The Japanese House Architecture and Life after 1945 Barbican Art Gallery, Barbican Centre
23 March – 25 June '17
Opening 23 March 2017 at Barbican Art Gallery, The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after
1945 is the first major UK exhibition to focus on Japanese domestic architecture from the end of the
Second World War to now, a field which has consistently produced some of the most influential and
extraordinary examples of modern and contemporary design.
In the wake of the war, the widespread devastation of Tokyo and other cities in Japan brought an
urgent need for new housing, and the single family house quickly became the foremost site for
architectural experimentation and debate. In the years following, Japanese architects have
consistently used their designs to propose radical critiques of society and innovative solutions to
changing lifestyles. Considering developments in residential architecture in the light of important
shifts in the Japanese economy, urban landscape, and family structure, The Japanese House
presents some of the most exciting architectural projects of the last 70 years, many of which have
never before been exhibited in the UK. As well as architectural projects, the exhibition incorporates
cinema, photography and art in order to cast new light on the role of the house in Japanese culture.
Architects include: Takefumi Aida, Atelier Bow-Wow, Takamitsu Azuma, dot architects, Go
Hasegawa, Itsuko Hasegawa, Hiromi Fujii, Terunobu Fujimori, Sou Fujimoto, Ikimono Architects,
Kumiko Inui, Osamu Ishiyama, Toyo Ito, Yuusuke Karasawa, Kiyonori Kikutake, Chie Konno, Kisho
Kurokawa, Kiko Mozuna, Hideyuki Nakayama, Kazuhiko Namba, Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA),
Keisuke Oka, onishimaki + hyakudayuki architects, Antonin Raymond, Junzo Sakakura, Kazunari
Sakamoto, Kazuyo Sejima (SANAA), Kazuo Shinohara, Seiichi Shirai, Kenzo Tange, Tezuka
Architects, Riken Yamamoto, Junzo Yoshumira, Takamasa Yoshizaka and others
Terunobu Fujimori, Leek House, 1997. Photo Akihisa Masuda
Sou Fujimoto Architects, House NA, Tokyo, Japan, 2011. Photo Iwan Baan
Terunobu Fujimori, Leek House, 1997. Photo Akihisa Masuda
Office of Ryue Nishizawa, Moriyama House, 2005 © Tak_a shi Homma
Tezuka Architects (Takaharu + Yui Tezuka), Roof House, 2001 © Katsuhisa Kida/FOTOTECA
