Itsuko Hasegawa

This monograph charts the evolution of Hasegawa's design process from her largely formal work of the late 1970s and early 80s to a more social architecture in recent years. This evolution has allowed her to explore not only the problems of form, as in he

Since her graduation from a strong formalist school, Hasegawa has challenged the current tendency to analyze in a formalist way. Through her reciprocal method of planning, she provides a flexible type of architecture which accepts a diversity of individuals.

Architects throughout the world hold Japan's best architecture in high regard, considering the country's buildings among the world's most carefully crafted and innovative. While many books, magazines, and exhibitions have focused on the results of architectural practice in Japan, this book is the first to explain the reasons for Japan's remarkable structures. Architecture does not occur in isolation; Japan's architects are able to collaborate with a wide variety of people from professional consultants to constructors. Dana Buntrock discusses architecture as a part of the construction community, moving from historical precedents that predate the emergence of the architectural profession in Japan through to contemporary practices.

Itsuko Hasegawa is the most famous woman in Japanese architecture and the most prominent figure in the Shinohara School, and her influence on the architecture of Japan cannot be overstated. Her work often plays with the boundaries between the natural and the artificial: one of her most famous buildings, the Yamanashi Museum of Fruit, is composed of various different but related curvaceous fruitlike forms. Itsuko Hasegawa: Island Hopping - Crossover Architecture presents some of her most innovative and provocative recent projects, including the Fukuroi Culture Center, the Shiogama Lifelong Learning Center, the Kurahashi Community Center, the Namekawa Housing Project and her latest project, the winning entry for the Niagata City Performing Arts Center. This monograph provides an essential look at the work of a designer who has earned her place alongside such figures as Rem Koolhaas as one of the most important architects of the past three decades.

This volume offers both an introduction to and an insight into key contemporary architects as well as giving a snapshot of the varied nature of architecture today. For each architect there are details of their life and work and illustrations of their most representative and iconic buildings.

Contemporary Japanese Architecture presents a clear and comprehensive overview of the historical and cultural framework that informs the work of all Japanese architects, as an introduction to an in-depth investigation of the challenges now occupying the contemporary designers who will be the leaders of the next generation. It separates out the young generation of Japanese architects from the crowded, distinguished, multi-generational field they seek to join, and investigates the topics that absorb them, and the critical issues they face within the new economic reality of Japan and a shifting global order. Salient points in the text are illustrated by beautiful, descriptive images provided by the architects and from the extensive collection of the author. By combining illustrations with timelines and graphics to explain complex ideas, the book is accessible to any student seeking to understand contemporary Japanese architecture.

Examines the social uses of architectural drawing: how it acts to direct architecture; how it helps define what is important about a design; and how it embodies claims about the architect's status and authority. Case study narratives are included with drawings from projects at all stages.