Japan Modern: New Ideas for Contemporary Living Paperback – October 15, 2005

I got a second-handed one but still in great condition, just like new.Although the publishment was 20 years ago, the cases are very inspiring and never outdated. Lots of detailed designs and elements can still influence today's interior design. If you are interested in simplism, nature fusion, Japanese culture, zen, etc... you will love it.I tried to google some of the cases online cause I wanted to learn more, and it turns out that very few can be found online. That makes me even appreciate the book more because none of those cases are highly advertised or commercial. The writers and editors really did a good job to collect.

Fantastic book! This little treasure is full of ideas, inspired by traditional Japanese architecture. I simply love the way Japanese appreciate the space without clutter and I get always amazed by the clever usage of even the tiniest possible space. The attention to detail is awesome. This book is truly thought provoking - especially if you are looking for ideas for your own house.The book is divided into four main sections:- Reworking Tradition- Managing Space- Experimenting with Materials- Personal StatementsI enjoyed reading this book from the beginning to the end. It is a great addition to my collection of books on Japanese architecture.

It is noteworthy if you are interested in home architecture and decoration outside of common approaches in USA.Those with interest in Scandinavian style may appreciate this book more.

I bought this book hoping for some good photos of more modern Japanese architecture which could be translated into building here in the US (particularly residential building). While it does have lots of good photos, some are so site-specific that they aren't really "translate-able". It's also think on details about building techniques. But on the whole, it is a good book with lots of interesting examples and ideas from modern Japanese residential architecture.

I am very interested in any ASIAN INTERIOR/EXTERIOR DECOR books and books on FENG SHUI, CONTEMPORARY IKEBANA, and MINIMAL DESIGN. - I think this is an amazing book if I were designing and/or remodeling a home or a room. This book is more for Architecture and mainly non-modular interior design planning. I am really into minimalism and uphold a feng-shui anti-clutter philosophy as this book displays.. Not for instruction. more for introducing new materials and styles.

We're not going to redo our home in a Japanese style, but sitting and reading this book and enjoying the pictures is like a trip to the Orient.

I've long been interested in the Japanese approach to design of all sorts, but especially architecture. Coming from a much different tradition, the solutions to problems and needs for shelter are often very different than those arrived at by architects with Euro-American tastes and training. Some of the examples depicted so beautifully and discussed so shrewdly in this volume are rooted strongly in Japan's history, such as an old farmhouse relocated to Tokyo and fitted into an urban neighborhood. Others are playful, like the house with a lawn on the peaked roof, watered by a sprinkler system on the ridgepole, and with the courtyard floored in clay roof tiles. There's a two-story "miniature" house with a footprint not much larger than two parking spaces, but which still manages to be a very comfortable environment for actually living in. And, naturally, there are structures *so* experimental, you might not realize they were houses if you weren't told. There are homes in this collection I would love to live in, and others that would probably give me nightmares, but all of them are fascinating.

Got this from a friend who knows my interest in eastern design. There are many nice photos of interior spaces, along with terse explanations of the design objectives. Explanations are not very edifying for newcomers.Some of the spaces have a beautiful zen-like austerity, that delightful, peaceful, calming, natural eastern vibe.Some commercial designs have that sterile corporate spartanism that reminds me of a evil protagonist's lair in a James Bond movie.The Japanese ideal of corporate office space is not always so glass, chrome, steel, square, hard. But in this book there are several examples of that. All you need are some well-groomed Asians in expensive suits and an evil henchman or two to complete the scene. (Oh yeah, don't forget the dangerous damsel in a jumpsuit!)Most corporate designs are dehumanizing, and as Frank Lloyd Wright said, "That is one great failures of "modern" architecture." There are extreme examples of that in this book.Other than that, I enjoyed looking at this volume and it makes a good coffee table addition. It is not an in depth analysis of great design, but more of a picture book of modern attempts. Some are good, some are frighteningly bad. That does not make the book bad though. In fact, architects and designers could use some examples in here as exercises in horrible taste. So, in that sense, the book is good since it has extreme examples of both good and bad design.