Charting the unique make-up of Japanese architecture
Japanese architecture has never been more in vogue. Today Tadao Ando is virtually a household name and many people marvel at the quirky compact single family homes in Tokyo, which despite often having no shutters, curtains, straight – or some times indeed any – walls, constitute some of the most revered contemporary architectural gems. But what is it that makes Japanese architecture unique? The newly opened ‘Japan in Architecture – Genealogies of Its Transformation’ show at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo is trying to answer that question.
In response the curatorial team (which includes acclaimed local architect Terunobu Fujimori) has divided its thesis into nine different sections, spanning ‘Possibilities of Wood’, ‘Transcendent Aesthetics’, ‘Roofs of Tranquillity’, ‘Crafts as Architecture’, ‘Linked Spaces’, ‘Hybrid Architecture’, ‘Forms for Living Together’, ‘Japan Discovered’ and ‘Living with Nature’. There is no strict chronological order to the more than 100 projects exhibited, and both historical examples (such as the mesmerising 1797 Aizu Sazaedo spiral staircase temple) and yet-to-be-completed ones (such as Junya Ishigami’s House and Restaurant in Yamaguchi) are represented to try and explain the lure and singularity of the country’s fascinating building designs.
Highlights include a 1/1 scale of the Japanese tea master Sen-no-Rikyu’s famed Tai-an tearoom and an immaculately made 1/3 scale model of Kenzo Tange’s private home from 1953. There is also a fast-paced multimedia installation by Seichi Saito from Rhizomatiks, exploring the ‘Power of Scale’ by reconstructing archetypal Japanese spaces using video and fibre laser technology.
The exhibition serves as a valuable platform for debate and exploration into its subject, and while it may not entirely pin down the exact make up of Japanese architecture’s DNA, it no doubt offers some refreshing and thought provoking insights into the matter and is bound to be a hit among architecture buffs and beyond.
INFORMATION
’Japan in Architecture - Genealogies of Its Transformation’ is on view at the Mori Art Museum, Roppongi, Tokyo until 17 September. For more information please visit the website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Originally from Denmark, Jens H. Jensen has been calling Japan his home for almost two decades. Since 2014 he has worked with Wallpaper* as the Japan Editor. His main interests are architecture, crafts and design. Besides writing and editing, he consults numerous business in Japan and beyond and designs and build retail, residential and moving (read: vans) interiors.
-
Ruby Dickson’s Kim Kardashian paintings explore celebrity culture in London
Ruby Dickson’s ‘Maybe my fairy-tale has a different ending than I dreamed it would. But that’s OK’ is exhibiting at Nicoletti gallery, London
By Sam Moore Published
-
Mayfair’s Murano offers beautiful design and incisively cooked food
Angela Hartnett’s Murano celebrates 15 years of Italian supremacy in London with a fresh look by Fabled Studio
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Fiat 600e: la dolce vita extended and enhanced
The sophisticated new electric Fiat 600e sees the marque finally overcome its growing pains
By Guy Bird Published
-
Takeshi Ikeuchi’s kei truck is a minimalist Japanese mobile showroom
Takeshi Ikeuchi's kei truck design is a Japanese timber specialist’s minimalist mobile showroom
By Jens H Jensen Published
-
Nekoyacho Bldg is a Hiroshima office on a crossroads of 'food, work and entertainment'
Nekoyacho Bldg has been designed by Suppose Design Office as a 21st century workspace in Hiroshima, Japan
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Heatherwick Studio’s Azabudai Hills district launches as Tokyo’s newest city-in-a-city
Tokyo welcomes the Azabudai Hills district, designed by Heatherwick Studio and constructed as a city-in-a-city after over three decades of planning
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Toranomon Hills Station by OMA adds dynamism to the Tokyo skyline
Toranomon Hills Station is OMA's first tower in Tokyo - as well as a project expanding and evolving the high rise typology
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Terunobu Fujimori’s Kodomari Fuji guest house features a roof lined with cherry trees
Cherry trees line the roof at Kodomari Fuji, Terunobu Fujimori's first accommodation facility design, a private guest house in Japan
By Joanna Kawecki Published
-
Modern Japanese houses inspiring minimalism and avant-garde living
We tour the best Japanese architecture and modern Japanese houses designed by international and local architects that open up possibilities for all types of lifestyle, from minimalist to communal in Japanese architecture.
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Arii Irie, Japan: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023
Japanese practice Arii Irie has joined the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Jens H Jensen Published
-
Sliding components create a transformable office in Kyoto: see it move!
Naoshi Kondo Studio has created a transformable office with its own architectural puzzle box that turns an L-shaped unit into a multifunctional space
By Jonathan Bell Published