Matter in the floating world : conversations with leading Japanese architects and designers : Hitoshi Abe, Tadao Ando, Jun Aoki, Masayo Ave, Shigeru Ban, Shuhei Endo, Terunobu Fujimori, Kenya Hara, Erika Horiki, Sachiko Kodama, Kengo Kuma, Toyo Ito, Oki S

It can be argued that Japan contains a higher number of internationally significant architects and designers relative to its geographic size than anywhere else in the world. Japanese designers regularly implement radical experiments in new materials and building systems that successfully address imminent energy and resource challenges. These technological achievements are combined with an acute awareness of the ephemerality of existence, creating a rich dialogue between the concrete and the abstract. Contents......Page 5 Acknowledgments......Page 6 When the World Floats: Material Buoyancy in Contemporary Design......Page 8 Substance and Transience in Japanese Architecture and Design......Page 11 LIGHTNESS......Page 19 Expanding Boundaries, Takaharu Tezuka......Page 23 The Presence of Absence, Kengo Kuma......Page 35 Weightless Surfaces, Yasuhiro Yamashita......Page 45 A Small "!" Moment, Oki Sato......Page 57 Strength in Weakness, Shigeru Ban......Page 69 ATMOSPHERE......Page 83 Information Architecture, Kenya Hara......Page 87 Invisible Architecture, Kazuyo Sejima......Page 99 Substance and Abstraction, Tadao Ando......Page 111 A Canvas for Light, Eriko Horiki......Page 121 Evoking the Primal, Terunobu Fujimori......Page 133 FLOW......Page 145 Recoding Materiality, Jun Aoki......Page 149 Pattern and Movement, Hitoshi Abe......Page 161 Connective Tissue, Shuhei Endo......Page 173 The Fluidity of Fabric, Reiko Sudo......Page 183 Liquid Architecture, Sachiko Kodama......Page 193 EMERGENCE......Page 201 The Emerging Grid, Toyo Ito......Page 205 Natural Logic, Makoto Sei Watanabe......Page 217 Soft Interface, Akira Wakita......Page 229 Summoning Nature, Tokujin Yoshioka......Page 239 The Sound of Material, Masayo Ave......Page 249 Image Credits......Page 256 Often, the work of Japanese designers is not fully understood by western designers because it has not been explained in its full context. 'Matter in the Floating World' aims to correct this by presenting interviews with twenty leading Japanese architects and designers, in which they explain their work, ideas and inspirations