Japanese Architecture

The Art of Japanese Architecture presents a complete overview of Japanese architecture in its historical and cultural context. The book begins with a discussion of early prehistoric dwellings and concludes with a description of works by important modern Japanese architects. Along the way it discusses the iconic buildings and architectural styles for which Japan is so justly famous--from elegant Shinden and Sukiya aristocratic villas like the Kinkakuji "Golden Pavilion" in Kyoto, to imposing Samurai castles like Himeji and Matsumoto, and tranquil Zen Buddhist gardens and tea houses to rural Minka thatched-roof farmhouses and Shinto shrines. Each period in the development of Japan's architecture is described in detail and the most important structures are shown and discussed--including dozens of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The aesthetic trends in each period are presented within the context of Japanese society at the time, providing a unique in-depth understanding of the way Japanese architectural styles and buildings have developed over time and the great variety that is visible today. The book is profusely illustrated with hundreds of hand-drawn 3D watercolor illustrations and color photos as well as prints, maps and diagrams. The new edition features dozens of new photographs and a handy hardcover format that is perfect for travelers.

By examining the Japanese history of buildings and building designs from prehistory to modern day, lovers of Japan will develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of this island country. Simplicity, sensitivity to the natural environment, and the use of natural materials are the hallmarks of Japanese architecture. The Art of Japanese Architecture provides a broad overview of traditional Japanese architecture in its historical and cultural context. It begins with a discussion of prehistoric dwellings and concludes with a description of modern Japanese buildings. Important historical influences and trends—notably the introduction of Buddhist culture from Korea and China, the development of feudalism, and the influence of modern Western styles of building—are all discussed in detail as facets of Japanese design. Through all of these changes, a restrained architectural tradition developed in marked contrast to an exuberant tradition characterized by monumentality and the use of bold colors. The book provides tremendous insights into the dynamic nature of Japanese architecture and how it reflects an underlying diversity within Japanese culture. The book is profusely illustrated with over 370 color photographs, woodblock prints, maps, diagrams, and specially commissioned watercolors.

Traditional Japanese architecture—whether Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines, residences, castles, or teahouses—has become increasingly familiar around the world. Through the media of motion pictures, art books, T.V. documentaries and dramas such as Shogun, as well as through personal experience, more and more people have gained an acquaintance and appreciation of the architecture of premodern Japan. Some may even be able to name or recognize the oldest and the largest wooden structures in existence, which are to be found in Japan at Horyuji and Todaiji respectively. Yet often this knowledge is still rudimentary. Confusion abounds as to what distinguishes Japanese architecture from Chinese or Korean, or even Southeast Asian, not to mention what sets off a Buddhist temple from a Shinto shrine or, say, a residence of the tenth century from one of the eighteenth. Until now, there has been no recourse for those seeking, through a single book, to increase their appreciation of the whole range of traditional Japanese architecture. With the publication of What Is Japanese Architecture?, however, this situation has finally been rectified. Construction, design, carpentry, and the background of Japanese architecture, from prehistory to mid-nineteenth century, are here made available within the covers of a single, compact book. With over 300 drawings that illuminate the essentials of discussion more concretely than words could ever do, and a text that is succinct and always to the point, the book is divided into four parts—one each dealing chronologically with religious structures, residences, castles, and places of entertainment. The reader learns not only how each of these fields of architecture has evolved over the centuries and what distinguishes the buildings of one age from those of another, but something of the historical conditions and the people responsible for these changes as well as the role played by carpentry and methods of construction. The establishment and growth of the historic Japanese capitals—Nara, Kyoto, Edo—is brought sharply into focus, along with the rise and spread of other urban centers. Also highlighted are the mansions of the court nobility; the castles and residences of the samurai aristocracy; the homes of village elders; dwellings of the common people; educational institutions, and places of entertainment such as theaters, red-light districts, teahouses, and country villas. Any book that is as full of information as this, and readily accessible and clearly illustrated at the same time, will be of great interest and use to a wide range of people—architects, designers, historians, carpenters, movie buffs, tourists, garden designers, and others, whether amateur or professional. Whatever the readers' background, there is little doubt about one thing: they will emerge with an acuter eye and a greater sensitivity to the delights of traditional Japanese architecture.

One of Japan's leading architects examines notions of Japan-ness as exemplified by key events in Japanese architectural history from the seventh to the twentieth century; essays on buildings and their cultural context. Japanese architect Arata Isozaki sees buildings not as dead objects but as events that encompass the social and historical context—not to be defined forever by their "everlasting materiality" but as texts to be interpreted and reread continually. In Japan-ness in Architecture, he identifies what is essentially Japanese in architecture from the seventh to the twentieth century. In the opening essay, Isozaki analyzes the struggles of modern Japanese architects, including himself, to create something uniquely Japanese out of modernity. He then circles back in history to find what he calls Japan-ness in the seventh-century Ise shrine, reconstruction of the twelfth-century Todai-ji Temple, and the seventeenth-century Katsura Imperial Villa. He finds the periodic ritual relocation of Ise's precincts a counter to the West's concept of architectural permanence, and the repetition of the ritual an alternative to modernity's anxious quest for origins. He traces the "constructive power" of the Todai-ji Temple to the vision of the director of its reconstruction, the monk Chogen, whose imaginative power he sees as corresponding to the revolutionary turmoil of the times. The Katsura Imperial Villa, with its chimerical spaces, achieved its own Japan-ness as it reinvented the traditional shoin style. And yet, writes Isozaki, what others consider to be the Japanese aesthetic is often the opposite of that essential Japan-ness born in moments of historic self-definition; the purified stylization—what Isozaki calls "Japanesquization"—lacks the energy of cultural transformation and reflects an island retrenchment in response to the pressure of other cultures. Combining historical survey, critical analysis, theoretical reflection, and autobiographical account, these essays, written over a period of twenty years, demonstrate Isozaki's standing as one of the world's leading architects and preeminent architectural thinkers.

Featuring dozens of high-quality photographs, schematic designs and insightful commentary this Japanese architecture book is a must-have for architects or collectors. The past five years are widely consider to have been the most innovative period in contemporary Japanese design history. The projects featured in New Japan Architecture were completed during this extraordinarily fertile time. Featuring breathtaking images of modern Japan, this volume presents forty-eight extraordinary projects by forty-two of the world's leading architects, including: Hitoshi Abe Ward Kishi Tadao Ando Chiba Manabu Architects Toyo Ito Kengo Kuma Kazuyo Sejima This architecture book features a wide-range of buildings, some exhibiting the ultimate ideal of the white Zen cube, while others exemplify the search for the new wow factor in iconic design. In many, cutting-edge modernity is counterbalanced by a concern for sustainability—an issue that has motivated many architects to rethink and reintroduce concepts drawn from traditional Japanese architecture. Projects big and small, private and public, residential and commercial are included. Insightful text by two leading experts in the field of Japanese architecture highlights the remarkable aspects of each building and places these developments within the wider context of world architecture. Offering an essential overview of current trends, New Japan Architecture points the way to modern architecture's future.

A remarkable classic work on traditional Japanese architecture and its general integrative quality, the order of space and form, the flexibility of partitions and room functions and other important or unique qualities. The author describes in detail, and with numerous architectural plans and drawings, the influence of the anatomy of the Japanese human body on traditional units of measurement and on house construction. This work is not simply a description of the features of the Japanese house, but "an invitation to probe the possibilities of utilizing this architectural achievement of the Japanese …in modern living and building," according to the author, who further believes that the unique features of the Japanese house are better suited to serve as a pattern for contemporary housing than any other form of residential structure.

Examines the architecture of Japanese architects Kenzo Tange, Junzo Sakakura, Kiyonori Kikutake and Kunio Maekawa, leading exponents of the 'New Japanese School' in architecture in the middle of the 20th century.

Contemporary Japanese Architecture presents a clear and comprehensive overview of the historical and cultural framework that informs the work of all Japanese architects, as an introduction to an in-depth investigation of the challenges now occupying the contemporary designers who will be the leaders of the next generation. It separates out the young generation of Japanese architects from the crowded, distinguished, multi-generational field they seek to join, and investigates the topics that absorb them, and the critical issues they face within the new economic reality of Japan and a shifting global order. Salient points in the text are illustrated by beautiful, descriptive images provided by the architects and from the extensive collection of the author. By combining illustrations with timelines and graphics to explain complex ideas, the book is accessible to any student seeking to understand contemporary Japanese architecture.