The aesthetics of Ancient Asian architecture in Nikolay Brunov’s «Essays on the history of architecture»: cultural borrowings in art

Abstract

This article analyzes Nikolay Brunov’s approach to interpreting the aesthetics of Ancient Asian architecture as presented in his seminal work «Essays on the History of Architecture». The Soviet art historian sought to trace how cultural codes and collective mentality shaped architectural forms in Ancient India, China, and Japan. Central to the study is Brunov's concept of «non-structiveness» – a defining characteristic of Asian architecture manifested through the intentional dissolution of boundaries between natural and constructed spaces. The paper emphasizes the importance of meaningful adoption of Eastern aesthetic principles in contemporary architecture, which must be grounded in a profound understanding of their philosophical and cultural foundations.