More than a simple collection of beautiful full-color photos of interiors and exteriors, Small House Tokyo provides would-be small property owners with a plethora of tips and suggestions on how to make the most out of what they've got.

Documents the myriad ways that urban dwellers respond to the space crunch. Four hundred color photos take you inside the habitations of artists, students, young professionals, and families. -- Back cover.

A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.

Japanese houses today have to contend with unique factors that condition their design, from tiny plots in crowded urban contexts to ever-present seismic threats. These challenges encourage their architects to explore alternating ideas of stability and ephemerality in various ways, resulting in spaces that are as fascinating as they are idiosyncratic. Their formal innovation and attention to materials, technology and measures to coax in light and air while maintaining domestic privacy make them cutting-edge residences that suggest new ways of being at home. Contemporary Japanese architecture has emerged as a substantial force on the international scene ever since Kenzo Tange won the Pritzker Prize in 1987. This overview of 50 recent houses powerfully demonstrates Japan_s enduring commitment to design innovation.

A shape-shifter arrives at Tokyo harbour in human form, set to embark on an unstoppable rampage through the city’s train network… A young woman is accompanied home one night by a reclusive student, and finds herself lured into a flat full of eerie Egyptian artefacts… A man suspects his young wife’s obsession with picnicking every weekend in the city’s parks hides a darker motive… At first, Tokyo appears in these stories as it does to many outsiders: a city of bewildering scale, awe-inspiring modernity, peculiar rules, unknowable secrets and, to some extent, danger. Characters observe their fellow citizens from afar, hesitant to stray from their daily routines to engage with them. But Tokyo being the city it is, random encounters inevitably take place – a naïve book collector, mistaken for a French speaker, is drawn into a world he never knew existed; a woman seeking psychiatric help finds herself in a taxi with an older man wanting to share his own peculiar revelations; a depressed divorcee accepts an unexpected lunch invitation to try Thai food for the very first time… The result in each story is a small but crucial change in perspective, a sampling of the unexpected yet simple pleasure of other people’s company. As one character puts it, ‘The world is full of delicious things, you know.’

Japanischer Wohnbau faszinierte und fasziniert ganze Architektengenerationen. Gerade die kleinen, sehr konzeptionellen Einfamilienhäuser zeigen neben stringent umgesetzten Wohnkonzepten die grosse Experimentierfreudigkeit in Bezug auf Raumkonstellationen und Materialien und die Fähigkeit auch den kleinsten Raum zu organisieren. Sie sind wie Minilabore, die die Kreativität japanischer Architekten ebenso deutlich zeigen, wie den Umgang mit dem Ephemeren und den vielfältigen Ebenen der Abgrenzung zwischen öffentlich und privat. Durch die Schnelllebigkeit der japanischen Städte entsteht ein riesiger Architekturfundus für den Westen, den Small Houses dokumentiert und dem Leser gleichzeitig die japanische Kultur zugänglicher macht. Kleine Häuser stellt japanische Wohnhausarchitektur vor und richtet sich an Architekten, Innenarchitekten, Studenten und interessierte Laien. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf der Präsentation kleiner Häuser, vorwiegend Einfamilienhäuser. Die Auswahl der Projekte stellt eine Mischung namhafter Architekten, wie zum Beispiel Tezuka Architects oder Atelier Bow-Wow dar, zeigt aber auch ausserhalb Japans noch wenig bekannte Büros. Zu den einzelnen Projekten gibt es Vertiefungen, die dem Leser den kulturellen und gesellschaftlichen Kontext sowie den spezifisch japanischen Umgang mit bestimmten Architekturelementen nahebringen. Auf die Darstellung von Details, die in der Regel ausserhalb Asiens keine Relevanz haben, wird verzichtet. Der Fokus liegt auf dem realisierten Wohnkonzept, das mittels Bild- und Übersichtsplänen (Grundrisse, Schnitte) dargestellt wird.