shoin-zukuri

is a style of Japanese architecture developed in the Muromachi, Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods that forms the basis of today's traditional-style Japanese houses. Characteristics of the development were the incorporation of square posts and floors, i.e. those completely covered with tatami. The style takes its name from the , a term that originally meant a study and a place for lectures on sutras in a temple, but which later came to mean just a drawing room or study.

==History== thumb|Tokonoma with scroll, and , a writing desk with a view, which gave this style its name; this later became purely decorative, being used to display impressive writing utensils The foundations for the design of today's traditional Japanese residential houses with tatami floors were established in the late Muromachi period (approximately 1338 to 1573) and refined during the ensuing Momoyama period. , a new architectural style influenced by Zen Buddhism, developed during that time from the of the earlier Heian period's palaces and the subsequent residential style favored by the warrior class during the Kamakura period. The term , meaning study or drawing room has been used to denote reception rooms in residences of the military elite as well as study rooms at monasteries. A has a core area surrounded by aisles and smaller areas separated by fusuma sliding doors, or shōji partitions constructed of paper on a wooden frame or wooden equivalents, and .