Written by the famous authority on Japanese architecture this book charts the development of the designs of Hiroshi Hara as well as the innovative uses of emerging building technologies. This book will appeal not only to those interested in the work of this particular architect but also to those interested in Japanese architecture as a whole and those looking to push forward the boundaries of building technology.
* First monograph on the work of Hara which focuses on the innovative use of building technologies within his work
* Illuminates the question of how to maintain a successful architecture practice
* Part of the Architectural Monograph Series
* Highly illustrated with beautiful photographs throughout
From the Inside Flap
One of Japan's most prominent and internationally renowned architects today, Hiroshi Hara has been responsible for the designs of many of the most significant and largest projects in his country, including major urban complexes such as the Iida City Museum, the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka, the Miyagi Prefectural Library in Sendai, the Kyoto Station Complex, and the recently completed Sapporo Dome. Nevertheless, in addition to extensive public buildings, Hara has, throughout his career, continued to turn out numerous small private residences, the design of which is nothing short of revolutionary. The past few decades have witnessed the further maturation and flourishing of Hara's works which, taken as a whole, have constituted one of the most original contributions to the increasingly varied and widely recognised stage of Japanese architecture since the 1960s.
Featuring an in-depth critical analysis by Professor Botond Bognar, a scholar of Japanese architecture, and seven short theoretical essays by Hiroshi Hara, as well as a selection of 29 individual projects, this richly illustrated book introduces the best of Hara's work in the context of both contemporary Japanese architecture and the wider international scene. Seamlessly combining the significant elements of architectural and urban design, while relying both on the tenets of phenomenology and the use of the latest technologies, these projects poignantly and poetically exemplify Hara's exceptional design ability, to advance an 'architecture of modality' in which reality and fiction are virtually interchangeable. As the book demonstrates, Hara in his architecture has found a fitting response to the fluid reality of the world-in-flux engendered by our age of information.
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