A major survey of the Japanese designers, artisans, manufacturers and technologies that have shaped the world of modern design

A dedication to craft and the finest production quality have been an integral part of culture and day-to-day life in Japan for centuries. For the Japanese, the concept of design is not limited to functionality or materiality, but wholly connected with ancient culture and rituals. In this sense, a chair is much more than what you sit on, a cup more than what you drink from: these objects are to be reflected upon, to be touched and cherished.

As mass manufacturing became widespread in the post-war period, fascinating cross-cultural exchanges began to take place between Japan and the West. These gave rise not only to timeless objects of great beauty and utility, but innovations in materials, form and technology. Far beyond the icons of Japanese design – the perfectly weighted Kikkoman soy sauce bottle, Yanagi’s butterfly stool, the Sony Walkman – the products and objects that have emerged from the country over the past seven decades, few of which have been widely exported, serve to delight and draw admiration. In recent years, a new generation of designers – Nendo, Yoshioka – have taken Japanese creativity into entirely new territory, reconceptualizing the very meaning of design.

No attempt has been made to present a complete overview of Japanese design, until now. Showcasing over eighty designers, hundreds of objects, and contributions from both Japanese and Western design experts, this volume will become the definitive work on the subject for many years to come.

Contents List:

Foreword by Maasaki Kanai • Introduction: The Craft of Japanese Design • The Design Titans • The Designers and Everyday Icons: Tables & Chairs • Essay by Naomi Pollock • Food & Drink • Essay by Makoto Shimazaki • On&Off • Essay by Shinji Hamada • Posters & Packaging • Warp & Weft • Essay by Matilda McQuaid • Lifestyle & Leisure • A–Z of Designers

About the Author:

Naomi Pollock is an American architect who writes about Japanese design and architecture. Her work has appeared in numerous publications on both sides of the Pacific, including A+U, Dwell, Kinfolk, Wallpaper* and Architectural Record, for whom she is the Special International Correspondent. In addition, she is the author of several books, including Modern Japanese House, Made in Japan: 100 New Products, Jutaku: Japanese Houses and Sou Fujimoto. In 2018, she was selected to join the College of Fellows of The American Institute of Architects. Masaaki Kanai is President of Ryohin Keikaku, the retailer and manufacturer of the leading Japanese brand Muji.

The first comprehensive, career-spanning monograph of NUNO, one of Japan’s most innovative and respected textile design studios

Named with a simple word meaning ‘cloth’, NUNO is one of Japan’s most important textile-design companies. Founded in 1984 by the legendary Junichi Arai and the company’s current director, Reiko Sudo, it is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative textile producers. Known for weaving together tradition and cutting-edge technology, NUNO designers are inspired by the past, present and future, integrating unexpected elements, such as paper or feathers or aluminium, with industrial methods, such as spatter-plating and chemical etching. All NUNO textiles – more than 2,500 have been created – are produced in Japan and are usually the handiwork of an individual craftsperson. Each bolt of cloth has a story to tell.

Though their textiles appear regularly in books, textile exhibitions and museum collections, a comprehensive NUNO monograph has not existed - until now. Featuring the most outstanding, influential or experimental fabrics, the book is organized into seven chapters, each based on a theme deriving from the onomatopoeic coupling in Japanese that defines a family of fabrics. For example, ‘Shima Shima’, meaning ‘striped’, presents striped designs ranging from bold and contrasting like zebra to subtly variegated like a tabby cat. Based on interviews, archival research and factory visits, the texts are illustrated with specially commissioned photos and drawings. Interspersed are essays by a wide range of contributors, from writer Haruki Murakami and architect Toyo Ito to curator Anna Jackson.

Bringing all the threads together in a beautifully designed package, NUNO is a document of exceptional beauty and a rare glimpse into the essence of Japanese design.

Contents List:

Foreword
Introduction
1. FUWA FUWA: Fuwa Fuwa by Haruki Murakami; Portrait of a Textile: Threadstray
2. SHIWA SHIWA: Shiwa Shiwa by Kenya Hara; Portrait of a Textile: Paper Rolls
3. SHIMA SHIMA: Stripes of All Colours by Brooke Hodge; Portrait of a Textile: Origami Weave
4. KIRA KIRA: Shining Within by Akane Teshigawara; Portrait of a Textile: Amate
5. SUKE SUKE: Three Transparencies by Toyo Ito; Portrait of a Textile: Turkish Wall
6. ZAWA ZAWA: Poems by Arto Lindsay; Portrait of a Textile: Jellyfish
7. BORO BORO: Essay by Anna Jackson; Portrait of a Textile: Colourplate On Colours
Chronology of Textiles
Acknowledgements
Biographies
Picture Credits

About the Authors:

Reiko Sudo is one of Japan’s most influential contemporary textile designers and managing director of NUNO. In recent years, she has become known as an advocate for textile artisans in Japan, creating designs that are technologically forward without diminishing the value of handicraft. Naomi Pollock is a design writer who lived and worked in Japan for over 30 years. Her most recent publication is Japanese Design Since 1945 (2020), also published by Thames & Hudson.

A major survey of the Japanese designers, artisans, manufacturers and technologies that have shaped the world of modern design

A dedication to craft and the finest production quality have been an integral part of culture and day-to-day life in Japan for centuries. For the Japanese, the concept of design is not limited to functionality or materiality, but wholly connected with ancient culture and rituals. In this sense, a chair is much more than what you sit on, a cup more than what you drink from: these objects are to be reflected upon, to be touched and cherished.

As mass manufacturing became widespread in the post-war period, fascinating cross-cultural exchanges began to take place between Japan and the West. These gave rise not only to timeless objects of great beauty and utility, but innovations in materials, form and technology. Far beyond the icons of Japanese design – the perfectly weighted Kikkoman soy sauce bottle, Yanagi’s butterfly stool, the Sony Walkman – the products and objects that have emerged from the country over the past seven decades, few of which have been widely exported, serve to delight and draw admiration. In recent years, a new generation of designers – Nendo, Yoshioka – have taken Japanese creativity into entirely new territory, reconceptualizing the very meaning of design.

No attempt has been made to present a complete overview of Japanese design, until now. Showcasing over eighty designers, hundreds of objects, and contributions from both Japanese and Western design experts, this volume will become the definitive work on the subject for many years to come.

Contents List:

Foreword by Maasaki Kanai • Introduction: The Craft of Japanese Design • The Design Titans • The Designers and Everyday Icons: Tables & Chairs • Essay by Naomi Pollock • Food & Drink • Essay by Makoto Shimazaki • On&Off • Essay by Shinji Hamada • Posters & Packaging • Warp & Weft • Essay by Matilda McQuaid • Lifestyle & Leisure • A–Z of Designers

About the Author:

Naomi Pollock is an American architect who writes about Japanese design and architecture. Her work has appeared in numerous publications on both sides of the Pacific, including A+U, Dwell, Kinfolk, Wallpaper* and Architectural Record, for whom she is the Special International Correspondent. In addition, she is the author of several books, including Modern Japanese House, Made in Japan: 100 New Products, Jutaku: Japanese Houses and Sou Fujimoto. In 2018, she was selected to join the College of Fellows of The American Institute of Architects. Masaaki Kanai is President of Ryohin Keikaku, the retailer and manufacturer of the leading Japanese brand Muji.

Abstract Action. The splattered oeuvre of a cultural icon

The rebel hero of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock careened through his life like a firework across the American art landscape, with his urgent, splattered drip paintings his most explosive legacy. This essential introduction traces Pollock’s work and his fame to understand his masterpieces in the greater modernist story and explore his making as a cultural icon.

The rebel hero of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) careened through his life like a firework across the American art landscape. Channeling ideas from sources as diverse as Picasso and Mexican surrealism, he rejected convention to develop his own way of seeing, interpreting, and expressing.

Pollock’s most famous works are his drip paintings, where he dripped and poured household enamel paint over the canvas with a variety of instruments, from sticks to syringes, hardened brushes to broken bits of glass. The splattered results pulsate with energy, replacing the refinement of easel and brush with something altogether more immediate, vivid, and physical. To evade the viewer’s search for figurative elements in his paintings, Pollock abandoned titles and identified each work with a neutral number only.

Notoriously reclusive and volatile, struggling with alcoholism, married to fellow Abstract Expressionist Lee Krasner, and killed in a car crash aged just 44, Pollock is as much a compelling celebrity icon as an artistic pioneer. This essential artist introduction explores both his work and his fame to shed light on masterpieces of the modernist story, and the making of a cultural icon.

The author

Leonhard Emmerling received his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg for a thesis titled “Jean Dubuffet’s Art Theory.” He is the Director of South Asia Programmes at the Goethe-Institute’s office in New Delhi and was previously active as a curator at various art institutions in Germany. His publications include TASCHEN’s Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jackson Pollock.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

The definitive overview of and ultimate resource on the iconic architect-designed houses built in Japan from 1945 to the present

Imagine a terraced house whose courtyard separates the kitchen from the bedroom. Or a tiny, triangular tower of rooms stacked one above another. Quirky, experimental and utterly fascinating, the houses produced in Japan since the end of the Second World War are among the most exceptional in the world. The Japanese House Since 1945 is a cohesive chronology of the most compelling architect-designed Japanese homes, showing developments in form, material, architectural expression and family living over almost eight decades.

Unparallelled in their conceptual purity, many Japanese houses have become icons at home as well as abroad. Presented with clear prose and accompanied by compelling photographs and drawings, this book features 97 houses, divided among nine chapters and organized by decade. In addition to acquainting the reader with individual homes, the book illuminates the social, technological, geographic and historical factors behind these era-defining houses. Developments over the period are underscored by the visual presentation, as it evolves from monochrome to colour and from hand-drawn to digital. Decade lead-ins set the historical context for each chapter, while ‘Spotlight’ segments draw attention to the separate components of the Japanese house. ‘At Home’ sections, most written by architects and their family members, bring to life the experience of living in these unique houses.

About the Author:

Naomi Pollock is an American architect, journalist and author. She has lived in Japan since the 1980s, reporting on architecture for international magazines. A special international correspondent for Architectural Record, she has written a number of books on Japanese houses and architects and is the author of Japanese Design Since 1945, also published by Thames & Hudson.

Painting as a concept

A tragic icon of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) took influences from Picasso and Mexican surrealism and developed his own way of seeing, interpreting, and expressing. Though his name inevitably conjures up images of the drip paintings for which he is most famous, this technique was only developed midway through his career. The progression from his earlier work to his final "action" paintings — a veritable revolution of painting as a concept — reveals the genius of this tortured artist whom many call the greatest modern American painter.

About the Series:
Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art Series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 colour illustrations with explanatory captions

The author:
Leonhard Emmerling received his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg for a thesis entitled 'Kunsttheorie Jean Dubuffets'. Since 2002 he has been working as an author and contemporary art exhibition curator in Berlin, Kaiserslautern, Krefeld and Ludwigsburg, Germany. His publications include TASCHEN’s Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jackson Pollock.

‘Made in Japan’ is a simple phrase, but one full of meaning. From kettles and cutlery to chairs, Japan creates some of the most innovative, elegant, whimsical and well-made objects in the world. Combining high aesthetic standards with cutting-edge technology, many of these designs turn everyday items into functional works of art that would look as good in a museum as on a kitchen counter. Made in Japan surveys 100 of the country’s recent design triumphs, among them furnishings, utensils, gadgets, clothing, office equipment and even a silent guitar. While the book features mainly mass-produced objects, it also includes one-off prototypes and limited-edition items that are immensely popular in Japan. Created specifically for the Japanese consumer, these products reflect the way people live, work and play in a country that prizes highly both exceptional craftsmanship and industrial perfection.

• A selection of outstanding Japanese products of this century, from gadgets and furnishings to office supplies and decorative objects
• Features a comprehensive introduction to the history and traditions of Japanese product design
• With biographies of the leading designers working in Japan today, including Naoto Fukasawa, Tokujin Yoshioka and Toyo Ito

Джексона Поллока считают одним из лидеров «мифического» направления новой американской школы, он принадлежит к плеяде художников «живописи действия». Художник работал на полотне, расстеленном прямо на полу, он приступал к работе сразу со всех сторон, делая из картины сцену, на которой разворачивалось неистовое действие. В результате получались густые лабиринты краски с потеками, каплями, многоцветные или черно-белые, имеющие структуру или смягченные и словно оплавившиеся. Чтобы достичь этого, Поллок использовал технику «дриппинга», или разбрызгивания.

«Поллок не был прирожденным художником. В шестнадцать лет он собирался стать скульптором, но прежде чем ему исполнилось восемнадцать, его интересы устремились к живописи. Ему пришлось приложить немало усилий, чтобы научиться рисовать и писать красками». Вот так в 1967 году, по случаю посмертной итоговой выставки в Музее современного искусства, Клемент Гринберг вкратце обрисовал начало карьеры Джексона Поллока, погибшего в автокатастрофе в 1956 году, будучи легендарной личностью своего времени.

После занятия скульптурой в Лос-Анджелесе и натуралистической живописью в Нью-Йорке, Поллок объехал Соединенные Штаты и открыл для себя индейскую «песочную живопись», монументальные фрески мексиканцев Ороско и Сикейроса, которые, как и кубизм Пикассо, оказали существенное влияние на раннюю живопись Поллока с ее вибрирующими цветами и геометрическими формами.

Поллок уделил особое внимание своему месту своего происхождения — американскому Дикому Западу, обширному горизонтальному пространству страны, равно как и искусству коренных народов Америки. «Для индейцев характерен правдивый, реалистический художественный подход, проявляющийся в их умении уловить соответствующие образы и в их понимании того, что составляет саму суть изображаемого предмета. Их колорит — в общем и целом, Западный, их видению мира свойственна основная универсальность всего подлинного искусства».

Поллок считал, что источник искусства кроется в бессознательном. В последние годы жизни он много внимания уделял спонтанному творчеству. Процесс создания картины порождал собственную динамику, которая, как и получившееся полотно, являлась прямым непосредственным выражением психики. Поллок был символом некоего неистовства в искусстве.

Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) was a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement and the most influential American painter of the twentieth century. Although he died at the age of 44, he left an unsurpassed body of work.Throughout his life, Pollock wrote very little about his own art or that of others. Nevertheless, in the few writings we do have, and in a few unpublished, undated notes – all of which are gathered together in this volume – the themes are remarkably similar. After acknowledging his initial debt to the Native American sand painters, who gave him the idea for putting the canvas on the floor and working it “in the round”, Pollock routinely referred to his interest in the unconscious as the source of modern art, as it enabled the direct expression of an “inner world,” of individual feeling and experience of the modern age. Moreover, it is clear from his statements that Pollock himself was open to the possibility of such a subjective approach to painting as an international enterprise. He never suggested that the modern world, characterized, in his words, by “the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio,” and which the modern artist had the responsibility to express, was specifically American, but rather that these were features of modern life in a much broader sense. In her in-depth essay, Nancy Jachec sketches an accurate profile of the artist and takes a closer look at his work, as well as detailing the enormous number of studies on the artist.

This informative and beautifully illustrated book showcases projects of all types, sizes and budgets from the last decade in Japan, and includes museums, private houses, schools, shops, hospitals, airports and chapels. Both cutting-edge, emerging young practices – such as Sou Fijimoto and Junya Ishigami – and established, internationally known architects – among them Toyo Ito, Tadao Ando, Kengo Kuma and SANAA – are featured, as are international practices working in Japan (such as Rogers Stirk Harbour, Foster + Partners and Herzog & de Meuron). Stunning images by leading architectural photographer Edmund Sumner are accompanied by accessible critical texts and drawings. This illuminating survey is essential not just for architects and designers but also for anyone fascinated by Japan's unique – and increasing – influence on architecture worldwide.

Profiles more than 100 architectural projects from the last decade
A compelling reference for architects, urban planners, designers and anyone interested in contemporary Japanese architecture

A tragic icon of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) took influences from Picasso and Mexican surrealism and developed his own way of seeing, interpreting, and expressing. Though his name inevitably conjures up images of the drip paintings for which he is most famous, this technique was only developed midway through his career. The progression from his earlier work to his final "action" paintings —a veritable revolution of painting as a concept—reveals the genius of this tortured artist whom many call the greatest modern American painter.

A tragic icon of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) took influences from Picasso and Mexican surrealism and developed his own way of seeing, interpreting, and expressing. Though his name inevitably conjures up images of the drip paintings for which he is most famous, this technique was only developed midway through his career. The progression from his earlier work to his final "action" paintings - a veritable revolution of painting as a concept - reveals the genius of this tortured artist whom many call the greatest modern American painter.

About the Series:
Every book in TASCHEN's Basic Art Series features:
* a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist
* approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions
* a concise biography

Modelled on the format of Modern House, Modern House 2 and Modern House 3, Modern Japanese House is an overview of recent domestic design trends in Japan and features an array of projects from a variety of architects, both known and new to the international architecture scene. The projects are divided into five chapters - Tiny Houses, Inside/ Outside, Multi Generation Houses, Work/Play, and Vacation Houses - that reflect the issues particular to residential design in Japan. Architects featured include such familiar figures as Kazuyo Sejima, Jun Aoki, Shigeru Ban, Hitoshi Abe and Shuhei Endo, as well as lesser known practitioners such as Nobuaki Furuya and Hiroshii Nakao, among others.