat more of your calories earlier in the day rather than later in the day. People who eat a large breakfast tend to eat less throughout the course of the day, but people don't tend to be as satisfied after eating a large meal in the evening, making it more likely they'll snack after their meal and overeat, according to a study published in "The Journal of Nutrition" in January 2004. The study authors also note that timing of your meals isn't the only important factor involved. Meals that are low in energy density, meaning they don't contain many calories per gram, help you eat less no matter when you eat them.

www.livestrong.com

Does Eating a Carb & Protein at Every Meal Help You Lose Weight?

Carbohydrates, protein and fat are the three main macronutrients found in foods, and having the right mix of these nutrients at every meal can help you achieve a healthy weight for you. Combining carbs and protein at each meal does not guarantee you will lose weight. The type and amount of carbohydrates you choose and your individual tolerance to carbs can make a big difference in what the right combination is for you to lose weight.

Chicken and vegetables with brown rice. Photo Credit vikif/iStock/Getty Images

Type of Carbohydrates

Not all carbohydrates are healthy, and choosing the right type of carbs to include at your meal can help you lose weight more easily. Refined and high-glycemic carbohydrates, such as potatoes, white rice, breads, sugar, desserts and most breakfast cereals, can disrupt your blood sugar levels, which can stimulate hunger and cravings within a couple of hours after your meal. Choosing unrefined and low-glycemic carbs, such as nonstarchy vegetables, sweet potatoes, quinoa, old-fashioned oatmeal, fruits and legumes, can help keep your blood sugar and energy more even between your meals so you are not tempted to eat foods that could interfere with your weight loss.

Amount of Carbohydrates

The amount of carbohydrate that you can include at your meals to facilitate weight loss depends on your individual tolerance to carbohydrates. If you have diabetes, have struggled with your weight in the past or carry a lot of your excess weight around the middle, keeping your carb intake low is probably best to allow you to lose weight, as explained by researcher and dietitian Jeff S. Volek in "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living." If you have a low tolerance to carbohydrates, keeping your carb intake to below 15 to 30 grams per meal will give you the best results. Nonstarchy vegetables are your best option to get the carbohydrates, fiber and other important nutrients your body needs, while fruits, yogurt, nuts, legumes and grains should be consumed in controlled portions.

Protein

Protein is important to promote satiety and make you feel fuller for longer periods of time, according to the May 2008 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Each of your meals should include a serving of fish, shrimp, pork, beef, chicken, eggs or cheese. Not only is protein important to prevent you from going hungry while losing weight, but it can also help you preserve your lean muscle mass to ensure that the weight you lose is fat and not muscle.

The Right Combination

The right combination of carbs and protein to help you lose weight needs to be individualized. Fat should not be forgotten and is also important to include at each of your meals. A serving of carbs from nonstarchy vegetables, such as kale, cauliflower, zucchini, tomatoes or onions, with 4 to 6 ounces of protein and 1 to 2 tablespoons of fat, such as butter, olive oil, avocado or coconut oil, is a good place to start for most people. Monitor your weight loss progress and tweak your carbs, protein and fat ratios until you find what works best for you.

www.livestrong.com

Exercises to Burn 10 Pounds of Belly Fat

Moderate-intensity exercise such as brisk walking will help burn belly fat. Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images

The belly is one of the most dangerous places to store fat, because of the fat surrounding the organs. However, it is impossible to spot reduce body fat, so if your goal is to burn 10 pounds of belly fat, you may have to lose more than 10 lbs. of total body weight. Establishing a solid and consistent exercise plan along with a healthy diet will help you burn 10 lbs. of belly fat and have a healthier life.

Losing Fat Weight

Be realistic with your goals. Photo Credit Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images

Losing 10 pounds may take five to 10 weeks. A weight loss of more than 2 lbs. a week is more likely loss of water weight or muscle tissue. Fat loss occurs when more calories are burned than consumed. To burn 1 lb. of body fat, you must burn 3500 calories. You can do this by reducing your caloric intake by 250 to 500 calories a day, and burning 250 to 500 calories a day through exercise and physical activity.

Physical Activity

Become more active with the whole family. Photo Credit Soul/Lifesize/Getty Images

Beginners should start being more physically active throughout the day by walking more, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking in the back of the parking lot or playing with your kids instead of watching TV. By walking 10,000 steps, or 5 miles, a day, the average person will burn about 1 lb. of fat per week, states the American Council on Exercise. Get a pedometer to track how many steps you take in a day. Put it on first thing in the morning and wear it all day. Aim for at least 10,000 steps a day.

Aerobic Exercise

Include aerobic exercise 5 times a week. Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

Aerobic exercise is necessary to burn fat. Aerobic exercise performed between 55 and 72 percent of your maximum heart rate is the optimal fat burning zone, in which your body burns the highest percentage of energy from fat, according the Jack H. Wilmore and David L. Costil, authors of "Physiology of Sport and Exercise." Exercising within this intensity range for 30 to 60 minutes at least five days a week will help to burn belly fat. Aerobic exercise might consist of incline treadmill walking, hiking, jogging, elliptical machine, cycling or swimming.

Strength Training

Strength train two to three times per week. Photo Credit Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images

Strength training is a necessary form of exercise to help reduce belly fat because it increases lean muscle tissue. Adding muscle tissue to your body not only makes daily activities easier, it increases your resting metabolism, allowing you to burn more belly fat throughout the day. Aim to strength-train two to three times a week, performing two to three sets of eight to 12 repetitions for exercises targeting every major muscle group. Include exercises that target multiple muscle groups to help you burn more calories during your workout such as squats, deadlifts, pushups and pullups.

www.livestrong.com

COHOUSING

Cohousing is an intentional community of private homes clustered around shared space. Each attached or single family home has traditional amenities, including a private kitchen. Shared spaces typically feature a common house, which may include a large kitchen and dining area, laundry, and recreational spaces. Shared outdoor space may include parking, walkways, open space, and gardens. Neighbors also share resources like tools and lawnmowers.

Households have independent incomes and private lives, but neighbors collaboratively plan and manage community activities and shared spaces. The legal structure is typically an HOA, Condo Association, or Housing Cooperative. Community activities feature regularly-scheduled shared meals, meetings, and workdays. Neighbors gather for parties, games, movies, or other events. Cohousing makes it easy to form clubs, organize child and elder care, and carpool.

Cohousing facilitates interaction among neighbors for social and practical benefits, economic and environmental benefits.

Common Characteristics

Relationships:

Neighbors commit to being part of a community for everyone’s mutual benefit. Cohousing cultivates a culture of sharing and caring. Design features and neighborhood size (typically 20-40 homes) promote frequent interaction and close relationships.

Privacy and Community:

Cohousing neighborhoods are designed for privacy as well as community. Residents balance privacy and community by choosing their own level of engagement.

Participation:

Decision making is participatory and often based on consensus. Self-management empowers residents, builds community, and saves money.

Shared Values:

Cohousing communities support residents in actualizing shared values. Cohousing communities typically adopt green approaches to living.

Learn more at The Cohousing Association of the United States (Coho/US) www.cohousing.org, a national non-profit organization raising awareness of the benefits of cohousing and supporting the development of cohousing communities nationwide. Coho/US serves as a connector and clearinghouse to grow and nurture cohousing.

Origins

The modern theory of cohousing originated in Denmark in the 1960s among groups of families who were dissatisfied with existing housing and communities that they felt did not meet their needs. Bodil Graae wrote a newspaper article titled "Children Should Have One Hundred Parents," spurring a group of 50 families to organize around a community project in 1967. This group developed the cohousing project Sættedammen, which is the oldest known modern cohousing community in the world. Another key organizer was Jan Gudmand Høyer who drew inspiration from his architectural studies at Harvard and interaction with experimental U.S. communities of the era. He published the article "The Missing Link between Utopia and the Dated Single Family House" in 1968, converging a second group.

The Danish term bofællesskab (living community) was introduced to North America as cohousing by two American architects. Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett, who visited several cohousing communities and wrote a book about it. The book resonated with some existing and forming communities, such as Sharingwood in Washington state and N Street in California, who embraced the cohousing concept as a crystallization of what they were already about. Though most cohousing groups seek to develop multi-generational communities, some focus on creating senior communities. Charles Durrett later wrote a handbook on creating senior cohousing. The first community in the United States to be designed, constructed and occupied specifically for cohousing is Muir Commons in Davis, California. Architects, Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett were responsible for the programming and the design of the site plan, common house and private houses.

There are precedents for cohousing in the 1920s in New York with the cooperative apartment housing, with shared facilities and good social interaction. The Siheyuan, or quadrangle design of housing in China has a shared courtyard and is thus similar in some respects to cohousing.

Growth

Cohousing communities are part of the new cooperative economy in the United States and are predicted to expand rapidly in the next few decades as individuals and families seek to live more sustainably, and in community with neighbors. Since the first cohousing community was completed in the U.S. – Muir Commons in Davis, California, now celebrating 25 years – more than 160 communities have been established in 25 states plus the District of Columbia, with more than 125 in process. For a listing of cohousing communities visit www.cohousing.org/directory. Most cohousing communities are intergenerational with both children and elders; in recent years, senior cohousing focused on older adult needs have grown. Small and large, urban and rural, newly built and retrofits, these communities have consistently been at the forefront of environmental and socially sustainable neighborhoods.

Hundreds of cohousing communities exist in Denmark and other countries in northern Europe. In Canada, there are 11 completed communities, and approximately 19 in the forming or development phase. There are more than 300 cohousing communities in the Netherlands (73 mixed-generation and 231 senior cohousing), with about 60 others in planning or construction phases. There are also communities in Australia (see Cohousing Australia), the United Kingdom see UK Cohousing Network http://www.cohousing.org.uk for information, Threshold Centre Cohousing Community http://www.thresholdcentre.org.uk/ offers training), and other parts of the world.

Cohousing started to develop in the UK at the end of the 1990s. The movement has gradually built up momentum and there are now 14 purpose built cohousing communities. A further 40+ cohousing groups are developing projects and new groups are forming all the time. Cohousing communities in the UK range from around 8 households to around 30 households. Most communities are mixed communities with single people, couples and families but some are only for people over 50 and one is only for women over 50 years. The communities themselves range from new developments built to modern eco standards to conversions of everything from farms to Jacobean mansions to former hospital buildings and are in urban, rural and semi- rural locations.

Design

Because each cohousing community is planned in its context, a key feature of this model is its flexibility to the needs and values of its residents and the characteristics of the site. Cohousing can be urban, suburban or rural. The physical form is typically compact but varies from low-rise apartments to townhouses to clustered detached houses. They tend to keep cars to the periphery which promotes walking through the community and interacting with neighbors as well as increasing safety for children at play within the community. Shared green space is another characteristic, whether for gardening, play, or places to gather. When more land is available than is needed for the physical structures, the structures are usually clustered closely together, leaving as much of the land as possible "open" for shared use. This aspect of cohousing directly addresses the growing problem of suburban sprawl.

The Sunward Cohousing community illustrating greenspace preservation, tightly clustered housing, and parking on periphery, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2003.

In addition to "from-scratch" new-built communities (including those physically retrofitting/re-using existing structures), there are also "retrofit" (aka "organic") communities in which neighbors create "intentional neighborhoods" by buying adjacent properties and removing fences. Often, they create common amenities such as Common Houses after the fact, while living there. N Street Cohousing in Davis, CA, is the canonical example of this type; it came together before the term Cohousing was popularized here.

Cohousing differs from some types of intentional communities in that the residents do not have a shared economy or a common set of beliefs or religion, but instead invest in creating a socially rich and interconnected community. A non-hierarchical structure employing a consensus decision-making model is common in managing cohousing. Individuals do take on leadership roles, such as being responsible for coordinating a garden or facilitating a meeting.

Ownership Form

Cohousing communities in the U.S. typically rely on one of three existing legal forms of real estate ownership: individually titled houses with common areas owned by a homeowner association, condominiums or a housing cooperative. Condo ownership is most common because it fits financial institutions' and cities' models for multi-unit owner-occupied housing development. U.S. banks lend more readily on single-family homes and condominiums than housing cooperatives.

Cohousing differs from standard condominium development and master-planned subdivisions because the development is designed by, or with considerable input from, its future residents. The design process invariably emphasizes consciously fostering social relationships among its residents. Common facilities are based on the actual needs of the residents, rather than on what a developer thinks will help sell units. Turnover in cohousing developments is typically very low, and there is usually a waiting list for units to become available.

In Europe the term "joint building ventures" has been coined to define the form of ownership and housing characterized as cohousing. According to the European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN): "Joint building ventures are a legal federation of persons willing to build who want to create owner-occupied housing and to participate actively in planning and building."

Further Reading

• McCamant, Kathryn; Durrett, Charles. Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities, New Society Publishers, 2011, ISBN 978-0-86571-672-8.
• McCamant, Kathryn; Durrett, Charles. Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves (2nd Edition), Ten Speed Press, 1994, ISBN 0-89815-539-8.
• Meltzer, Graham S. "Sustainable Community: Learning from the Cohousing Model." Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Press, 2005, ISBN 1-4120-4994-6.
• ScottHanson, Chris; ScottHanson, Kelly. The Cohousing Handbook: Building a Place for Community (2nd Edition). Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society Publishers, 2005 ISBN 0-86571-517-3.
• Williams, Jo. Designing neighbourhoods for social interaction: The case of cohousing, " Journal of Urban Design," 2005, Vol.10, No. 2, 195-227.

References

1. ^ Cohousing definition (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin 2000).
2. ^ ^a b McCamant, Kathryn; Durrett, Charles. "Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves." Berkeley, Ca.: Ten Speed Press, 1994.
3. ^ ^a b Durrett, Charles. "Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living." Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society Publishers, 2009.
4. ^ Graae, Bodil. "Børn skal have Hundrede Foraeldre", "Politiken" [Copenhagen], April 1967.
5. ^ Gudmand-Høyer, Jan. "Det manglende led mellem utopi og det foraeldede en familiehus." "Information" 26 June 1968
6. ^ McCamant, Kathryn; Charles Durrett; Ellen Hertzman (1994). Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves (2nd ed.). Ten Speed Press. p. 208. ISBN 0-89815-539-8. Muir Commons is the first cohousing community to be built in the United States.
7. ^ Norwood, Ken; Kathleen Smith (1995). Rebuilding Community in America: Housing for Ecological Living, Personal Empowerment, and the New Extended Family. Shared Living Resource Center. p. 111. ISBN 0-9641346-2-4. Muir Commons was the first CoHousing community to be built entirely new in the United States.
8. ^ "Community Addresses in The Netherlands". Federatie Gemeenschappelijk Wonen.
9. ^ EUKN, Guideline of Joint Building Ventures in Hamburg.

- Wikipedia