The Japanese House Reinvented

Since the overwhelming economic and social changes set in movement in 1868 by the restoration of the Emperor Meiji, the types and sizes of Japanese houses have changed from precut heavy timber frame buildings often with thatched roofs to more lightly built lumber houses with tile or metal roofs and plaster exteriors. Continued quick rebuildings of major cities after earthquake or bombing produced generations of small, not very well-built, bland living units. Architectural writer Jodidio presents a superb sampling of Japanese architects who experiment with brilliant new ways of fitting a home into the urban or rural context of Japan. These houses are often given picturesque names: "Breeze"; "Memory of the Sky"; "Tunnel House"; "House with No Kitchen." There are houses with floors of slats (don't drop your cellphone), wooden houses with exterior walls charred black to preserve them, sweeping irregular concrete walls leaning deep into the interior living spaces, and many beautifully detailed homes with a rich synthesis of warm and cold materials. Unfortunately, the photos are predominantly of the unfurnished interiors; it would have been illuminating to see how Japanese families lived in these amazing structures.