Learning from the Japanese City: West Meets East in Urban Design (Planning, History and Environment Series)

This timely publication meets a growing interest in the West in Japanese thinking, and provides the first exposition of the Japanese city. It demonstrates the relevance of Japan to future city planning, covering the form, character and organization of the buildings and spaces in Japanese cities and particularly the relationships between the buildings, squares and streets. The author provides a historical overview of Western attitudes to Japanese built-form and explores the very different ways of thinking about space and time that underpin the contrasts between Japan and the West in city form and oragnizations. Why Do Japanese Cities Look The Way They Do? What Relevance Do They Have To The Wider World Of Contemporary Urban Design? How Sharp Is The Divide Between The Cities Of Today And Japan's Urban Traditions?--jacket. First Shelton Examines How Western Attitudes To Japanese Cities Have Changed Over Time. He Then Shows Us How Japanese Ways Of Thinking About Space, While Consistent In Themselves, Are Quite Different From Those Of The West - From Writing On Paper To Settlement In A Landscape. Learning From The Japanese City Next Discusses An Array Of Japanese Urban Characteristics And Building Types - From Historic House Forms To The Work Of Contemporary Architects - That Offer Insights Into Today's Cities. Aspects Of Culture And Religion Which Influence Urban Form And Space Are Also Explored.--jacket. Finally, The Author Draws Together Threads From Throughout The Book To Address His Initial Questions. It Is Here That Japan's Chaotic Forms Emerge In A More Positive Light And With Broad Implications For Contemporary Urban Design.--jacket. Ch. 1. Western Interest In The Japanese City -- Ch. 2. Areas And Lines: From Written To City Texts -- Ch. 3. Aspects Of Form: Street And Related Scenes -- Ch. 4. Strands Of Culture -- Ch. 5. Learning From The Japanese City -- Japanese Historical Eras. Barrie Shelton. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Arts, Language and Literature Book Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 3 Copyright 4 Contents 5 Preface 7 Acknowledgements 9 Dedication 11 Chapter 1 Western Interest in the Japanese City 12 Chapter 2 Areas and Lines: From Written to City Texts 22 Written and Printed Texts 22 Buildings 28 Cities 35 City Maps 47 Times, Patchworks and Linear Spaces 51 Chapter 3 Aspects of Form: Street and Related Scenes 56 Traditional Urban Typologies 56 Buke-Yashiki Quarters 56 Machiya Quarters 63 Nagaya 67 Streets, Signs and Circulation 70 Content versus Context 70 Buildings as Signboards and Vertical Streets 77 Streets, Sidewalks and Bridges 81 Streets without Sidewalks 81 Sidewalks as Streets 83 The Ways of Arcades 88 Arcades 88 Shopping Streets 93 Colonnades 93 Bridges 95 Heavy and Horizontal, Peripheral but Central 101 Two Recent Tokyo Buildings 115 Chapter 4 Strands of Culture 124 Shinto and City Landscapes 124 Buddhism and Built-form 126 Co-existence and Superimposition 128 Text and Town (or Chapter 2 Revisited) 131 City and Country, Public and Private 132 Chapter 5 Learning from the Japanese City 134 Learning from the Japanese City 134 Appendix 148 Bibliography 149 Index 153 [Please note a second edition of this title was published in 2012]Japan is the first modern'free world'superpower with a non-Western culture; its prominence in the world grows day by day. As a result, there is a burgeoning interest in the West in all aspects of Japanese culture.Japanese gardens and buildings have received considerable exposure recently but this timely publication is the first exposition of the Japanese city. It covers the form, character and organization of the buildings and spaces in Japanese cities and particularly the relationships between the buildings, squares and streets.The author provides a historical overview of Western attitudes to Japanese built-form and contrasts these relationships in Japan with those of the West and explores the very different ways of thinking about space and time that underpin these contrasts in city form and organizations. Unlike the serene Buddhist gardens and Meiji-era temples of old world Japan, the country's modern architecture and urban planning on first look, appear monotonously gray or aggressively gaudy. This book shows how an appreciation of Japan's cities is often at odds with Western thought and culture.Learning from the Japanese City explores how Westerners tend to think of the city as a network of linear spaces, such as formed streets, while the Japanese see it as more of a patchwork of areas. Barrie Shelton suggests that this contrast in urban planning extends to other areas of cultural expression, including, most fundamentally, the written language. The book shows how an embrace of fracture, transformation and non-linear qualities, that appear chaotic, emerge as a potential source of learning and inspiration for Western architects and planners.