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.

Japan-ness in Architecture

Arts & Photography

Isozaki, Arata

Architecture

Mit Pr

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.

Japan-ness in Architecture (Mit Press)

History

Stewart, David B.

Asia

The MIT Press

Katsura Villa

Rizzoli

Although he is a Japanese photographer who has lived in Tokyo for more than 45 years, Yasuhiro Ishimoto received his art education in the late 1940s and early 1950s at the Institute of Design in Chicago, where he studied under Harry Callahan. Ishimoto's photographs of Chicago document a period of profound social, political, and racial change and record the character of the city from its lakefront beaches and downtown streets to its South Side neighborhoods. Ishimoto returned to Japan in 1953 and began a documentation of Tokyo. In his work, Tokyo and Chicago have become sister cities in the personal vision of an artist whose patience as a photographer and tenacity of observation have enabled him to produce the extraordinary body of work evident in such books as Someday Somewhere and Chicago, Chicago. He has also produced two books on Katsura villa, another on flowers, and several others on Japanese subjects.Large as is the range of Ishimoto's tale of two cities, in recent years another side of his sensibility has come to the fore in very subtle studies of rotting leaves, footprints in snow, cloud formations, and wind-ruffled water at his feet. Now 77, Ishimoto is revealing a meditative dimension that has brought him recognition as a Person of Cultural Distinction in Japan and serious regard worldwide for his artistic achievements.

Yasuhiro Ishimoto: A Tale of Two Cities

Westerbeck, Colin

ISHIMOTO, Yasuhiro

Art Institute Of Chicago

Yokoe, Fuminori

Individual Artists

Art Inst of Chicago Museum Shop

International Design Yearbook, 4

Abbeville Press

The Japanese architect, Arata Isozaki is one of the most innovative and influential architects working today. Over the last 35 years he has created an impressive oeuvre, spread over many continents. Based on his lecture given at the Royal Academy in London, June 1995, this polemic presents Isozaki's view on island nation aesthetics; he argues for the origin of singularity of aesthetics as seen in the culture of Japan, especially in terms of space, design and traditional organisation of life. Japan is an island nation, with an invisible boundary where the exterior automatically becomes the interior. Where will the destruction of such conditions lead its aesthetics at the end of this century? This influential architect has a history and point of view which will inspire the reader.

Island Nation Aesthetics (Polemics)

wiley

Katsura: Imperial Villa

This book presents a detailed history of Katsura, the 17th century Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan that is a pivotal work of Japanese Architecture, often described as the "quintessence of Japanese taste." First revealed to the modern architectural world by Bruno Taut, the great German architect, in the early 20th century, Katsura stunned and then excited the architectural community of the West. Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, pillars of the Modernist establishment, were fascinated by Katsura’s "modernity." They saw in its orthogonal and modular spaces, devoid of decoration, clear parallels to contemporary Modernism, going so far as to proclaim Katsura a "historical" example of Modernity. This book documents the palace in detail, combining newly commissioned photographs, detailed drawings, archival material and historical analysis.

Phaidon Press

This book presents a detailed history of Katsura, the seventeenth-century Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan. Katsura is a pivotal work of Japanese architecture, often described as "the quintessence of Japanese taste." First revealed to the modern world of architecture by Bruno Taut, the great German architect, Katsura stunned and then excited the architectural community of the West during the early twentieth century. Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, pillars of the Modernist establishment, were among those fascinated by Katsura's "modernity." In its orthogonal and modular spaces, devoid of decoration, they saw clear parallels to contemporary Modernism, going so far to proclaim Katsura a "historical" example of modernity. This book documents the palace in detail, combining newly commissioned photographs, detailed drawings, archival material, and historical analysis.

Dal Co, Francesco

Gropius, Walter

Speidel, Manfred

For almost 30 years, the Italian architect Carlo Scarpa collaborated with the well-known Venetian cabinetmaker Saverio Anfodillo to construct his designs. The Craft of Architecture documents their work together and gives a survey of Scarpa's oeuvre, one of the most outstanding of the 20th century. This publication is informed and instigated by the MAK's 1999 acquisition of a number of design drawings from the cabinetmaker's archives. These include architectural illustrations for the Museo di Castelvecchio in Verona, built 1956-1964, the Galleria Querini Stampalia in Venice, built in 1961-1963, and the Tomba Brion in San Vito di Altivole, built in 1970-1978; as well as furniture design sketches and wooden models of design details, some for a table for composer Luigi Nono. The Craft of Architecture presents for the first time plans, sketches, blueprints, and models from this collection, complemented by photographs of Scarpa's most important built projects.

Carlo Scarpa: The Craft Of Architecture

Gottardi, Roberto

Hatje Cantz Publishers

The tea house is one of Japans most original buildingsa very small, very simple space consisting of tatami mat, tokonoma (the alcove where wall scrolls are hung and flower arrangements placed), ro (the sunken stove where tea is heated) and nijiriguchi (the half door through which guests enter) . For generations, Japanese architects have embraced the challenge of the tea house despite severe formal constraints. Now, this beautiful and fascinating volume takes the traditional tea house and turns it on its head. An informative introduction explains the history of the tea ceremony and the tea house. Then, in chapters written by three of the worlds most renowned architects -- Arata Isozaki, Tadao Ando, Terunobu Fujimori as well as a fourth with text by Hiroshi Hara and Kengo Kuma, the book looks at twenty modern tea houses in Japan. Here are five men who share a fascination with exploring architectural space limited to the smallest possible spatial unit -- and the tea house is the perfect medium for satisfying this passion and curiosity. Most of these structures are used solely for the tea ceremony, but a few have become spaces for meditation, or for simply spending quiet time alone, with a drink or a good book. Through insightful text, superb photographs and detailed drawings, The Contemporary Tea House introduces each architects philosophy and creative concerns, as well as the artistic techniques behind their constructions in materials ranging from wood and titanium to concrete, stone, and paper. The book also offers the specifications of each building, a glossary and profiles of the architects.

The Contemporary Tea House: Japan's Top Architects Redefine a Tradition

Kuma, Kengo

Andō, Tadao

Fujimori, Terunobu

Hara, Hiroshi

History & Criticism

Kodansha USA

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