THE JAPANESE HOUSE
A TRADITION FOR CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
Heinrich Engel
Rutland VT and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company Publishers, 1964/1972. Fourth printing 1972. Quarto. Textured gray silk cloth decorated in black and white. Textured rice endpapers. Photo illustrated dust jacket. Corrugated cardboard Publishers slipcase with printed label. 496 pp. 167 black and white plates and 78 blueprints, drawings and plans. Former owners signature and dated notation to front free endpaper. Price-clipped dust jacket in otherwise immaculate condition. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket housed in a lightly rubbed, very good example of the Publishers slipcase. A beautiful—and seldom seen— copy of this classic work.
9 x 12 hardcover book with 496 pages and 167 black and white plates and 78 blueprints, drawings and plans and bibliography and index. Foreword by Walter Gropius. Book design and typography by Kaoru Ogimi.
Contents:
- Structure
- FABRIC: definiton; stone; glass; bamboo; clay; paper; roof tiles; floor mat; wood; ; for contemporary architecture
- MEASURE: defintion; building measures; early measures and shaku; ken measure and module; order of kiwaki; traditional standards; for contemporary architecture.
- DESIGN: definition; kyo-ma method; inaka-ma method; process of design; present building; regulations; distinction; supersticion; for contemporary architecture
- CONSTRUCTION: definitionCprocess foundations; wall framework; roof; Japanese wall; floor; ceiling; fitting; translucent paper panel; opaque paper panel; windows; picture recess; shelving recess; study place; wooden shutters; shutter compartment; doors; for contemporary architecture
- Organism
- FAMILY: definition; moral principles; manners of living; influence on house; influence from house for contemporary architecture
- SPACE: defintion; measure of man; planmetric-functional space; space relationship; physique of space for contemporary architecture
- GARDEN: definition; attitude towards nature; house-garden relationship; standardization; standard features; for contemporary architecture
- SECLUSION: definition; necessity of tea; philosophy of tea; physique of the tearoom; art of living; tea garden; standardization; for contemporary architecture
- Environment
- GEO-RELATIONSHIP: defintion; racial migration; closeness to the continent; insular isolation; imitation for contemporary architecture
- CLIMATE: definition; characteristics; earthquakes; climatic architecture; climatic adaption; for contemporary architecture
- PHILOSOPHY: definition; zen-buddhism; buddhist features; religious expression; zen and house; for contemporary architecture
- SOCIETY: defintion; policy; social order; city community; prohibition; for contemporary architecture
- Aesthetics
- TASTE: defintion; theory of genesis; zen aestheticism; traditional trait; taste of the townspeople; for contemporary architecture
- ORDER: definition; theory of genesis; physical order; spiritual order; for contemporary architecture
- EXPRESSION: defintion; interior; contrast; individuality; association; exterior for contemporary architecture
A valuable, standard and thorough work on Japanese architecture. Highly recommended from both a technical and aesthetic standpoint.
The author presents an in depth study of traditional Japanese architecture, including construction materials and methods, and the cultural philosophy, aesthetics, and uses that govern the architecture. "An amazingly thorough analysis and interpretation of the Japanese house and a sincere attempt to arrive thereby at certain universal architectural truths.”