The Japanese House Reinvented - Hardcover

Jodidio, Philip

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1580934064 ISBN 13: 9781580934060

Publisher: The Monacelli Press, 2015

Synopsis

Although Japanese architects have to contend with very particular constraints, from tiny plots in crowded urban contexts to ever-present seismic threats, their innovative solutions to the creation of space and stable structures, combined with their close attention to materials, technology and natural light, have resulted in homes that are internationally admired. 

This overview of fifty recently built Japanese houses includes projects by three Pritzker Prize-winners— Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima—as well as by lesser-known emerging architects. Each house is clearly illustrated with colour photographs and plans, and is lucidly described by Philip Jodidio, who has travelled extensively around Japan and is deeply familiar with these projects and their creators. His book is a powerful demonstration of Japan’s enduring commitment to design innovation.

About this title

About the Author:

Philip Jodidio is renowned the world over as a writer on architecture. He is the author of numerous books, including monographs on Tadao Ando, Santiago Calatrava, Norman Foster, Richard Meier, Jean Nouvel, and Zaha Hadid.

Review:

"Readers of architecture blogs will be familiar with many of the often diminutive houses featured in The Japanese House Reinvented, but writer Philip Jodidio—who traveled in Japan to see the featured projects and meet designers—places the 50-odd structures in their rightful context. Extreme density, the threat of natural disasters, a love of kitsch as well as simplicity, and laws pertaining to access of natural light all have a role in sculpting the orderly jumble of Japanese houses. With each house, whether by Shigeru Ban, Atelier Bow-Wow, Tadao Ando, or Jun Igarashi, Jodidio explains materials, site, programmatic needs, and challenges faced by the architects or clients. Roughly three pages are devoted to each project, accompanied by large photographs and an explanatory drawing or two. An inspiring encyclopedia of ideas."
—Architectural Record

About this edition

• Publisher: The Monacelli Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1580934064
• ISBN 13: 9781580934060
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304