The Lesson Of Japanese Architecture Revised Edition

The Lesson of Japanese Architecture. Revised Edition

The Constructed Other: Japanese Architecture in the Western Mind

The Constructed Other argues that the assumed otherness of Japanese architecture has made it both a testbed for Western architectural theories and a source of inspiration for Western designers. The book traces three recurring themes in Western accounts of Japanese architecture from the reopening of Japan in the mid-nineteenth century to the present day: a wish to see Western architectural theories reflected in Japanese buildings; efforts to integrate elements of Japanese architecture into Western buildings; and a desire to connect contemporary Japanese architecture with Japanese tradition. It is suggested that, together, these narratives have had the effect of creating what amounts to a mythical version of Japanese architecture, often at odds with historical fact, but which has exercised a powerful influence on the development of building design internationally.

Constructing Japan

The influence of Japanese art and culture on art in late 19th-century Europe and America through collections of objects and knowledge transfer is already recognised. However, the research in this field often neglects architecture. This study takes a new approach, placing architecture at the centre. Through in-depth analysis of contemporary textual and visual sources, Beate Löffler shows how western actors from different backgrounds interpreted Japanese architecture as they experienced it, either face-to-face or via texts and images. It unveils a complex process of appropriation and rejection, of claim to interpretive sovereignty, and fascination with the foreign, that led to both new knowledge and cultural clichés.