How to Make a Japanese House

After finding this book on the shelf of my school's library and reading it completely through I knew this book would become a great resource in the future in my career as an architect. I bought this book and it arrived right on time and was neatly packed in the box. The book is filled with countless pictures of varying homes as well as interviews with some of the most influential architects in Japan today. Additionally in the back of the book there are multiple essays from different architects to promote what might become of architecture in the future and how we should go about approaching it now.

This book reads like a philosophy text. What makes it so good is the philosophers are architects and their medium is private homes in a country with very small plots and construction budgets. The book illustrates the creation of the illusion of inner space and a sense of interior design minimalism that has changed the way I look at the inside of rooms. The pictures are plentiful and striking. It would make a great coffee table book, except for the lack of status of the genre.Oh hell, leave it on the coffee table anyway. It will increase the frequency of your access and explode the mind of your friends.

If you live in a tiny space like I do, this is a must read!

Really enjoyable book, not only has beautiful images but also all the information you may want to read about for each one of the projects included. The size is nice as well, it is not bulky or heavy.

An Incredible book.!! If you Like Japanese culture, small space solution, and esthetic, this is the book to have, excellent quality of printing and paper. this is the book to have and share.

The recent architectural glutonny and obession for innovative ways of living, has found in the Japanese house its most significant fad. More than ever keen attention to each of these buildings is dedicated in blogs and diverse publications mainly through pictures and plans. Even with great illustrations, this book is not the case, as architectural critic Taro Igarashi has well remarked, of a coffee table book. It is rather a valuable contribution to understand some of the forces and constraints Japanese architects have to deal with when building in a city as Tokyo. Opening a dialogue through interviews with the authors of these singular dwellings, it is a first-hand documentation of thier own design strategies.Nuijsink has somehow decoded wisely what lies behind the contemporary Japanese house-making scene by tracing the ideas and connecting threads from the 50's generation such as Kuma, Sejima and Aoki, passing through Chiba, Tsukamoto and Nishizawa (60's generation), to the younger generation (70's) with architects as Fujimoto, Tanijiri and Ishigami, for mentioning few.A fundamental publication for those aiming to better understand the design mechanisms for such ec(zen)tric ways of living.Rafael A. Balboa.PhD candidate. Kengo Kuma Laboratory.The University of Tokyo.

Highly recommended. Terrific interviews from a great assortment of Japanese architects.

Experience the liberation of Japanese minimalism.

Great book, the interviews are just amazing, it gives you an excellent aproach of the process of the design that the architects apply.

In depth and intense research from the writer. Beautiful photos. Wish more drawings and sketches by the architects themselves ; and photos included in the books though.

Splendide. Tellement créatif. Extra terrestre. Mais hélas pas toujours développable dans nos contrées ni très adapté à notre mode de vie, ce pourquoi je ne mets pas 5 étoiles. C'est tellement dommage, nos architectes auraient tellement à découvrir des archis japonais, qui savent allier créativité, technicité et esthétique. Un livre magnifique bien illustré, portant surtout sur les solutions amenées pour des espaces urbains restreints ou alambiqués.

Das Buch enthällt schöne Ideen um auf wenig Grundfläche schöne und ansprechende Häuser zu errichten.Leider fällt das Layout des Buches nicht ganz optimal aus. Das Gewählte Format und der Einband sind schlicht und reduziert und passen hervorragend zu Thema. Große Bilder über zwei Seiten sind allerdings schwer zu betrachten, da in der Mitte relativ viel Inhalt durch die Bindung verschluckt wird. Die Bindung hinterlässt auch nicht den besten Eindruck, ich befürchte bei heufigem lesen wird sich die Leimung früher oder später lösen.Ich würde mir das Buch unabhängig von den kleinen Schwächen in der Bindung sofort wieder kaufen ... der Inhalt ist es wert.

the package was lost in in the postal transfer. After asking i got an immediate response asking me to wait a few more days. After is was clear it is not coming they offered me a free replacment shipping. After this was also not arriving they did not hesitate to promise me a third shipping which luckily was not needed because the second shipping arraived a couple of hours later on that day. All in all this was very annoying but totally friendly and stress free from their side.