Imagine living in a tiny tower of triangular rooms. Or in a concrete, cavelike dwelling burrowed into the ground. Or under a roof with a scalloped profile determined by the required distance from the utility lines above. Shocking to some, innovative to others, houses like these are all but inconceivable in most parts of the world. Yet homes with this conceptual clarity are realized regularly in Japan, and have been since World War II.
These exceptional works, admired by homeowners on both sides of the Pacific, are an inspiration to architects around the globe and the subject of my new book, "Japanese Houses Since 1945." Spanning the 1940s to the 2020s, the book features 98 of what many would consider the most significant houses designed by architects in Japan.
