Another simple idea is to install a thick wooden platform against a wall without the beam placed between the platform and the rest of the floor as described earlier. In this case, however, as well as that of the hanging alcove, not only the surface but also the edge of the platform is visible. Thus the use of good-quality, thick wood, or wood with a lacquer finish, is recommended.
One can also install a platform like this made not of wood but of tatami, which has the effect of making a room, especially a carpeted room, seem all the more Japanese. By placing the tatami in a wooden frame fitted with casters, one has a movable piece of furnishing which can also be used as a bench, a desk, or a table. It will be recalled that the alcove was originally a plain or lacquered wood table, on top of which ornaments were arranged, with a picture on the wall behind. If this kind of alcove is preferred, it is important that the table be low and that the arrangement of objects be simple. The effect is even better if a few Japanese-style cushions are placed in front of the table.
The Alcove Pillar
One side of the alcove forms a corner with the adjacent wall, but the other extends midway into the room itself, and is supported by a pillar. Since this pillar is conspicuous, it is necessary to use attractive, rounded wood for it. Right up until the end of the Edo period (1615-1868) the building of an alcove was the privilege of only the samurai and selected merchants; thus, like the gateway and the formal entranceway, it came to be a status symbol. Since the Japanese ideal of beauty accorded great importance to the preservation and use of the unspoiled essence of beauty, carved wood was avoided, and only the very rarest wood—flawless or sometimes left unstripped, and absolutely straight—was sought after and prized. In accordance, the background of the alcove should be simply designed to enhance the beauty of this pillar, as well as the scroll and other articles on display.
ALCOVE VARIATIONS
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