Following the example of music publication, Source Books in Architecture offers an alternative to the traditional architectural monograph. If one is interested in hearing music, he or she simply buys the desired recording. If, however, one wishes to study a particular piece in greater depth, it is possible to purchase the score--the written code that more clearly elucidates the structure, organization, and creative process that brings the work into being. This series is offered in the same spirit. Each Source Book focuses on the work of a particular architect or on a special topic in contemporary architecture and is meant to expose the foundations and details of the work in question. The work is documented through early studies, models, renderings, working drawings, writings, and photographs at a level of detail that allows complete and careful study of a project from conception to completion. The graphic component is accompanied by commentary from the architect and critics that further explore the technical and cultural content of the work.
Sanaa’s housing projects, both finished (House A, S House, House in a Plum Grove, Small House and Moriyama House), and unfinished projects (Flower House, Garden & House, Seijo Apartments, Ichikawa Apartments, House in China and Eda Apartments). SANAA's architecture embraces complexities within deceptively simple appearances. It has many elements that are impossible to understand unless actually “experienced”. In contrast with modern architecture, SANAA has many aspects that cannot be revealed in “representative” media such as plans, models, and photographs. The “representations” of their architectural works incorporate ambiguity and chronological elements. This characteristic makes Sanaa one of the most innovative offices in the current architectural panorama.
This publication focuses on Sanaas housing projects, both finished works and unrealized projects. SANAA's architecture embraces complexities within deceptively simple appearances. It has many elements that are impossible to understand unless one actually experiences it. In contrast with modern architecture, SANAA has many aspects that cannot be revealed in representative media such as plans, models, and photographs. The representations of their architectural works incorporate ambiguity and chronological elements. This characteristic makes Sanaa one of the most innovative and productive offices in the current architectural panorama. This publication focuses on Sanaas housing projects, both finished (House in Plum Grove, Moriyama House, Moriyama House, Flower House and Small House), and unrealised projects (Ichikawa apartments, House in China, Hachobori, Orkurayama).
'A Japanese Constellation' focuses on the work of a small group of architects and designers influenced by and gravitating around the architect Toyo Ito and the architectural firm SANAA.
Text by Mark Wigley, Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa, Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Beatrice Galilee. Foreword by Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans Ulrich Obrist.
The book reconsiders the theme of living in a city by exploring new approaches that reveal a different way of integrating projects into the existing city. Due to their scale, extensive built environment, and efforts to grow the city from within, London and Tokyo face similar urban development issues but occupy cultural contexts in which themes of proximity, privacy, community, and public space take on different meanings and require distinct solutions. The housing projects of Nishizawa and Taylor show how inhabitants can live in a house, and, at the same time, enlarge the scale of their living to the neighbourhood and the city. They introduce, within the specificity of their cultures and philosophies, the idea that a housing project is a way of contributing to the atmosphere, the character and the life of the city. The book contains statements by Nishizawa and Taylor framing their approaches and ideas, accompanied by images and explanation of their projects and a discussion between them, as well as essays by Giovanna Borasi focusing on the relevance of this topic today, and by Peter Allison framing the architecta (TM)s approaches in a historical perspective and within the two cultures and a preface by Mirko Zardini. Cet ouvrage considA]re le vivre en milieu urbain en explorant de nouvelles approches pour intA(c)grer des projets de construction da (TM)habitations au sein de la ville existante. Tokyo et Londres sont confrontA(c)es A des problA]mes de dA(c)veloppement comparables, A(c)tant donnA(c) leur taille, leur urbanisation excessive et leurs efforts pour se dA(c)velopper au coeur mAame de la ville. Toutefois, les contextes culturels sont diffA(c)rents, les notions de voisinage, la (TM)espace privA(c) et public, la collectivitA(c) na (TM)ont pas la mAame signification et requiA]rent des solutions diffA(c)renciA(c)es. Les projets des deux architectes japonais et britannique Ryue Nishizawa et Stephen Taylor montrent comment des habitants peuvent vivre dans leur maison, tout en A(c)largissant leur espace de vie A la (TM)A(c)chelle de leur environnement immA(c)diat et de la ville. Nishizawa et Taylor, chacun avec ses spA(c)cificitA(c)s culturelles et philosophiques, indiquent comment un projet da (TM)habitation peut contribuer A la (TM)atmosphA]re, au caractA]re et A la vie de la ville. Ils dA(c)veloppent leur dA(c)marche et leurs idA(c)es au cours da (TM)un dialogue et dans de courtes dA(c)clarations, accompagnA(c)es par des photos et des explications sur leurs projets. Giovanna Borasi constate la pertinence du sujet pour notre A(c)poque dans un essai A(c)clairant, et Peter Allison met en perspective historique et culturelle la dA(c)marche des deux architectes.
"The spectacular Zollverein school building, with its distinctive window openings and technologically innovative insulation system, fuses the site's industrial past with its aesthetically-driven future. This study of the structure and its designers, which includes drawings, plans and models, chronicles the building's concept and construction."--BOOK JACKET.
"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 success of any architectural project depends on the architect's ability to depict it. Conveying architectural ideas as drawings, pictures, or models is both a critical part of the process and one that can tell us much about the design itself in a particular time or place. Over the past two decades, major new trends in architectural representation have emerged in Japan, which have gained widespread attention in the western world. Pictures of The Floating Microcosm considers these trends and takes readers through their development to the present day. Olivier Meystre undertakes a critique of the design tools and mediation techniques that have been employed and reveals the very special ways of conceiving an architectural project, drawing on a wealth of new research and interviews with contemporary Japanese architects. His book is a fascinating testimony of an entire generation of architects' complex approach to a project, where all attributes of space are questioned and redefined while a strong undercurrent of tradition continues to have pivotal influence.
This informative and beautifully illustrated book showcases projects of all types, sizes and budgets from the last decade in Japan, and includes museums, private houses, schools, shops, hospitals, airports and chapels. Both cutting-edge, emerging young practices – such as Sou Fujimoto and Junya Ishigami – and established, internationally known architects – among them Toyo Ito, Tadao Ando, Kengo Kuma and SANAA – are featured, as are international practices working in Japan (such as Rogers Stirk Harbour, Foster + Partners and Herzog & de Meuron). Stunning images by leading architectural photographer Edmund Sumner are accompanied by accessible critical texts and drawings. This illuminating survey is essential not just for architects and designers but also for anyone fascinated by Japan's unique – and increasing – influence on architecture worldwide.
