Contemporary Japanese Architecture

Multilingual Edition (English, French, German). A survey of Japan's contemporary architecture scene.

Japan's contemporary architecture has long been among the most inventive in the world, recognized for sustainability and infinite creativity. No fewer than eight Japanese architects have won the Pritzker Prize.

Since Osaka World Expo'70 highlighted contemporary forms, Japan has been a key player in global architecture. Tadao Ando's geometry put Japanese building on the map, bridging East and West. After his concrete buildings, figures like Kengo Kuma, Shigeru Ban, and Kazuyo Sejima pioneered a more sustainable approach. Younger generations have taken new directions, in harmony with nature, traditional building, and an endless search for forms.

Presenting the latest in Japanese building, this book links this unique creativity to Japan's high population density, modern economy, long history, and continual disasters in the form of earthquakes. Accepting ambiguity, constant change, and catastrophe is a key to understanding how Japanese architecture differs from that of Europe or America.

This compact edition highlights 37 architects and 53 exceptional projects by Japanese masters - from Tadao Ando's Shanghai Poly Theater, Shigeru Ban’s concert hall La Seine Musical, SANAA’s Grace Farms, Fumihiko Maki’s 4 World Trade Center to Takashi Suo’s much smaller sustainable dental clinic. An elaborate essay traces the building scene from the Metabolists to today, showing how the interaction of past, present, and future has earned contemporary Japanese architecture worldwide recognition.

Japan Metabolizing by Philip Jodidio
Mikio Mizuta Memorial hall - Hitoshi Abe, Sakado, Saitama, Japan
Shanghai Poly Theater - Tadao Ando, Jiading, Shanghai, China
Anno Mitsumasa Art Museum - Tadao Ando, Kyotango, Kyoto, Japan
Louis Vuitton Maison Osaka Midosuji - Jun Aoki, Osaka, Japan
The Mass - Nobuo Araki / The Archetype, Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan
La Seine Musicale - Shigeru Ban, Ile Seguin, Boulogne-billancourt, France
Mount Fuji World Heritage Center - Shigeru Ban, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, Japan
Shonai Hotel Suiden Terrasse - Shigeru Ban, Kitakyoden, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan
Omotesando Keyaki Building - Norihiko Dan, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Looptecture A - Shuhei Endo, Minamiawaji, Hyogo, Japan
Children's Practice Pitching Field - Masaki Endoh, Minamiaizu, Fukushima, Japan
Mosaic Tile Museum - Terunobu Fujimori, Kasahara, Tajimi, Gifu, Japan
Omotesando Branches - Sou Fujimoto, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Naoshima Pavilion - Sou Fujimoto, Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan
House In Kawasaki - Go Hasegawa, Kawasaki, Kanagawa,japan
Villa Beside A Lake - Go Hasegawa, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
White Rose English School - Naoko Horibe, Osaka, Japan
Four Rectangles - Jun Igarashi, Iwaki, Hokkaido, Japan
Stone Villa - Yosuke Inoue, Lake Kawaguchi, Yamanashi, Japan
Botanical Garden Art Biotop / Water Garden - Junya Ishigami, Nasu, Tochigi, Japan
Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion - Junya Ishigami, London, Uk
Minna No Mori Gifu Media Cosmos - Toyo Ito, Gifu, Japan
Meguri No Mori Kawaguchi City Funeral Hall - Toyo Ito, Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan
S-house - Yuusuke Karasawa, Omiya, Saitama, Japan
Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum - Kengo Kuma, Yusuhara, Kochi, Japan
V&A Dundee - Kengo Kuma, Dundee, Uk
Japan National Stadium - Kengo Kuma, Tokyo, Japan
4 World Trade Center - Fumihiko Maki, New York, USA
Tokyo Denki University, Tokyo Senju Campus - Fumihiko Maki, Tokyo, Japan
Japanese Sword Museum - Fumihiko Maki, Tokyo, Japan
Roadside Station In Mashiko - Mount Fuji Architects Studio, Mashiko, Tochigi, Japan
House In Sangenjaya - Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
℃ (Do-c) Ebisu - Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects, Ebisu, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Ribbon Chapel - Hiroshi Nakamura & Nap, Onomichi, Hiroshima, Japan
Kamikatz Public House - Hiroshi Nakamura & Nap, Kamikatsu, Tokushima, Japan
Kohtei - Kohei Nawa / Sandwich, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
Teshima Art Museum - Ryue Nishizawa, Teshima Island, Kagawa, Japan
Villa U - Satoshi Okada, Atami, Shizuoka, Japan
Miyajima Misen Observatory - Hiroshi Sambuichi, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Japan
Naoshima Hall - Hiroshi Sambuichi, Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan
Grace Farms - Sanaa / Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa, New Canaan, USA
Shogin Tact Tsuruoka - Sanaa / Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizaw, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan
Moyamoya - Fumihiko Sano, Higashikurume, Tokyo, Japan
T Noie - Katsutoshi Sasaki, Toyota, Aichi, Japan
Sumida Hokusai Museum - Kazuyo Sejima, Sumida, Tokyo, Japan
Odawara Art Foundation: Enoura Observatory - Hiroshi Sugimoto, Enoura, Odawara, Kanagawa, Japan
Jikka Issei Suma - Ike, Ito, Shizuoka, Japan
Ishihara Dental Clinic - Takashi Suo, Okayama, Japan
Todoroki House In Valley - Tsuyoshi Tane, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Hirosaki Museum Of Contemporary Art - Tsuyoshi Tane, Hi̇rosaki, Aomori, Japan
Heisei Chishinkan, Kyoto National Museum - Yoshio Taniguchi, Higashiyama, Kyoto, Japan
Muku Nursery - Tezuka Architects, Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan
Helix House - Makoto Takei, Chie Nabeshima/tna, Tokyo, Japan
Biographies
Index
Credits