Japan modern: new ideas for contemporary living PDF
Preview Japan modern: new ideas for contemporary living
Japan Modern Japan Modern New Ideas for Contemporary Living Photography by Michael Freeman Text by Michiko Rico Nosé PERIPLUS EDITIONS Singapore • Hong Kong • Indonesia Published by Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd. www.periplus.com Copyright © 2000 Text: Michiko Rico Nose Copyright © 2000 Photos: Michael Freeman All rights reserved LCC Card No. 2004555099 ISBN: 978-1-4629-0666-6 (ebook) Distributed by: North America, Latin America & Europe Tuttle Publishing 364 Innovation Drive North Clarendon, VT 05759-9436, USA Tel: 1 (802) 773-8930 Fax: 1 (802) 773-6993 Contents 6 Introduction 8 Reworking Tradition 10 Lycra and Wood 14 Barrier-free Minimalism 20 East Meets West 24 Old Within New 32 Modern Vernacular 36 City Rural 40 Suburban Tradition 46 Natural Fusion 52 An Eclectic Mix 56 House Surgery 60 Managing Space 62 Stacked Cylinders 68 Picture Window 74 Corner Boxes 78 Meditation Space 82 Miniature House 90 Penthouse Courtyard 94 Outside Inside 98 Folding Space 104 Spiral Connections 108 Experimenting with Materials 110 New Economy 114 Plywood Simplicity 120 Industrial Retro-Fit 124 Prefab Style 130 Material Contrasts 134 Textured Walls 138 Concrete Geometry 142 Cinder-block Refinement 146 Open and Closed 150 A Living Home 154 Materials as Art 160 Personal Statements 162 Water and Glass 168 Grass Canopy 172 Structural Surprises 180 Alternative Style 188 Japanese Post-Modern 194 Transparent Living 200 House Around a Bathroom 206 Soft and Hairy House 210 Curtains for Walls 214 Levels in White 220 Glossary/Acknowledgements 222 Index Introduction For Japan, the last decade of the last century was dominated by the collapse of its super-heated but hitherto staggeringly successful economy. The trajectory that had taken the nation to the position of having the world’s second strongest economy with, remarkably, an equitable distribution of wealth, had reached apogee by the end of the 1980s. In 1990 the recession began, and continued for more than ten years. Hardly the ideal circumstances, you might think, for the development of new and exciting ideas in architecture and design. Yet this is Japan, where things work in ways that are sometimes unexpected from a Western perspective. As it is, the leading edge of Japanese domestic architecture and interior design (as we will see, the two are often inseparable) has never been so interesting, and the reasons lie in the upheaval wrought by the bubble economy and its deflation. What is happening now is both a reaction to former excesses and a re-evaluation of the Japanese way of life. The heady years of the ’80s created a situation of insane land prices, shoddy housing developments, and a general desire to be as Western as possible. For those who could afford it, the high style of house design was borrowed from the West, albeit skilfully, and was characterised by concrete bunkers and castles more brutalist than the European models of Le Corbusier and others that inspired them. The Japanese were moving forward and becoming international, and by and large they wanted to look the part. The legacy was a diminution of Japanese traditions and chaotic urban development of unsurpassed ugliness. Aesthetically, the residential districts of cities, where most of the population lives, are a catastrophe, made all the worse by the tiny plot sizes. For a people who pride themselves on their sensitivity to art, culture and the social graces of daily life, this is somewhat difficult to cope with. Nevertheless, there is a side to Japanese character that flourishes in adversity, and the best of the new generation of architects and interior designers have found intriguing solutions to the problems of living in Japan. In this book we look at what we think are the 40 most interesting and imaginative, almost all of them previously unpublished in the West.
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