Katsura: Imperial Villa

by Arata Isozaki

This book presents a detailed history of Katsura, the 17th century Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan that is a pivotal work of Japanese Architecture, often described as the "quintessence of Japanese taste." First revealed to the modern architectural world by Bruno Taut, the great German architect, in the early 20th century, Katsura stunned and then excited the architectural community of the West. Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, pillars of the Modernist establishment, were fascinated by Katsura’s "modernity." They saw in its orthogonal and modular spaces, devoid of decoration, clear parallels to contemporary Modernism, going so far as to proclaim Katsura a "historical" example of Modernity. This book documents the palace in detail, combining newly commissioned photographs, detailed drawings, archival material and historical analysis.

Genres: Architecture, Japan

400 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2005

Reviews

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

recensione integrale ---> https://virginialorello.it/il-libro-s...

Il libro presenta il complesso della villa sotto due chiavi di lettura differenti, quella saggistica e quella iconografica. Tuttavia i due strumenti rimangono del tutto paralleli, senza che l’uno rimandi veramente all’altro, come se fossero stati portati avanti in maniera indipendente e poi uniti per l’occasione. (...) Non è un difetto, in senso stretto almeno, ma è sicuramente meno agevole leggere e far avanti e indietro in queste pagine per andar a comprendere di cosa si sta parlando. Evidentemente non era l’intenzione del progetto editoriale, che ha preferito premiare la voce individualista dei diversi autori, lasciandoli del tutto indipendenti. (...)
Le fotografie sono senza dubbio la miglior parte di tutto il volume, di un’altissima qualità e bellezza. Da sole, seguendo la pianta, riescono a far vivere l’esperienza della villa come se la si stesse percorrendo personalmente.
Proprio perché ho cercato di comprendere e visualizzare l’intero spazio, senza sfogliare passivamente o soffermarmi su una sola foto, ho notato la mancanza di una “guida” per comprendere l’angolazione delle singole foto. Gli spazi ritratti sono sempre unici, ma al tempo stesso molto simili fra loro e non riconoscibili a colpo d’occhio in pianta, e per orientarmi ho dovuto schizzare a mano, su ogni doppia facciata, o 4, degli schemi sintetici per comprenderne il punto di vista. (...)
I saggi di questo libro, tutti costituiti da grandi nomi che fanno da attrattiva anche in copertina, sono abbastanza diversi fra loro. È stato interessante vedere i diversi approcci, anche se spesso l’uno ha ripetuto l’altro.(...)

[Kasey Mazak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would love to visit this complex where contradictions are composed into unity as quoted below.

“The Katsura Imperial Villa, an outstanding example of seventeenth-century Japanese architecture, has survived the perils of time and periodical careful restoration. The uncertainties over its precise dating, the still unsolved issue of attribution, the different interpretations of the complex over the years, have not dimmed the magic of this jealously protected monument, where architectonic space has become a space of the soul and even stylistic ambiguities and contradictions are composed into unity, because the space of Katsura is made to the measure of mankind and hence, like mankind, is perfectible.”

[Sonntag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Village By The Tranquil Reflection Of The Moon-

Katsura Imperial Villa is the crown jewel of Japan and an important world cultural heritage. The villa best exemplifies traditional Japanese and Zen Buddhist ideas through its ceremonial arrangements of buildings and gardens. It has been a major source of inspiration for modern architecture.
Katsura Imperial Villa locating along south bank of Katsura River at the outskirt of Kyoto is constructed at the beginning of 1600s by Prince Hachij' Toshihito. The prince was incredibly fond of literature, especially Murasaki Shikibu’s Tales of Genji, so he’s inspired to construct the “Village of Katsura” from a passage of Tales of Genji, “Far away, in the country village of Katsura, the reflection of the moon upon the water is clear and tranquil.” The major scope of work for the villa took place during the lifetimes of Toshihito and his son Toshitada from 1600 to 1662. There were renovations that followed without substantial increase to the scope since 1662.
The 402-page massive volume contained breathtaking photographs of the place, detail survey drawings of the buildings, and essays by famous architects and scholars Arata Isozaki, Yoshiharu Matsumura, Manfred Speidel, Bruno Taut, Valter Gropius, Kenzo Tange, and Francesco Dal Co. It’s a great source of inspiration!


Below are images I took of the book for my Amazon review, please see link below and let me know if they are helpful to you (by pressing yes or no button), thank you for your comment and support:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/review/RYEJ6...