Building the Japanese House Today - Hardcover

Landers Rao, Peggy; Brackett, Len

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810959313 ISBN 13: 9780810959316

Publisher: Abrams, 2005

Synopsis

The traditional Japanese house is universally admired for its clean lines, intricate joinery, and unparalleled woodworking. The authors of this elegant volume, Peggy Landers Rao and Len Brackett, show how a classic Japanese- style house can be built to offer the warmth and comfort that modern homeowners require. Len Brackett, rigorously trained in traditional architecture in Kyoto, has spent decades adapting the ancient Japanese design aesthetic to Western needs., He builds traditional live-on-the-floor houses, as well as versions that accommodate furniture. Both types provide the essential features expected in today's new homes - central heating, insulation, weather stripping, thermal glazing, streamlined kitchens, computerized lighting systems, and the latest electronics. The book's primary focus is on a single guesthouse in California, but pictures of other adaptations of the traditional Japanese house in America exemplify various points., Architects will find reference charts of the prescribed set of proportions and dimensions normally passed down through a strict system of apprenticeship. Builders and woodworkers can turn to explanations about selecting grain and anticipating shrinkage of various woods. A remarkable tool used to lay out precise joints is described in detail., Various sources are given for materials, including where to find a contemporary version of the distinctive, traditional earthen plaster.

About this title

Product Description:

Built like a piece of fine furniture, the traditional Japanese house is universally admired for its clean lines, intricate joinery, and unparalleled woodworking. Focusing primarily on a new guesthouse in California, this elegant volume shows how a classic Japanese house can be built to offer the warmth and comfort that modern homemakers require.Len Brackett, rigorously trained as a temple carpenter in Kyoto, has spent decades adapting the ancient Japanese design aesthetic to Western needs. Here he demonstrates step-by-step how both the traditional live-on-the-floor house, as well as models that accommodate furniture, can be constructed to provide such modern essentials as central heating, insulation, computerized lighting systems, and the latest electronics. This practical and inspiring guide―with gorgeous, clear photos and diagrams―is an indispensable resource for those who’d like to live in a Japanese home, for professionals who want to build them, and for any reader who delights in Japan’s age-old aesthetic traditions.

From the Author:

Peggy Landers Rao writes on Japanese design and architecture. She is the coauthor of Japanese Accents in Western Interiors . Len Brackett , who served a long apprenticeship in traditional architecture in Kyoto, has been building Japanese houses in the U.S. for 30 years. Aya Brackett , Len Brackett’s daughter, is a photographer and a photo editor at Dwell magazine .

About this edition

• Publisher: Abrams
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0810959313
• ISBN 13: 9780810959316
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224
• Illustrator: Brackett Aya