SANAA Houses: Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa (Paperback)

by Agustin Perez Rubio (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Radical experimental architectural concepts. --Review of Architecture and Construction Detail-- [Sanaa's] works are indeed uniquely amazing and the book gives a glimpse into their world. --Shift Magazine

This excellent book ... concentrates on what might actually be {the most} important aspect of {SANAA s} portfolio - houses. --City of Sound

Product Description
SANAA's housing projects, both finished (House A, S House, House in a Plum Grove, Small House and Moriyama House), and unfinished projects (Flower House, Garden & House, Seijo Apartments, Ichikawa Apartments, House in China and Eda Apartments). SANAA's architecture embraces complexities within deceptively simple appearances. It has many elements that are impossible to understand unless actually experienced. In contrast with modern architecture, SANAA has many aspects that cannot be revealed in representative media such as plans, models, and photographs. The representations of their architectural works incorporate ambiguity and chronological elements. This characteristic makes Sanaa one of the most innovative offices in the current architectural panorama.

Product Details

• Paperback: 162 pages
• Publisher: Actar/Musac (July 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8496540707
• ISBN-13: 978-8496540705
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,383 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting work, could've been presented more elegantly, March 22, 2008

By	Mario Cipresso "deathbyarchitecture.com" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This publication is actually a catalogue produced as a companion to an exhibition that took place at the Castilla & Leon Museum of Contemporary Art in Spain in 2007. The exhibition and this volume feature both the individual work of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa and a selection of projects they completed collaboratively as SANAA.

Finished and unfinished works are both closely examined and as the title suggests, it's strictly residential. One third of the projects presented are multi-family works that generally take an interesting look at the unconventional arrangement and articulation of individual units creating opportunities for idiosyncratic courtyard or open spaces, specifically in the Okurayama Apartments. The single-family projects can be considered thoughtfully in their integration and siting within the urban environment. What sometimes appears to be a precarious relationship to the site unfolds through closer examination of the photos into a broader understanding of the urban context.

The book begins with a gently probing interview between the editor and Sejima and Nishizawa and ends with a collection of essays that weave together the contemporary work of SANAA with a traditional notion of Japanese architecture among other topics. Each project has a paragraph of text with some vital statistics that is presented independent of the projects at the beginning of each major section.

Although the drawings are clear and concise, the books suffers from a somewhat surprising number of washed out and low resolution images that whether intentional or not, seems to compromise the overall execution of the catalogue. The work is experimental and intriguing but there are likely other publications available that present the projects more thoroughly.