International Architecture In Interwar Japan: Constructing Kokusai Kenchiku

International Architecture in Interwar Japan: Constructing Kokusai Kenchiku

Review"The great strength of this book is its fascinating and compelling examination of a short but fertile moment in architecture history through the multiple lenses of Horiguchi, Yamada, and Raymond . . . a long overdue study of the germinal stage of modernism in Japan."-Alice Y. Tseng, CAA reviews, January 2011"A welcome addition to the literature on modernism in Japanese architecture. Oshima focuses on three of the most important professionals engaged in the shaping of a new culture that articulates patterns from Japanese culture and new forms invented in the West."-Jean-Louis Cohen, New York University Institute of Fine Arts"A well-researched book dealing with an especially creative period in the history of modern Japanese architecture. International Architecture in Interwar Japan is particularly effective at exploring the relationship between Japanese architecture and contemporary developments elsewhere in the world."-Jonathan Reynolds, Barnard College"Japan's dramatic rise to international architectural prominence after the Second World War is well known, but the roots of that creative burst-- ideologically, stylistically and socially-- in the work of a handful of practitioners who negotiated the complex terrain of national tradition and modernization are little studied. Ken Oshima's focus on three figures whose works are central-- but most of whose buildings have been lost-- is an eye-opener. A richer understanding of Japan's place in twentieth-century architectural history emerges from each of the subtle analyses offered of major designs lost or lost to critical scrutiny until now."-Barry Bergdoll, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art"Anyone who has followed the evolution of architecture in the first half of the twentieth century will have long been aware of the fertile Japanese contribution. However, until this brilliant study of three of its most prominent, pioneering practitioners, we have not only lacked sufficient documentation but also any kind of comprehensive analysis that does justice to the richness and rigor of these architects: Sutemi Horiguchi, Mamaru Yamada and the