Book Details
Title: The Essential Japanese House; Craftsmanship, function, and style in town and country
Author: Teiji Itoh
Illustrator: Yukio Futagawa
Publisher: Weatherhill/Bijutsu Shuppan-Sha
Year: 1967
Impression/Edition: N/A
Cover: Hardcover with Dust Jacket
Pages: 419
Dimensions:
Weight:
ISBN: N/A
Battle Scars:
Overall acceptable condition. This is an ex-library book and has the usual library paraphernalia attached.
Outside:
The dust jacket is intact, and covered with a plastic sleeve. There is wear to the extremities, with creasing, rubbing, chipping and tears along edges. Usual library issued items insitu as pictured.
The hardcover itself is difficult to fully assess as the plastic sleeve is well attached and there is risk of damage to the jacket it if it is forced. There is visible wear to the edges with actual fraying on the boards as pictured.
The page margins (seen when book is closed) are clean albeit with some yellowing and displaying a library stamp on the profiles.
Inside:
The binding is intact. There is gapping between pages as can be seen in the photos however no loose pages are found.
Inside the front and back covers display usual library markings and attachments
The pages are clean and intact in general. There is some transfer on some pages and a couple of marks here and there.
Don't forget to check the photos below for a visual and make sure you are happy prior to purchase. Happy to answer questions if there is information missing.
Book Content:
Blurb -
"If the essential function of architecture is that of providing shelter from the elements, then the dwelling house of the ordinary man is the essential architecture of any country, and the essential beginning for an understanding of any national architecture. Herein lies the unique quality and value of the present book: by concentrating on the homes of ordinary Japanses citizenry it provides a new approach to an understanding of one of the world's great architectural traditions. Neither the famed temples nor the imperial villas and palaces will be found here, important and elegant though they are. Instead we have their "country cousins," the houses of merchants, farmers, and public servants - equally part of an imposing tradition of design and craftsmanship - in great variety and much singularity of detail. For this is a book about Japanese residential architecture during the most formative period of its development - the two and a half centuries that preceded Japan's entry into the modern world in the 1860s - and all the houses pictured are venerable survivors from that time.
In addition to concerning itself with architectural tradition and craftsmanship, this is very much a book about architectural function and style. It therefore gives considerable attention to the people who build the houses and lived in them - the large-scale landowners, the ordinary farmers, the village mayors, the tradesmen, the proprietors of country inns - and to the variations in structure and style dedicated by the occupations and preferences of the owners. Equal attention is given to the influence of environmental factors: geographical conditions, types of structural material available, the social code of the times. The elements of function and style are pictured and discussed not only in their overall aspect but also in a wealth of fascinating detail.
In the superb photographs and pleasantly informative commentaries that make up the book, Yukio Futagawa and Teiji Itoh once again display the talents that made their earlier work, 'The Roots of Japanese Architecture', a distinguished and memorable book. Now, in the present book, they turn from the abstract to the concrete. Here in a detailed text and 320 pages of gravure photographs they present a large number of houses from ten representative regions of Japan, beginning with the stately residences of Kyoto and ending with the massive patriarchal farmhouses of the remote Shirakawa district.
'The Essential Japanese House' is a book for layman and expert alike. The text, especially written for this English version of the original Japanese edition, emphasizes the aesthetic rather than the technical aspects of the architecture presented. At the same time, salient technical features are by no means neglected, and the book is of prime value for the professional architect as well."
Book Details
Title: The Essential Japanese House; Craftsmanship, function, and style in town and country
Author: Teiji Itoh
Illustrator: Yukio Futagawa
Publisher: Weatherhill/Bijutsu Shuppan-Sha
Year: 1967
Impression/Edition: N/A
Cover: Hardcover with Dust Jacket
Pages: 419
Dimensions:
Weight:
ISBN: N/A
Battle Scars:
Overall acceptable condition. This is an ex-library book and has the usual library paraphernalia attached.
Outside:
The dust jacket is intact, and covered with a plastic sleeve. There is wear to the extremities, with creasing, rubbing, chipping and tears along edges. Usual library issued items insitu as pictured.
The hardcover itself is difficult to fully assess as the plastic sleeve is well attached and there is risk of damage to the jacket it if it is forced. There is visible wear to the edges with actual fraying on the boards as pictured.
The page margins (seen when book is closed) are clean albeit with some yellowing and displaying a library stamp on the profiles.
Inside:
The binding is intact. There is gapping between pages as can be seen in the photos however no loose pages are found.
Inside the front and back covers display usual library markings and attachments
The pages are clean and intact in general. There is some transfer on some pages and a couple of marks here and there.
Don't forget to check the photos below for a visual and make sure you are happy prior to purchase. Happy to answer questions if there is information missing.
Book Content:
Blurb -
"If the essential function of architecture is that of providing shelter from the elements, then the dwelling house of the ordinary man is the essential architecture of any country, and the essential beginning for an understanding of any national architecture. Herein lies the unique quality and value of the present book: by concentrating on the homes of ordinary Japanses citizenry it provides a new approach to an understanding of one of the world's great architectural traditions. Neither the famed temples nor the imperial villas and palaces will be found here, important and elegant though they are. Instead we have their "country cousins," the houses of merchants, farmers, and public servants - equally part of an imposing tradition of design and craftsmanship - in great variety and much singularity of detail. For this is a book about Japanese residential architecture during the most formative period of its development - the two and a half centuries that preceded Japan's entry into the modern world in the 1860s - and all the houses pictured are venerable survivors from that time.
In addition to concerning itself with architectural tradition and craftsmanship, this is very much a book about architectural function and style. It therefore gives considerable attention to the people who build the houses and lived in them - the large-scale landowners, the ordinary farmers, the village mayors, the tradesmen, the proprietors of country inns - and to the variations in structure and style dedicated by the occupations and preferences of the owners. Equal attention is given to the influence of environmental factors: geographical conditions, types of structural material available, the social code of the times. The elements of function and style are pictured and discussed not only in their overall aspect but also in a wealth of fascinating detail.
In the superb photographs and pleasantly informative commentaries that make up the book, Yukio Futagawa and Teiji Itoh once again display the talents that made their earlier work, 'The Roots of Japanese Architecture', a distinguished and memorable book. Now, in the present book, they turn from the abstract to the concrete. Here in a detailed text and 320 pages of gravure photographs they present a large number of houses from ten representative regions of Japan, beginning with the stately residences of Kyoto and ending with the massive patriarchal farmhouses of the remote Shirakawa district.
'The Essential Japanese House' is a book for layman and expert alike. The text, especially written for this English version of the original Japanese edition, emphasizes the aesthetic rather than the technical aspects of the architecture presented. At the same time, salient technical features are by no means neglected, and the book is of prime value for the professional architect as well."
