Cathelijne Nuijsink

How to Make a Japanese House

Design: Sander Boon, Paperback, Illustrated (colour and b/w), 328 pages, Size: 16 x 24 cm
English edition, ISBN 978-90-5662-850-5, Recommended Retail Price € 39.50

With support of the Netherlands Architecture Fund

Nowhere in the world have architects built so many small and exceptional homes as in Japan, and nowhere with such ingenuity and success. How to Make a Japanese House presents 21 contemporary houses and situates them in the evolution of Japanese housing. Simultaneously, the book provides insight into the unique design approach of three different generations of Japanese architects.

The interviews with architects such as Jun Aoki, Ryue Nishizawa and Sou Fujimoto clarify in a personal way the backgrounds of the designs. With her fascination for Japanese culture, Cathelijne Nuijsink takes the reader on a journey into the contemporary Japanese house. Using a rich array of research, drawings and photographs, How to Make a Japanese House demonstrates that Japanese homes offer a radically different way of thinking about architecture.

The extremely small Japanese dwelling, by Western standards, can barely be considered a comfortable place. This requires knowledge of the traditional Japanese home, the family culture and the limitations of building in densely populated areas. The strength of the Japanese dwelling turns out not to lie in a rational quantity of square metres, but to be of a spiritual nature.

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