{"title":"Arata Isozaki","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"japan-ness-in-architecture-book-arata-isozaki-9780262090384","title":"Japan-ness in Architecture","description":"\u003cb\u003eOne of Japan's leading architects examines notions of Japan-ness as exemplified by key events in Japanese architectural history from the seventh to the twentieth century; essays on buildings and their cultural context.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eJapanese architect Arata Isozaki sees buildings not as dead objects but as events that encompass the social and historical context--not to be defined forever by their everlasting materiality but as texts to be interpreted and reread continually. In \u003ci\u003eJapan-ness in Architecture\u003c\/i\u003e, he identifies what is essentially Japanese in architecture from the seventh to the twentieth century. In the opening essay, Isozaki analyzes the struggles of modern Japanese architects, including himself, to create something uniquely Japanese out of modernity. He then circles back in history to find what he calls Japan-ness in the seventh-century Ise shrine, reconstruction of the twelfth-century Todai-ji Temple, and the seventeenth-century Katsura Imperial Villa. He finds the periodic ritual relocation of Ise's precincts a counter to the West's concept of architectural permanence, and the repetition of the ritual an alternative to modernity's anxious quest for origins. He traces the constructive power of the Todai-ji Temple to the vision of the director of its reconstruction, the monk Chogen, whose imaginative power he sees as corresponding to the revolutionary turmoil of the times. The Katsura Imperial Villa, with its chimerical spaces, achieved its own Japan-ness as it reinvented the traditional shoin style. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd yet, writes Isozaki, what others consider to be the Japanese aesthetic is often the opposite of that essential Japan-ness born in moments of historic self-definition; the purified stylization--what Isozaki calls Japanesquization--lacks the energy of cultural transformation and reflects an island retrenchment in response to the pressure of other cultures.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCombining historical survey, critical analysis, theoretical reflection, and autobiographical account, these essays, written over a period of twenty years, demonstrate Isozaki's standing as one of the world's leading architects and preeminent architectural thinkers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50113094746385,"sku":"CIN0262090384G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262090384.jpg?v=1750695315"},{"product_id":"contemporary-teahouse-the-japan-s-top-architects-redefine-a-tradition-book-arata-isozaki-9784770030467","title":"Contemporary Teahouse, The: Japan's Top Architects Redefine a Tradition","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50889943744785,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50889944072465,"sku":"GOR005697243","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51978391355665,"sku":"GOR009359822","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/4770030460.jpg?v=1751416576"},{"product_id":"katsura-book-arata-isozaki-9781837290147","title":"Katsura","description":"Father Goriot (original French title: Le P re Goriot) is a masterful novel by Honor  de Balzac, first published in 1835, and forms a pivotal part of his grand literary cycle La Com die Humaine. Set in post-Napoleonic Paris, the novel presents a haunting and deeply emotional portrait of love, sacrifice, ambition, and the brutal social realities of 19th-century France. The story revolves around the residents of a shabby Parisian boarding house, Maison Vauquer, particularly focusing on three central figures: Jean-Joachim Goriot, a former pasta merchant who has impoverished himself for the sake of his two daughters; Eug ne de Rastignac, a young law student from the provinces aspiring to break into high society; and the mysterious and sinister criminal mastermind Vautrin. As Rastignac becomes entangled in the glamorous yet morally decaying Parisian elite, he witnesses the heartbreaking descent of Father Goriot-a man whose unconditional love for his daughters leads him to ruin, abandonment, and ultimately, a lonely death. Balzac intricately weaves themes of family disintegration, the harshness of urban life, and the seduction of wealth and status. With its vivid characters, psychological depth, and unflinching social critique, Father Goriot is not only a tragic family drama but also a sharp commentary on the corruption and ambition that defined French society in the aftermath of the Revolution. The novel is widely regarded as one of Balzac's finest achievements and a cornerstone of French realism. Through Goriot's sacrifice and Rastignac's moral awakening, Balzac delivers a timeless exploration of human nature, social mobility, and the cost of ambition.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51631295758609,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51631296086289,"sku":"NGR9781837290147","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52480717357329,"sku":"NLS9781837290147","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52495891824913,"sku":"NIN9781837290147","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53020716695825,"sku":"CIN1837290148G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53295026503953,"sku":"GOR014850855","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":54554538344721,"sku":"CIN1837290148VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1837290148.jpg?v=1786963631"},{"product_id":"island-nation-aesthetics-book-arata-isozaki-9781854904379","title":"Island Nation Aesthetics","description":"Based on a lecture given at the Royal Academy in London in June, 1995, this polemic presents Japanese architect Arata Isozaki's view on island nation aesthetics. He argues for the origin of singularity of aesthetics as seen in the culture of Japan, especially in terms of space, design and traditional organization of life. Japan is an island nation, with an invisible boundary where the exterior automatically becomes the interior. Isozaki asks where the destruction of such conditions will lead Japan's aesthetics at the end of the 20th century?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53348460101905,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53348460200209,"sku":"GOR005690292","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781854904379.jpg?v=1774602736"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-arata-isozaki.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}