Customer Reviews

Japan Modern: New Ideas for Contemporary Living

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've long been interested in the Japanese approach to design of all sorts, but especially architecture. Coming from a much different tradition, the solutions to problems and needs for shelter are often very different than those arrived at by architects with Euro-American tastes and training. Some of the examples depicted so beautifully and discussed so shrewdly in this volume are rooted strongly in Japan's history, such as an old farmhouse relocated to Tokyo and fitted into an urban neighborhood. Others are playful, like the house with a lawn on the peaked roof, watered by a sprinkler system on the ridgepole, and with the courtyard floored in clay roof tiles. There's a two-story "miniature" house with a footprint not much larger than two parking spaces, but which still manages to be a very comfortable environment for actually living in. And, naturally, there are structures *so* experimental, you might not realize they were houses if you weren't told. There are homes in this collection I would love to live in, and others that would probably give me nightmares, but all of them are fascinating.

This book provides total eye candy for design enthusiasts. Not your typical formulaic shoji screen stuff. Very original solutions to design problems from a Japanese perspective. I find it very inspiring and look at it all the time.

This book is filled with page after page of stunning rooms and living spaces in Japan. A must for anyone who believes all Japanese live in cramped, dark, unattractive homes. An excellent conversation starter and coffee table book.

Got this from a friend who knows my interest in eastern design. There are many nice photos of interior spaces, along with terse explanations of the design objectives. Explanations are not very edifying for newcomers.

Some of the spaces have a beautiful zen-like austerity, that delightful, peaceful, calming, natural eastern vibe.

Some commercial designs have that sterile corporate spartanism that reminds me of a evil protagonist's lair in a James Bond movie.

The Japanese ideal of corporate office space is not always so glass, chrome, steel, square, hard. But in this book there are several examples of that. All you need are some well-groomed Asians in expensive suits and an evil henchman or two to complete the scene. (Oh yeah, don't forget the dangerous damsel in a jumpsuit!)

Most corporate designs are dehumanizing, and as Frank Lloyd Wright said, "That is one great failures of "modern" architecture." There are extreme examples of that in this book.

Other than that, I enjoyed looking at this volume and it makes a good coffee table addition. It is not an in depth analysis of great design, but more of a picture book of modern attempts. Some are good, some are frighteningly bad. That does not make the book bad though. In fact, architects and designers could use some examples in here as exercises in horrible taste. So, in that sense, the book is good since it has extreme examples of both good and bad design.

I am very interested in any ASIAN INTERIOR/EXTERIOR DECOR books and books on FENG SHUI, CONTEMPORARY IKEBANA, and MINIMAL DESIGN. - I think this is an amazing book if I were designing and/or remodeling a home or a room. This book is more for Architecture and mainly non-modular interior design planning. I am really into minimalism and uphold a feng-shui anti-clutter philosophy as this book displays.. Not for instruction. more for introducing new materials and styles.

The Japanese are so good at re-interpreting their traditional architecture; furthermore this books illustrates that ability quite well... Perhaps a few details would've made it a touch (one star) better...