Beyond Metabolism

Fülszöveg

by Michael Franklin Ross, AIA
Perhaps the most innovative architecture in the world today is being done in Japan by the new wave of younger architects who have followed the so-called "Metabolist" movement that was inspired by the internationally-renowned architect, Kenzo Tange. The names of these post- Metabolist architects are by and large still unknown in the West, but their daring, even revolutionary approaches toward building in a densely-populated, highly industrialized society, have captured the attention and the imagination of architects and those interested in architecture around the world. Although modern architecture burst upon Japan as belatedly as many other Western importations (or impositions), the Japanese have simultaneously embraced it and synthesized it with their own long cultural and architectural heritage in a manner that says much about both the successes and failures of modern architecture around the world. Michael Franklin Ross begins with an account of the... Tovább

Fülszöveg

by Michael Franklin Ross, AIA
Perhaps the most innovative architecture in the world today is being done in Japan by the new wave of younger architects who have followed the so-called "Metabolist" movement that was inspired by the internationally-renowned architect, Kenzo Tange. The names of these post- Metabolist architects are by and large still unknown in the West, but their daring, even revolutionary approaches toward building in a densely-populated, highly industrialized society, have captured the attention and the imagination of architects and those interested in architecture around the world. Although modern architecture burst upon Japan as belatedly as many other Western importations (or impositions), the Japanese have simultaneously embraced it and synthesized it with their own long cultural and architectural heritage in a manner that says much about both the successes and failures of modern architecture around the world. Michael Franklin Ross begins with an account of the evolution of Japanese architecture to 1960, at which point his in-depth narrative begins. The development of the Megastructure concept, which began as a visionary solution to rebuilding a country devastated by war, grew into a realistic means of construction that tapped the Japanese genius for adaptation to new technologies. "Architechnology," as the interface between the two has been dubbed by the author, has had no better built realization than in Japan. The works of the leading architects of all the factions of Japanese architecture today, from the almost classic serenity of Fumihiko Maki to the trendy modular plugins of Kisho Kurokawa, from the polished yet imaginative elegance of Arata Isozaki to the "Sky Building" series by Yoji Watanabe, are all discussed knowledgeably and probingly, and are illustrated with several hundred revealing photographs.
(continued on back flap)
cover: Nakagin Capsule Building
by Kisho Kurokawa Vissza