A survey of the most innovative new houses built in Japan.

The traditional Japanese house is universally admired for its clean lines, intricate joinery, and unparalleled woodworking. The authors of this elegant volume, Peggy Landers Rao and Len Brackett, show how a classic Japanese- style house can be built to offer the warmth and comfort that modern homeowners require. Len Brackett, rigorously trained in traditional architecture in Kyoto, has spent decades adapting the ancient Japanese design aesthetic to Western needs. He builds traditional live-on-the-floor houses, as well as versions that accommodate furniture. Both types provide the essential features expected in today's new homes - central heating, insulation, weather stripping, thermal glazing, streamlined kitchens, computerized lighting systems, and the latest electronics. The book's primary focus is on a single guesthouse in California, but pictures of other adaptations of the traditional Japanese house in America exemplify various points. Architects will find reference charts of the prescribed set of proportions and dimensions normally passed down through a strict system of apprenticeship. anticipating shrinkage of various woods. A remarkable tool used to lay out precise joints is described in detail. Various sources are given for materials, including where to find a contemporary version of the distinctive, traditional earthen plaster.

A house is a site, the bounds and focus of a community. It is also an artifact, a material extension of its occupants' lives. This book takes the Japanese house in both senses, as site and as artifact, and explores the spaces, commodities, and conceptions of community associated with it in the modern era. As Japan modernized, the principles that had traditionally related house and family began to break down. Even where the traditional class markers surrounding the house persisted, they became vessels for new meanings, as housing was resituated in a new nexus of relations. The house as artifact and the artifacts it housed were affected in turn. The construction and ornament of houses ceased to be stable indications of their occupants' social status, the home became a means of personal expression, and the act of dwelling was reconceived in terms of consumption. Amid the breakdown of inherited meanings and the fluidity of modern society, not only did the increased diversity of commodities lead to material elaboration of dwellings, but home itself became an object of special attention, its importance emphasized in writing, invoked in politics, and articulated in architectural design. The aim of this book is to show the features of this culture of the home as it took shape in Japan.

"Published on the occasion of the exhibition 'The Japanese House: architecture & life after 1945,' this catalogue contains a vast selection of photographs, drawings, projects and analyses offering a comprehensive overview of Japanese residential architecture from the post-war period to the present day. 13 thematic sections present different aspects of the research, documenting the work of archistars such as Toyo Ito, Kazuyo Sejima and Kenso Tange, the contributions of architects less well known outside Japan and the experimentation of the younger generations. In parallel, essays by the curators and by Hiuroyasu Fujiola and Kenjiro Hosaka, along with biographies of all the architects, painstakingly map the country's domestic 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.

Quirky, surprising and entertaining - with more than 400 houses, Jutaku is architecture at the speed of Japan. Frenetic. Pulsating. Disorienting. Japan's contemporary culture is constantly in flux. In stark contrast to the centuries old imperial architecture of Kyoto, recent Japanese architectural practices have ushered in an era of continuous experimentation. With 400 houses, one house per page, one image per house, Jutaku: Japanese Houses is a fast-paced, "quick hit" shock to the system that shines a Harajuku-bright neon light on the sheer volume, variety and novelty of contemporary Japanese residential architecture. Featuring the work of many of Japan's most famous architects including Shigeru Ban, Sou Fujimoto, Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma, Jun Igarishi, Shuhei Endo and dozens of up and coming and completely unknown young architects, Jutaku is organized geographically taking readers on a bullet train journey across Japan's architectural landscape. Essential reading for architects, designers and fans of contemporary Japanese culture.