During the Heian period, the increasing size of buildings in the capital led to an architecture characterized by simple designs showing harmony with nature and dependent on regularly spaced columns.
The Shishinden Imperial Palace during this period demonstrated a style that was a precursor to the later aristocratic building style known as shinden-zukuri. The style was characterized by symmetrical constructions placed as arms that defined an inner garden. This garden then used a borrowed landscape to seemingly blend in with the larger landscape.
Despite the fact that China and Korea had a big impact and influence on the architecture in the Asuka period, the Heian period was a time when Japanese started to develop more of their own style. Their inspirations towards their buildings was their country itself. Due to Japan being a tight island, distant from other countries, they thought their buildings had to reflect of this as well, being completely unique.
