Emerging Japanese Architects of the 1990s introduces a new generation of architects to the west. Six of the most exciting members of the fourth generation of architects to emerge in japan after World War II -Atsushi Kitagawara, Kiyoshi Say Takeyama/AMORPHE, Norihiko Dan, Hiroyuki Wakabayashi, WORKSHOP, and Hisashi Hara- are profiled in this book, amidst stunning photographs of their work.
these architects have been building and publishing extensively in Japan, blessed by Japan's new wealth and love of new fashions and designs. The six differ greatly in style and in education, from Norihiko Dan, who studied at Yale to Hiroyuki Wakabayashi, who is self-trained. They express a variety of styles and many of their works are commercial projects. They build restaurants, hotels, theaters, and office buildings -structures as practical and architecturally interesting as the buildings of their aesthetic precursors.
The book contains an introductory essay by Kestenbaum which places this generation in social and historical context and analyzes each of the architects' works. The six architects profiled here are some of the best-known in Japan today, the ones to watch in the international architecture scene.
